Swords / Sord
Cholmcille: A Visual and Textual History is an illustrated history
of Swords from the 1790s to the present day compiled from my collection
of historical photos and engravings, my photos, and other sites. It also
contains published articles about Swords from the 1830s onwards. It is
hoped it will be an invaluable aid to individuals, schools and academic
institutions who are interested in Swords history and especially for the
Irish diaspora who will remember the town from different periods in the
past. (Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Gaelic: Sord Cholmcille - St. Colmcille's Well
The town's origins date back to 560 AD when it was founded by Saint
Colmcille (521-597). Legend has it that the saint blessed a local well,
giving the town its name, Sord, meaning "clear" or "pure". However, An
Sord also means "the water source" and could indicate a large communal
drinking well that existed in antiquity. St. Colmcille's Well is located
on Well Road off Swords Main Street.
For Swords history in pictures from etchings, lithographs,
books, pamphlets, photographs from the 1790s to today,
click: Swords Visual History
If you have any images from any era [photographs,
drawings, etchings, old calendars etc] please let me know. Any material
uploaded will be fully acknowledged. Contact me at caoimhghin@yahoo.com
Origins of the name Swords
"The original word is properly written "Sord," or "Surd," which is
interpreted "clear," or "pure," although in modern Irish the word so
spelt bears the meaning of "order ... industry ... diligence." The w
came into it after the settlement of the English, who wrote the name
Swerds, though pronounced Swords, as the verb shew has the
sound of show. This interpretation which I give you is from an ancient
Life of St. Columbkille, preserved in a very venerable MS. of the Royal
Irish Academy, of the fourteenth century. [...] it was the practice of
the early founders of Christianity in these islands, when planting a
church in any spot, to have special reference to the proximity of a
well. [...] suffice it to say, that well-worship existed in the country
before the introduction of Christianity, and that when the people were
converted, like the transfer of pagan temples, these wells, with all
their veneration, were made over to the aid of the new religion."
(A Lecture on the Antiquities of Swords by The
Late Right Rev. William Reeves)
Rathbeale Archeology Park
Times Pictorial 27 May 1950
Ulysses by James Joyce
"Had Bloom and Stephen been baptised, and where and by whom, cleric or
layman?
Bloom (three times), by the reverend Mr Gilmer Johnston M. A., alone, in
the protestant church of
Saint Nicholas Without, Coombe, by James O'Connor, Philip
Gilligan and James
Fitzpatrick, together, under a pump in the village of Swords, and
by the reverend Charles Malone C. C., in the church of the Three
Patrons, Rathgar. Stephen (once) by the reverend Charles Malone C. C.,
alone, in the church of the Three Patrons, Rathgar."
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4300/4300-h/4300-h.htm
On Saturday 20th February [2016],
Fingal County Council, presented the first results from its community
archaeology programme at Swords Castle – Swords Castle: Digging History.
A range of experts presented findings from the month long dig which took
place in August and September 2015.
http://www.northcountyleader.ie/2016/03/01/first-findings-at-swords-castle/
Swords, north County Dublin, Ireland
Roques Map of Brackenstown and Swords...one of the earliest maps
of the area.
(Niall Mac Neill, January 20, 2021)
Ulysses by James Joyce
"Had Bloom and Stephen been baptised, and where and by whom, cleric or
layman?
Bloom (three times), by the reverend Mr Gilmer Johnston M. A., alone, in
the protestant church of
Saint Nicholas Without, Coombe, by James O'Connor, Philip
Gilligan and James
Fitzpatrick, together, under a pump in the village of Swords, and
by the reverend Charles Malone C. C., in the church of the Three
Patrons, Rathgar. Stephen (once) by the reverend Charles Malone C. C.,
alone, in the church of the Three Patrons, Rathgar."
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4300/4300-h/4300-h.htm
General History of Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
St. Colmcille’s Well
On Well Road, and also known as St. Columb's Well. In a locked chamber.
Reputed to be where Swords got its name when St. Colmcille blessed the
well of clear water, ‘Sord’ being the Irish for ‘clear or pure’.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
St. Columba’s Church, Belfry & Round Tower
The round tower is the surviving remnant of St. Colmcille’s monastic
settlement. The only remaining relic of the medieval church is its
belfry, from c. 1300, which is open to the public in summertime, when
fine days afford the visitor a view of four counties from the tower’s
height. The original church is said to have fallen into ruin sometime in
the seventeenth century. The new church of early Gothic style was built
in 1811 on the foundations of the old. The Sexton’s Lodge is also of
architectural interest and was built in 1870. The body of Brian Boru was
said to have been brought there in 1014 to be waked after the Battle of
Clontarf, while on the way to be buried in Armagh. The bell in the Clock
Tower is inscribed ' L.D. Molesworth 1721.'
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Swords Castle
Swords Castle was built as the manorial residence of the 1st Archbishop
of Dublin, John Comyn, around 1200 or a little later in Swords, just
north of Dublin. It was never strong in the military sense, but covers a
large pentagonal walled area of nearly 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) with a tower
on the north, probably the Constable's residence, and an impressive
gateway complex on the south. The warder may have occupied the quarters
to the left of the gate, while to the right was the janitor's room with
the priest's room overhead. The adjoining chapel, built in the late
thirteenth century, was probably used as the Archbishop's private
oratory.
Other buildings, recorded in an inquisition in 1326, have now vanished,
including the great hall on the east side of the enclosure. The
Archbishop abandoned Swords once a new palace was built at Tallaght in
1324 - a move no doubt encouraged by damage sustained during Bruce's
campaign of 1317. The stepped battlements suggest some form of occupancy
during the fifteenth century, but by 1583, when briefly occupied by
Dutch Protestants, it was described as "the quite spoiled old castle".
It was used as a garden in the nineteenth century and sold after the
Church of Ireland was disestablished.
Swords Castle is undergoing a significant redevelopment and is intended
to become a tourist attraction. The newly renovated castle was used as a
film location for the production of TV series The Tudors in spring 2010.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Old Vicarage
Dating from around 1730, now apartments with part of original building
retained.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Old Borough School
Main Street, now a public house. It was built in 1809 with fund awarded
after the Act of Union from the Borough of Swords was disenfranchised.
Designed by noted architect of the time, Francis Johnston. The story of
the school is well documented.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
St. Colmcille’s RC Church
On Chapel Lane, a pre-Catholic Emancipation church built in 1827 on a
site donated by James Taylor of Swords House. The graveyard contains
many interesting headstones, including one for Andrew Kettle, who was
known as "Parnell’s Righthand Man."
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
The Courthouse
North Street, built 1845 in Classical style, design by Alexander Tate.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Teachers’ Residences
North Street - built in 1890.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Carnegie Library
North Street, built in 1909. Redbrick building typical early 20th
century.
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Fingal County Hall
The award-winning modern Fingal County Hall by Bucholz McEvoy architects
dominates the northern end of Main Street. It is built on the site of
Swords House, the home of the Norman family of Taylors of Swords.
Records show the family came there in the 13th century and built a
‘Mansion House’ in 1403.
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
500s CE
THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS: A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse on Wednesday Evening.,
Sep. 12, 1860,
by THE LATE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM REEVES D.D., L.L.D., M.B.,
M.R.I.A.;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk (Republished 1970)
"Conspicious among the evangelical labourers in Ireland was St. Columba,
or Columbkille, whose genius and devotion have won for him a high place
in the annals of the Church of Christ. This man was born in Gartan, in
the county of Donegal, in 521. About the year 553 he founded the church
of Durrow, and previously to 563, when he departed from Ireland to Iona,
it is recorded that he founded your church of Swords.
The early Irish Life of him, to which I have already alluded, thus
relates the origin of your church and of its name "Columbkille founded a
church at Rechra (that is, the island of Lambay), in the cast of Bregia,
and left Colman, the Deacon, in it. Also he founded a church in the
place where Sord is at this day. He left a learned man of his people
there, namely, Finan Lobhar, and he left a gospel, which his own hand
wrote, there.
There also he dedicated a well named Sord, i.e., 'pure,' and he
consecrated a cross. One day that Columbkille and Cainnech were on the
brink of the tide, a great tempest raged over the sea, and Cainnech
asked, 'What saith the wave?' Columbkille answered, 'Thy people are in
danger yonder on the sea, and one of them has died, and the Lord will
bring him in unto us to-morrow to this bank on which we stand."
"As Bridget was one time walking through the Currach of Life (i.e., the
Curragh of Kildare), she viewed the beautiful shamrock-flowering plain
before her, whereupon she said in her mind, that if to her belonged the
power of the plain, she would offer it to the Lord of creation. This was
communicated to Columbkille in his monastery at Sord, whereupon he said
with a loud voice, 'Well has it happened to the holy virgin; for it is
the same to her in the sight of God as if the land she offered were in
her own right."' Hence St. Columba has always been regarded as the
founder and principal patron of the church of Swords. He died in 597, on
the 9th of June, and that day has been regarded as his festival in Scotland
as well as in Ireland."
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"The stately monuments of the past which still remain at Swords and Lusk
would convey a very false impression of the surroundings of these early
Celtic Christian communities. The round towers were not yet built.
Wattles, oaken planks, and mud were most commonly the materials which
formed the huts or bothies refectories, and churches of these
communities and their ambulatories were vaulted by the heavens. Dr.
Petrie says, stone was sometimes employed even in the case of these
early communities. Of course, examples of this material would alone
survive. ''Houses used for abbots and monks are of a circular or oval
form having dome roofs constructed without a knowledge of the principle
of the arch, and without cement, and all encompassed by a broad wall.
So, in the monastic establishment
of St. Molaise, at Inismurray, on the Bay of Sligo, and of St. Brendan,
at Inisglory, on the coast of Erris, Mayo." These encompassing walls
were sometimes fifteen feet high. Dr. Petrie thinks that these date from
the sixth century ; but he adds : "Most probably, in their monastic
houses and oratories, the Irish continued the Scotic custom of building
with wood until the twelfth or thirteenth century."
The discovery, in 2003, of a previously unknown cemetery at Mount Gamble
on the outskirts of Swords has shed new light on about 300 ancient
inhabitants of Swords. The cemetery was in use between AD550 and 1150,
from the end of the Iron Age to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans (the
early medieval period).
The site was located on a low hillock overlooking
Swords, on the southern suburban fringes of the village. This prominent
position was later utilised for the site of a previously unknown
windmill in the later medieval period. The windmill was a simple timber
post-mill built upon a timber frame. The foundations of the mill
survived as two intercutting foundation trenches in a simple cross
shape. The timber windmill pivoted on the centre point of the
intercutting cross-shaped foundation trenches.
The name of the site, Mount Gamble, derives from a
house built in the 18th century, which was finally demolished in the
1980s when a supermarket car park was constructed. Mount Gamble House is
reputed to have been built in 1701 by Sir Robert Molesworth. There was
no known record of a cemetery or folk tradition relating to burial at
Mount Gamble prior to its discovery during investigative archaeological
work, in advance of the development of a cinema at the site.
See:
Chapter
on Archaeological Excavations on Mount Gamble Hill: Stories from the
first Christians in Swords, page 64 – 74.
Glasmore Abbey (2013)
Lioscian, off St. Cronan’s
Avenue, Brackenstown Road, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Glassmore Abbey was founded by St Cronan about AD660 – a century later
than the founding of Swords. This interesting ruin and its adjacent well
are dedicated to St Cronan and are located in a green in the Lioscian
estate off Murrough Road. Under the rule of St Cronan, Glasmore Abbey
flourished sufficiently to attract the attention of the Northmen of
Inbher Domhnainn (Malahide) who raided and destroyed it and slew both
the abbot and his entire fraternity in one night. Since then the abbey
has been in ruins.
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"There is, about one mile and a-half to the north west of Swords, an
interesting old ruin and well. The ruin is called Glasmore Abbey. The
well is called St. Cronan's Well. The Abbey had been founded by this
saint about a century after Columba founded Swords. The annals tell us,
but with some disregard to the points of the compass : —
" Glasmore is a church near Swords in the south, whither came the Northmen of Inbher-Domnainn, and slew both Cronan and his entire
fraternity in one night. They did not let one escape. There was the
entire company crowned with martyrdom," (Archdall's Monasticon, p. 631.)
That fatal night was probably February the 10th, for that is the date
given in the calendar for the martyrdom of St. Cronan."
(h) Glasmore. About a mile N. W. of Swords, in a field S. of the road
from Swords to Rollestown, stand the ruins
which were left on the night when the Danes from Malahide destroyed the
abbey and killed its inmates. These ruins have the appearance of having
been long subsequently repaired or utilized for a dwelling or office. A
very large apartment, 36 feet square, remains, surrounded by massive
walls. Some wide low windows are at two sides. The corner stones of the
walls are very large. As the abbey was built at the most flourishing
period of the Fingal Celtic Church, special interest attaches to these
ruins, which can scarcely represent a revived abbey, as none such is
mentioned in diocesan records."
THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS: A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse on Wednesday Evening.,
Sep. 12, 1860,
by THE LATE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM REEVES D.D., L.L.D., M.B.,
M.R.I.A.;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk (Republished 1970)
"In Moortown, which is about an English mile N.-W. of you, on the way to
Killossory, at the left-hand side of the road is a curious, sombre-looking
ruin, and in the adjacent meadow is a well, with an old tree
overhanging, and having all the appearance of a holy well.
This place is marked on the Ordnance Map as the site of the Abbey of
Glassmore, and the Well as St. Cronan’s, who founded a church here,
before the middle of the seventh century. St. Cronan was martyred on the
10th February, as appears from the old entry in the Calendar.
“Glassmore is a church near Swords, on the south; whither came the Northmen of Inver Domnann, and slew both Cronan and his entire
fraternity in one night, so that they let no one escape; and there the
entire company was crowned with martyrdom.” "
Monasticon hibernicum: or, A history of the abbeys, priories, and
other religious houses in Ireland; interspersed with memoirs of their
several founders and benefactors, and of their abbots and other
superiors, to the time of their final suppression (1873)
Archdall, Mervyn, 1723-1791; Moran, Patrick Francis, 1830-1911, editor
Moortown
St. Cronan Mochua was the first who received the monastic habit from St. Carthag in his monastery of Rathenen.
A.D. 571 or 572, he placed St. Cronan over the church of
Cluain-Dachrann, near Rathenen ; he was afterwards a monk
of Lismore, and was probably abbot there; on quitting
which, he presided over the monastery of Glassmore,
where, on the 10th of February, he was inhumanly butchered,
together with all his monks, by a party of Danish pirates,
who landed at Inbher-domhnann*, a port in the east part of
Leinster, and not far from Dublin ; the year in which this un-
compassionate act was perpetrated, is uncertain, but we are told
that St. Cronan was living about the year 631 or 636. The
above account strongly evinces, that Glassmore was situated
near to Swords ; and as a further proof of this, the Calendarium Casselense tells us, that St. Cronan rests near
Swords, Surdum Sti. Columbani. From hence we may, with
some probability, infer, that the site of the ancient Glassmore,
and the present Moortown, are the same ; the latter is
situated about a mile from Swords.
*Inbhir Domhnaan was the old name for the harbour of Malahide, i.e., the
"estuary of the Damnonians," a people who gave their name to Devonshire,
in
England and to Erris Domhnaun, in Mayo. St. Cronan's well is marked on
the
Ordnance map at Moortown.
Site of
Glasmore Abbey in Lioscian (marked, just above 'New
Impressions' in the top left hand corner) off St Cronan's Ave, Brackenstown Road, Swords
Aerial view of Glasmore
Abbey in Lioscian
in green open area in the top left hand corner.
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
800s - 900s CE
Baile Bricín
Baile Bricín ("The Vision of Bricín") is a late Old Irish or Middle
Irish prose tale, in which St Bricín(e), abbot of Túaim Dreccon (Tomregan),
is visited by an angel, who reveals to him the names of the most
important future Irish churchmen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baile_Bric%C3%ADn).
Saint Bricín (c.590–650; also known as Bricin, Briccine, DaBreccoc,
Da-Breccocus) was an Irish abbot of Tuaim Dreccon in Breifne (modern
Tomregan, County Cavan), a monastery that flourished in the 7th century
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bric%C3%ADn).
By scribes in Irish monasteries. The story belongs to the Old Irish
period. Date range: c.800-900 (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G207008/).
"Tascor mara aidche mBuilt
tidnastar dó ind-InbiurSuird,
bid ór, bid arcad, bud glain,
bid fín mbárc ó Rómánchaib."
"A fleet from across the sea at night in Built
which will be delivered up to him in the estuary of Sord.
It will be gold, it will be silver, it will be crystal
It will be a wine-ship from (the) Romans."
References from Annals of the Four Masters 965 [M965.2 Ailill, son of Maenach, Bishop of Sord and Lusca;]
[celt] 993, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Maolsechlain."
[Reeves]
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"We can well believe that the towers of Swords and Lusk were often used
as stores for valuables, and as places for refuge during the centuries
of unrest we have described, more especially when we remember the frail
nature of the structures of the churches and monasteries at the time.
Indeed, the condition of Fingal at the probable time of the erection of
the towers of Swords and Lusk suggests the strong probability that
considerations of safety for person and for property were the chief
reasons for their erection."
"Of our two round towers. Swords is probably the older. Bishop Reeves
thinks it was erected during the ninth century, or early in the tenth
century. As in the case of the older towers, it has little ornament
about it. It stands alone. It is built of hammered stones, and it has
quadrangular doorways. Most of the towers have one doorway, about nine
feet
from the ground. Through this doorway refugees could gain admittance by
a ladder, which they could draw up after them in time of attack, and
thus, in days when artillery was unknown, be completely safe from every
method of assault but the one which proved successful at Slane ; for it
is quite conceivable that an immense fire round the base of a tower
could practically roast all the inmates. But the tower of Swords, like
only a few others, has a second door directly over the entrance doorway.
Both doorways are quadrangular. The lower or entrance doorway is at
present only a few feet from the ground. It is 6 feet high, 2 feet wide
at the top, and 2 feet 2 inches at the bottom. The upper doorway is 20
feet from the ground, 4 feet high, and 2 feet wide. The total height of
the tower is 75 feet. It is one
of those with the largest circumference, 55 feet, and with the thickest
walls, 4 feet 8 inches. Inside of the walls are projecting stones to
sustain four floors. An enthusiastic antiquarian, who was Vicar of
Swords from 1682 to 1704, resolved to suggest to succeeding generations
that this tower had evidently a Christian origin. He placed the cross on
the apex of the cone which still caps the tower. Under this cone are
four large openings directly facing the four
points of the compass."
References from Annals of the Four Masters 1016, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Sitric, son of Aniat, and the
Danes of Dublin." [Reeves]
1020 [M1020.6 The burning of Cluain-Iraird, Ara, Sord, and
Cluain-mic-Nois.] [celt]
1020, "Sord of Columcille was plundered by Connor O Maclachlann, who
burned it, and carried away many captives, and vast herds of cows."
[Reeves]
1023. Maelmaire Ua Cainen, wise man, and Bishop of
Sord-Choluim-Chille, died [archive.org]
1028. Gilla- christ, son of Dubhchuillinn, a noble priest of Ard-Macha,
died at Ros-Commain.
Coiseanmach, son of Duibheachtgha, successor of Tola ; Gillapadraig Ua
Flaith- bheartaigha, airchinneach of Sord ; Cormac, priest of
Ceanannus ; Maelpadraig Ua Baeghalain, priest of Cluain-mic-Nois ;
Flaithnia Ua Tighernain, lector of Cill-Dacheallog w ; and Cearnach,
Ostiarius of Cluain-mic-Nois, died. [archive.org]
1031, "Sord of Columcille was burned and plundered by Connor
O'Maclachlann, in revenge for the death of Raghnall, son of Ivar, Lord
of Waterford, by the hand of Sitric, son of Anlaf." [Reeves]
1035 Raghnall, grandson of Imhar, lord of Port-Lairge, was slain at
Ath-cliath by Sitric, son of Amhlaeibh ; and Sord Choluim Chille
h was plundered and burned by Con-chobhar Ua Maeleachlainn, in revenge
thereof. [archive.org] [M1035.4 Ardbraccan was plundered by Sitric
afterwards, and Sord Choluim Chille was plundered and burned by
Conchobhar Ua Maeleachlainn, in revenge thereof.] [celt]
1042, "died Eochagan, herenach
of Slane, Lector of Sord, and a distinguished writer." [Reeves]
[M1042.3 Eochagan, airchinneach of Slaine, and lector of Sord,
and a distinguished scribe;] [celt]
1045, "An army was led by M'Eochaidh and Maolsechlann, with the
foreigners who burned Sord, and wasted Fingall." [Reeves]
1048 Aedh, son of Maelan Ua Nuadhait, airchinneach of Sord, was
killed on the night of the Friday of protection before Easter, in the
middle of Sord. [archive.org]
1056, "the fire of God (that is, lightning) struck the Lector of Sord, and tore asunder the sacred tree."
[Reeves] Lightning appeared and killed three at Disert-Tola, and a
learned man at Swerts" [Swords], "and did breake the great tree.
[archive.org]
1060 Maelchiarain Ua Robhachain, airchinneach of Sord-Choluim-Chille
; and Ailill Ua Maelchiarain, airchinneach of Eaglais-Beg [at
Cluain-mic-Nois], died. [archive.org]
1061 Mael- incited these of Delvyn-Beathra, with their kiaran O'Robucan,
Airchinnech of Swerts" king, Hugh O'Royrck, in their pursuite,
who [Swords], "mortuus est. [archive.org]
1069, "Lusc and Sord of Columcille were burned."
[Reeves] [M1069.4 Dun-da-leathghlas, Ard-sratha, Lusca, and
Sord-Choluim-Chille, were burned.] [celt]
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1100sCE
References from Annals of the Four Masters
1102, "Sord of Columcille was burned." [Reeves]
1130, "Sord of Columcille, with its churches and relics, was burned."
[Reeves] [M1130.1 Sord-Choluim-Chille, with its churches and
relics, was burned.] [celt]
1136 [M1136.6 Mac Ciarain, airchinneach of Sord, fell by the men
of Fearnmhagh.] [celt]
1138, "Sord burned." [Reeves] [M1138.3 Cill-dara,
Lis-mor, Tigh-Moling, and Sord, were burned.] [celt]
1150, "Sord burned." [Reeves] [M1150.6 Ceanannus,
Sord, and Cill-mor-Ua-Niallain,with its oratory, were burned.] [celt]
The following list is from the 12th-century The Book of Leinster,
formerly Lebar na Núachongbála list of abbesses and other
ecclesiastics and their communities owing allegiance to Kildare (pp.
1580-1583, cf. Corpus genealogiarum sanctorum Hiberniae, 112-18,
210-12). Most of the sites are near Kildare in Leinster although some
were as far away as Sligo and Tyrone.
"29. Dísert Brigte in Cell Suird" (near Swords, co. Dublin)
Gruffudd ap Cynan (c. 1055 – 1137) was a King of Gwynedd. In the
course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh
resistance to Norman rule, and was remembered as King of all Wales.
According to the Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Gruffudd was born in Dublin
and reared near Swords, County Dublin in Ireland.
Unusually for a Welsh king or prince, a near-contemporary biography of
Gruffudd, The history of Gruffudd ap Cynan, has survived. Much of
our knowledge of Gruffudd comes from this source, though allowance has
to be made for the fact that it appears to have been written as dynastic
propaganda for one of Gruffudd's descendants. The traditional view among
scholars was that it was written during the third quarter of the 12th
century during the reign of Gruffudd's son, Owain Gwynedd, but it has
recently been suggested that it may date to the early reign of Llywelyn
the Great, around 1200. The name of the author Is not known.
Most of the existing manuscripts of the history are in Welsh but these
are clearly translations of a Latin original. It is usually considered
that the original Latin version has been lost, and that existing Latin
versions are re-translations from the Welsh. However Russell (2006) has
suggested that the Latin version in Peniarth MS 434E incorporates the
original Latin version, later amended to bring it into line with the
Welsh text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruffudd_ap_Cynan).
"Cum in Anglia regnaret Edwardus dictus Confessor et apud Hybernos
Therdelachus rex, nascitur in Hybernia apud civitatem Dublinensem
Griffinus rex Venedotiae, nutriturque in loco Comoti Colomkelle dicto
Hybernice Swrth Colomkelle, per tria miliaria distante a duomo
suorum parentum."
(Translation from Latin)
"When Edward (called the Confessor) was ruling in England and King
Toirrdelbach was ruling over the Irish, there was born in Ireland in the
city of Dublin, Gruffudd, king of Gwynedd, and he was fostered in a
place in the commote of Colum Cille called in Irish Sord Coluim
Chille, which lies three miles away from the home of his parents."
Source: Vita Griffini Filii Conani: The Medieval Latin Life of
Gruffudd Ap Cynan, edited and translated by Paul Russell, University
of Wales Press, 2005 (reprinted 2012), pp.53-54 (With thanks to Prof
Michael Cronin, DCU http://michaelcronin.ie/)
Swords Sheela-na-gig
The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
A new sheela-na-gig (at Swords, Co. Dublin) Main Author: Dunlea, John (Rev.)
Citation: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland,
Ser. 7, Vol. XV, p. 114, 1945
A New Sheela-na-Gig.
Some time ago I noticed one of those grotesque female figures known as
Sheela-na-Gigs carved on a pillar which acted as a gate-post at Drynam
House
near Swords, Co.Dublin. It was in danger of destruction by farm-carts
passing
by, so I brought it to the notice of Mr. H. G. Leask, Inspector of
National
Monuments. He communicated with the National Museum and, on Mr.
Wilson of Drynam House graciously giving permission, the stone was
carefully
removed and is now preserved in the Museum.
JOHN DUNLEA, P.P.
(North Co. Dublin, Hon. Local Secretary).
Note : We are asked by the Irish Antiquities Division of the National
Museum to express their indebtedness to Mr. Wilson for his kind gift and
for
his cooperation in the removal of the stone; and to Father Dunlea for
the
preservation of a relic of our past and for his very active and
practical help
towards the acquisition of the carving.-Editor. For more information see:
http://sources.nli.ie/Record/PS_UR_033877
Swords Sheela-na-gig(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (Location: National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin)
For more information see the National Museum of Ireland:
http://www.museum.ie/en/collection/late-medieval.aspx
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"The institution of parishes in England was a gradual process ; it was
not completed until the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) . The
system had been adopted in the Danish city of Dublin long before the
English Conquest. The time of its introduction into Fingal is probably
about the year 1179, the date of a bull of Pope Alexander III. to
Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, in which the Pope — asserting
the authority he claimed as supreme and sovereign Pontiff — states that
he confirms to the Archbishop " the parochial churches of St. Thomas,
St. Nicholas, &c., in the city of Dublin,' thus speaking of the
parochial system as existing already in the city.
But when the Pope proceeds to confirm to the Archbishop the country
parts of the diocese, he mentions in his bull not parochial churches,
but simply churches ; for the old system of filial churches, dependent
on a mother church, and without territorial boundaries, existed still in
Fingal. Bishop Beeves has translated this bull, and has identified most
of the names mentioned in it. What were henceforth to be " the parochial
contents of the Diocese of Dublin " are set forth at length. It is only
necessary here to give that part of the bull relating to Fingal. The
Pope confirms to Archbishop O'Toole " the churches towns, and
possessions of the church committed to you, hereinafter named, to wit,''
Lusca (Lusk, which extended to the northern boundaries of the diocese
and the county, including Balrothery and Balungan), with all that
belongs to it; Sordum (Swords), with all its appurtenances within
and without ; Finglas, with all its appurtenances, saying moreover the
half of Rechrannu (Lambay), and the port of Rechrann (Portrane) ;
Rathchillin (Clonmethan), Glasnedin (Glasnevin), with its mill ;
Duncuanach (Drumcondra), Balengore (near Coolock), Killesra (Killester),
Cenannsale (Kinsaley), Clochar (St. Doulagh's), Rathsalehan (?Kilsallaghan),
the island of the former sons of Nessan (Ireland's Eye, including its
chapel of Kilbarrack)."
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1200s CE
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"APPENDIX I.— A.D. 1275.
Extracts from the "Crede Mihi," relating to Fingal. The " Crede Mihi" is
the oldest existing record of the state of the
Parishes in the Diocese of Dublin. The record was made about A.D. 1275,
according to Archbishop Ussher. The original is in the custody of the
Archbishop of Dublin. There is a transcript in the Library, T.C.D.,
which is somewhat difficult to decipher accurately. Some of the
observations are notes afterwards added by Archbishop Allen, A.D. 1528—
1534. N.B. — For the sake of more easy reference and comparison, the
Parishes in each of the following eight Appendices are put in the same
order, and grouped as they were in 1S86.
XI. Swerdes (Swords), Church of. Archbishop Patron,
Thomas Comyn, with Chapels —
Killythe (Killeek).
Lispobel.
Kilrery (Killossory).
Kilsalthan (Kilsallaghan), Church of, belongs to Abbot of St. Thomas for
his own use.
Chapelmidway (not mentioned).
Kinsale (Kinsaley), Church of, belongs to Swords. "
THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS: A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse on Wednesday Evening.,
Sep. 12, 1860,
by THE LATE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM REEVES D.D., L.L.D., M.B.,
M.R.I.A.;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk (Republished 1970)
"In 1326, Alexander de Bicknor, the Archbishop, having displeased the
king, and further, being greatly in arrear in his accounts as Lord
Treasurer, the king seized into his hands the profits of the see, in
satisfaction for the deficiency; and, in order to ascertain the
available amount, Inquisitions by jurors were held before the Sheriff in
the various manors.
That on Swords was sped at Dublin, on the 14th March, 1326, and twenty
jurors were empanelled. The result of their finding, as regards the
palace of Swords, was as follows:-
“Who being sworn, say on their oath, that there is in this place a hall,
and the chamber adjoining said hall, the walls of which are of stone,
crenelated after the manner of a castle, and covered with shingles.
“Further, there is a kitchen, together with a larder, the walls of which
are of stone, roofted with shingles. And there is in the same place a
chapel, the walls of which are of stone, roofed with shingles. Also
there was in the same place a chamber for friars, with a cloister, which
are now prostrate. Also, there are in the same place a chamber, or
apartment, for the constables by the gate, and four chambers for
soldiers and wardens, roofed with shingles, under which are a stable and
bake-house.
“Also, there was here a house for a dairy, and a workshop, which
are now prostrate. Also, there is on the premises in the haggard a shed
made of planks, and thatched with straw. Also, a granary, built with
timber, and roofed with boards. Also, a byre, for the housing of farm
horses and bullocks.
"The profits of all the above-recited premises, they return as of no
value, because nothing is to be derived from them, either in the letting
of the houses, or in any other way. And they need thorough repair,
inasmuch as they are badly roofed."
Thus we perceive that so early as 1326, these buildings were beginning
to suffer from the effects of time.
In 1380, the manor of Swords was seized again into the king's hands by
Sir Nicholas Daggerworth, a Commissioner of Forfeitures, on the plea
that the conditions of 1216 had not been fulfilled. In the return,
however, of said Sir Nicholas to a writ de certiorari, he
confessed that cause had not been shown why the said manor should be so
seized.
Accordingly, a writ of restitution to Robert de Wykeford, the
Archbishop, was issued by the Treasurers and Barons of the Exchequer.
There is no evidence that this place was repaired so as again to become
a residence of the Archbishop. Probably it was not, for in 1324 was
erected by Alexander de Bicknor the archiepiscopal palace of Tallaght,
in the south part of the county, which for centuries continued to be
employed as the country scat of the Archbishop."
Swords Castle.
Drawn by Geo Holmes Engraved by J and H S Storer
Published by Sherwood,
Jones and ... (1824)
1400s CE
THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS: A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse on Wednesday Evening.,
Sep. 12, 1860,
by THE LATE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM REEVES D.D., L.L.D., M.B.,
M.R.I.A.;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk (Republished 1970)
"The only remains of the early ecclesiastical structures that adorned
this place, is the belfry tower of the old church, a square building of
the 14th or 15th century ; one of the ancient round towers, 73 feet
high, and 52 foot in circumference ; and the archbishop's palace. The
latter was an extensive structure in the centre of a court, encompassed
by embattled walls, flanked by towers, the inner portion of which is now
a garden. There was also a Nunnery here, as appears on record by a
pension being granted by Parliament in 1474, to the Lady Prioress and
her successors."
Monasticon hibernicum: or, A history of the abbeys, priories, and
other religious houses in Ireland; interspersed with memoirs of their
several founders and benefactors, and of their abbots and other
superiors, to the time of their final suppression (1873)
Archdall, Mervyn, 1723-1791; Moran, Patrick Francis, 1830-1911, editor
"Nunnery
In the 14th year of the reign of King Edward IV., A.D.
1474, we find an actual grant, by the parliament, of 20s.
yearly out of the revenue of the crown, to Eleanora, prioress
of Swords, and her successors. But we meet with no other
account of this nunnery.
There are in this village some ruins of a palace, which was
formerly the residence of the archbishops of Dublin. "
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1500s CE
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
The castles of Baldungan and Swords were built for ecclesiastics. They must have been
the two strongest castles in the district. The Archbishop of Dublin was
a great feudal baron as well as a great ecclesiastic. About the year
1200 he fixed on Swords for his country residence, and built the castle
whose ruins still remain. Swords had become, within two centuries of the
conquest, an immensely wealthy parish. Archbishop Allen (1532) says it "
was called the golden, as if it were virtually a bed full of gold." The
Archbishop had a large share of this wealth, and here he lived as a
prince bishop, dispensing profuse hospitality, and rigorously enforcing
English law."
"The Romish persecutions on the continent helped the Reformation in
Fingal. In 1583, Sir Henry Sydney, the Queen's Lord Deputy, planted
forty families of Protestant refugees from the Low Countries in the old
Castle of Swords. It is significantly related of them: "Truly it would
have done any man good to see how diligently they worked and how they
re-edified the quiet spoiled castle of the town, and repaired almost all
the same and how godly and cleanly their lives and children lived." "
The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
JRSAI Vol. 105 (1975)
Thomas Fanning: 'An Irish medieval tile pavement: recent excavations
at Swords Castle, County Dublin', 47-82.
Betha Choluim Chille / The Life of Colum Cille
Manus Ó Domhnaill, anglicized Manus O'Donnell (died 1564), was an
Irish clan leader, son of Hugh Dubh O'Donnell. He was an important
member of the O'Donnell dynasty based in County Donegal. Manus
O'Donnell, though a fierce warrior, was hospitable and generous to the
poor and the Church. He is described by the Four Masters as "a learned
man, skilled in many arts, gifted with a profound intellect, and the
knowledge of every science." At his castle of Portnatrynod near Strabane
he supervised, if he did not actually dictate, the writing of the Life
of Saint Columbkille in Irish, which is preserved in the Bodleian
Library (Rawlinson B 514) at Oxford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manus_O%27Donnell).
"Fothaigis eclais isin inad h-itá Sord indiú. Fácbais fer
sruith diá muntir and .i. Finan Lobur. & facbais in soscéla ro scrib a
lám fodessin. Tóirnis tra ann tipra dia n-ainm Sord .i. glan. &
senais croiss." [P. 114]
(http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G201011/)
(Translation)
"Colum Cille founded a church there, and that is 'Swords of Colum
Cille' today. Colum Cille left a good man from his own household
there as his successor, Finan the Leper, and he left there the missal
which he himself had written. Colum Cille blessed Swords and he
blessed its well - Glan ['Clean'] is its name - and he left a cross
there."
The Life of Colum Cille by Manus O'Donnell [1532] [ed. Brian Lacey]
(Four Courts Press, Dublin 1998)
Manuscript: National Library of Ireland, Dublin (D. 2878)
"Letters patent of Queen Elizabeth granting to the Earl of Ormonde lands
in Cloghrane Swordes, Curragh, and Rath in Killosserie, Co. Dublin, part
of the property of John Burnell, attainted, and Rathnenmeddaghe, Co.
Westmeath, part of the lands of Oliver FitzGerald, attainted, Sept. 24,
1574."
Manuscript: Dublin: National Library of Ireland, Genealogical Office:
Ms.47, pp.22-3
"Visitation Certificate of Robert Tayloure of Sweerdes, Co. Dublin, with
descent from Barnewell and of Ales Fitz Symon, his wife and Joan Ience,
his daughter in law, 1572."
Slate tombstones set into the floor of
St Columba's Church.This new church of early
Gothic style was built in 1811 on the foundations of the
old.
Slate tombstones
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Blakeney slate tombstone 1587
transferred to the new
St Columba's Church in 1811
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2013)
The oldest stone in St
Columba's Church and Graveyard to the memory of James
Blakeney and several members of his family who were wiped
out by the plague.
"Orate pro a[n]i[m]abus Jacobi Blakeney Elizabeth Taillor
Alisone [&] Anne Margarete Wallye et Wilhelm Blakeney qui
obijt X die Janary a[nn]o d[omi]ni 1587 et iacent in hoc
tumulo."
"Pray for the souls of James Blakeney, Elizabeth Taillor
Alisone and Anne and Margaret Wallye and Willliam Blakeney
who died on the 10th day of January A.D. 1587 and lie in
this tomb."
See also: In Fond Remembrance: Headstone Inscriptions from St
Columba's Graveyard, No.2. Fingal Heritage Group (1989)
Hewetson slate tombstone 1694
transferred to the new
St Columba's Church in 1811
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2013)
Scardevile slate
tombstone 1703
transferred to the new
St Columba's Church in 1811
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2013)
1600sCE
Scardevile mural monument 1703
(detail)
The Skull & The Hourglass ("The life expectancy in England’s 1700s was only about 35 years, in
large part due to high infant and child mortality rates. Those who lived
in the early colony of Virginia in seventeenth-century New England could
expect to live less than 25 years, with about 40 percent dying before
reaching adulthood. With such short life spans, it made sense for
gravestones to have hourglasses on them to indicate the quick passage of
time.")
See:
https://blog.billiongraves.com/winged-skull-gravestone-symbols/?utm_source=billiongraves&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bg_blog20_Dec2
Francis Taylor Merchant and Alderman of Dublin
Born c1550 at Swords Co Dublin
Sculpture at St Mary's Pro Cathedral, Marlborough St, Dublin.
(December 2018)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2018)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2018)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2018)
Headstone Discovered At Aldi Site
The discovery of what looked to be a
grave at the site of the new Aldi store at Seatown Road in Swords, may
well prove to be a stumbling block to the completion of the project on
time.
The memorial structure, which may well turn out to be a headstone was
discovered by workmen as they excavated the site. The stone is in memory
of Robert Russell and is dated 1627 and is located in the centre of
where the car park is to be sited. See:
http://www.northcountyleader.ie/2016/05/31/headstone-discovered-at-aldi-site/
Antiquarian Notes, Etc., of the Parishes of Santry and
Cloghran, County Dublin
Benjamin W. Adams
The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological
Association of Ireland , Fourth Series, Vol. 5, No.
46 (Apr., 1881), pp. 482-498
"1681. June 30th, Henry Scardevile, D.D., Chaplain to Duke
Schomnerg, succeeded to these Parishes. [Lib. Mun.] 4
September, 1691, he became Dean of Cloyne, and dying, 3 February, 1703
was buried in the Chancel of Swords Church, where his tombstone
and mural monument remain; the inscriptions are given in Brady's
Records, vol.ii., p. 200."
Scardevile slate
tombstone 1703
transferred to the new
St Columba's Church in 1811
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2013)
Scardevile mural monument 1703
transferred to the new
St Columba's Church in 1811
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (2013)
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888) "On the 9th of December, 1641, the Irish army of the Pale assembled at
Swords under the leadership of many of the Roman Catholic gentry of the
county. A contingent, which had been at first assembled at Santry, under
Luke Netterville, joined them. The Lords Justices issued a proclamation
calling upon this army of insurgents to disperse, and ordering that nine
of the chief leaders should come before the Council the next morning, to
explain their conduct. This proclamation having been disregarded, Sir
Charles Coote was sent against the rebels. He was a good but stern
soldier ; he made short work of the insurgents. He burned the village of
Santry, and slew some rioters there ; and finding Swords fortified, he
stormed it, put its defenders to flight, and killed about two hundred of
them. At Kilsallaghan the Earl of Fingal, with some of the Barnewalls,
Seagraves, and others, assembled a force about the castle. It is stated
that their position was made very strong by the woods surrounding the
castle, and by defences which they raised. It was not strong enough,
however, to resist the Earl of Ormond, who attacked and carried it,
driving the enemy out of the castle, which be left a ruin, and in that
condition it has remained ever since."
Swords Castle.
Mrs Hall Travels around Ireland (1843)
Russell / Cruise grave - St Columba's Church and Cemetery
Transcription:
Grave
St Columba's Church and Cemetery (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
Sir CHARLES COOTE, (d. 1642)
COOTE, Sir CHARLES (d. 1642), military commander in Ireland, was the
elder son of Sir Nicholas Coote of an old Devonshire family, and first
landed in Ireland in 1600 as captain in Mountjoy's army, and served in
the wars against O'Neill earl of Tyrone. He was present at the siege of
Kinsale in 1602, and on 4 June 1605 was appointed provost-marshal of the
province of Connaught for life with the fee of 5s. 7½d. per day, and
twelve horsemen of the army. On 23 Nov. 1613 he was appointed general
collector and receiver of the king's composition money in Connaught for
life. In 1620 he was promoted vice-president of Connaught, and sworn a
member of the privy council, and on 2 April 1621 was created a baronet
of Ireland. On 7 May 1634 he was made ‘custos rotulorum’ of Queen's
County, which he represented in the parliament of 1639.
At the outbreak of the rebellion in 1641 he was in the possession of
property, chiefly in Connaught, valued at 4,000 l. a year. In November
after it commenced he had a commission to raise a thousand men, and was
appointed governor of Dublin. On the 29th he marched towards Wicklow
with five hundred foot and eighty horse for the relief of the castle,
and, having effected his purpose, returned in haste to place Dublin in a
state of defence, defeating on the way Luke O'Toole at the head of a
thousand native troops. Cox (History of Ireland) states that he was
‘very rough and sour in his temper,’ and committed ‘acts of revenge and
violence with too little discrimination.’ In December he was accused by
the lords of the Pale of having thrown out suggestions for a general
massacre of the Irish catholics; but the lords justices cleared him of
the imputation (Sir John Temple's Irish Rebellion, pp. 23–4).
On the 15th of this month he sent a party of horse and foot to fall upon
the rebels in the king's house at Clontarf, and on 11 Jan. he dislodged
fourteen hundred men out of Swords. On 23 Feb. he accompanied the
Earl of Ormonde to Kilsaghlan, and drove the Irish out of their
entrenchments. On 10 April he was despatched with Sir Thomas Lucas and
six troops of horse to relieve Birr. On the way he had to pass a
causeway which the rebels had broken, and at the end of which they had
cast up entrenchments, which were defended by a large force, but
advancing at the head of thirty dragoons he compelled them to retreat
with a loss of forty men. He then relieved in succession Birr, Burris,
and Knocknamease, and after forty-eight hours on horseback returned to
camp late on the 11th without the loss of a single man.
From this successful dash through the district of Mountrath, the title
of earl of Mountrath was taken by his eldest son when he was raised to
the peerage. After taking part in the battle of Kilrush under the Earl
of Ormonde against Lord Mountganet, Coote assisted Lord Lisle,
lieutenant-general of horse, to capture Philipstown and Trim. At the
break of day that town was, however, surprised by the Irish with three
thousand men, when Coote issued out of the gate with seventeen horsemen
and routed them, but was shot dead, 7 May 1642.By his marriage with Dorothea, younger daughter and coheiress of
Hugh Cuffe of Cuffe's Wood in the county of Cork, he had four sons and
one daughter, his eldest son being Charles, lord Mountrath [q. v.] [Cox's History of Ireland; Carte's Life of Ormonde; Lodge's Peerage
of Ireland (Archdall), ii. 63–8; Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerage
(1883), pp. 133–4; Gilbert's History of the Irish Confederation (1882);
Cal. State Papers, Irish Series.] For more information see:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Coote,_Charles_%28d.1642%29_%28DNB00%29
Charles Coote and Dorothea Cuffe have other
descendants:
Charles Coote m. Dorothea Cuffe
.CHARLES COOTE 1 E MOUNTRATH
.Richard Coote 1 B Coote of Coloony m. Mary St George
.Laetitia Coote m. Robert Molesworth 1 V Molesworth of Swords
.Richard Molesworth 3 V Molesworth of Swords m. Mary Ussher
.Louisa Molesworth m. William Brabazon Ponsonby 1 B Ponsonby of
Imokilly
.Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby m. Charles Grey 2 E Grey
.Elizabeth Grey m. John Croker Bulteel
.Louisa Emily Charlotte Bulteel m. Edward Charles
Baring 1 B Revelstoke
.Margaret Baring m. Charles Robert Spencer
6 E Spencer
.Albert Edward John Spencer 7 E
Spencer m. Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton
.Edward John Spencer 8 E
Spencer m. Frances Ruth Burke Roche
.DIANA FRANCES SPENCER
(1961-1997) m. Charles Prince of Wales
Clontarf became a significant location in Irish History, more than a
century before the Castle was built. Brian Boru, the High King of
Ireland, and the famous Battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday, 23rd April
1014, will always be associated with and central to the history of the
Clontarf area.
It all began when Mael Morda, King of Leinster, began to plot against
Brian Boru. Mael Morda made an alliance with Sitric, the Viking King of
Dublin, who was assisted by the Vikings of the Orkney Islands and the
Isle of Man. Brian Boru marched against them and the great battle was
fought at Clontarf.
It ended in victory for Boru's army. However, on the night of the
victory, Boru was praying in his tent, surrounded by five men, who were
guarding him. A small group of Vikings, who were retreating from the
battle through a wooded area, close to the site of what is now Clontarf
Castle, came across the guarded tent. Realising who was being protected;
they killed all five guards and went on to kill Brian Boru, who by now
was 72 years of age.
In 1172 Hugh de Lacy built the castle as an inner circle of defence
sites protecting Dublin.
In 1641 Luke Netherville of Corballis (near Donabate) and an army of
12,000 men took possession of Artane Castle and village in defence of
their religious beliefs.
George, King of Clontarf, then owner of Clontarf Castle joined in the
rebellion. Netherville and the King seized a vessel believed to contain
the weapons and ammunition of the enemy. After they seized the weapons
they returned to Swords and a lot of the local farmers and
fishermen joined Netherville's rebellious army.
On 15th December 1641, the Puritan Republic General, Sir Charles Coote,
led a troop of soldiers into Clontarf to quell the rebel activities. He
found most of the ships cargo of weapons and ammunition in George King's
Clontarf Castle. Then the massive sum of 400.00 was put on the King's
head and the Castle was confiscated. Coote marched on to Swords
and defeated Netherville and his rebel army.
Powerful landowner in Ireland whose fierce anti-Catholicism drove him to
commit massacres and atrocities against the Irish insurgents
On the outbreak of the Irish Uprising of October 1641, Coote was
appointed governor of Dublin and commissioned to raise a regiment.
Despite his advanced age, he was active in leading raids against
insurgent positions around Dublin. He advanced south to secure Wicklow
in November 1641 then marched north early in 1642, defeating the rebels
at Swords and Kilsallaghan to secure the northern approaches to
Dublin. Coote was accused of killing innocent civilians on the Wicklow
expedition and of calling for the massacre of all Catholics. He ordered
the burning of farms and villages, which destroyed the logistical
resources of the insurgents but intensified the hatred of the Irish
population towards the Protestant government. Coote's ferocious
anti-Catholicism is said to have influenced several "Old English"
noblemen of the Pale to join the insurrection on the side of the rebels.
Sir Charles Coote and the 1641 Rebellion in Ireland SLAIN A. D. 1642.
From The Irish Nation: Its History and Its Biography
By James and Freeman Wills
For some time before, there had been a considerable disposition to
insurrectionary movement along the whole coast, from Clontarf to the
county of Meath. Plunder and piracy had become frequent under the
relaxation of local jurisdiction, consequent upon the general terror;
and the fears of the government at last awakened them to a sense of the
necessity of guarding against so near a danger. Several of the gentry
also of these districts had committed themselves by acts of no doubtful
character; and it was with their known sanction that strong parties of
armed men were collected in Clontarf, Santry, Swords, Rathcoole,
&c.: these parties committed numerous acts of violence and overawed the
peaceful, while they gave encouragement to the turbulent. The party here
particularized was evidently under the sanction of Mr King, a gentleman
of the popular party, in whose house they stored their plunder; they
were in strict combination with the people of Clontarf, who had actually
formed a part of their strength and joined them with their
fishing-boats. We mention these facts because the summary statement that
Sir Charles Coote expelled them from Clontarf, by burning both Mr King's
house and the village, must otherwise place the act in a fallacious
point of view. Coote acted in this as on every occasion with the
sweeping severity of his harsh character; but the unpopularity of his
character, and of the lords-justices to whom he was as an arm of defence,
seems to have diverted the eye of history from the obvious fact, that in
this, as upon many other occasions, he did no more than the emergency of
the occasion called for.
It was but a few days after that he was compelled to march to the relief
of Swords, which was occupied by 1400 men. They barricaded all
the entrances. Coote forced these passages, and routed them with a
slaughter of 200 men.
A Memoir on Ireland Native and Saxon
Daniel O’Connell, 1843
To come back to Dublin county. The author of the “Collection,” speaking
of the first week in November, 1641, says, -
“In the same week, 56 men, women, and children, of the village of
Bulloge, (being frightened at what was done at Clontarf,) took boats and
went to sea, to shun the fury of a party of soldiers come out of Dublin
under the command of Colonel Crafford; but being pursued by soldiers in
other boats, were overtaken, and thrown over board. One Russell, a baker
in Dublin, coming out of the country in company with Mr. Archbold of
Clogram (who went to take hold of the proclamation of the Lords
Justices,) were both hanged and quartered. In March, a party of horse,
of the garrison of Donshaghlin, murdered seven or eight poor people in
protection, tenants of Mr. Dillon of Huntstowne, having quartered in
their houses the night before, and receiving such entertainment as the
poor people could afford. About the same time, a party of the English
quartered at Malahyde, hanged a servant of Mr. Robert Boyne’s at the
plough, and forced a poor labourer to hang his own brother: and soon
after they hanged 15 of the inhabitants of Swords who never bore
arms, in the orchard of Malahyde; they likewise hanged a woman bemoaning
her husband hanged among them.”
“Tuesday, December 7, a party of foot being sent out into the
neighbourhood of Dublin in quest of some robbers that had plundered an
house at Buskin, came to the village of Santry, and murdered some
innocent husbandsmen, (whose heads they brought into the city in
triumph, and among which were one or two Protestants,) under pretence
that they had harboured and relieved the rebels who had made inroads and
committed depredations in those parts. Hard was the case of the country
people at this time, when not being able to hinder parties of robbers
and rebels breaking into their homes and taking refreshments there, this
should be deemed a treasonable act, AND SUFFICIENT TO AUTHORIZE A
MASSACRE. This following so soon after the executions, which Sir Charles
Coote… had ordered in the county of Wicklow, among which, when A SOLDIER
WAS CARRYING ABOUT A POOR BABE ON THE END OF HIS PIKE, he” [namely,
Coote] “was charged with saying THAT HE LIKED SUCH FROLICS, made it
presently be imagined that it was determined to proceed against all
suspected persons in the same undistinguishing way of cruelty; and it
served either for an occasion or pretence to some Roman Catholic
gentlemen of the county of Dublin (among which were Luke Netterville,
George Blackney, and George King) to assemble together at Swords,
six miles from Dublin, and put themselves with their followers in a
posture of defence.”- Carte’s Ormond, I. 244-5.
Language and Linguistic Evidence in the 1641 Depositions is an AHRC-funded,
multidisciplinary project that aims to develop new ways of interacting
with a digitized corpus of Early Modern English witness testimonies. The
1641 Depositions comprise approximately 4,000 depositions or 20,000
pages of newly-digitized and transcribed witness testimony, originally
collected by government-appointed commissioners, regarding the rebellion
by the Catholic Irish in 1641. These statements constitute the chief
evidence for the sharply contested allegation that the rebellion began
with a general massacre of Protestant settlers, and they have been
central to protracted and bitter historical dispute.
Hewetson slate tombstone (1694)
St Columba's Church, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Christopher Hewetson late of Swords in the County of Dublin gent
sworne and examined deposeth and sayth. That since the insurreccion of
the rebellion in this Kingdome of Ireland (vzt) On &
Betweene the first day of November and the first day of January last
past, hee this deponent (at Swords and in the parish thereof) in
County of Dublin, and at Newcastle and other lands in the County of
Wexford. was Robbed expelled and depriued by the rebbells of his goods
and Chattells and of the seuerall vallues hereafter expressed (vzt) of
Cowes and horses forty pounds ster of hey tenn pounds
housouldstuffe Eight pounds houses destroyed by the rebbells; and by
fier, by his maiestie army, when the rebells incamped therethat went vnto Swords forty pounds at the least And
this deponent for this yeare one thousand sixe hundred forty and one
hath beene alsoe by the said Rebbells dispoyled expelled & stripped of
rents and proffitts of seuerall lands letten vnto tennants and in his
owne custody within the seuerall Countys of Dublin and Wexford aforesaid
amounting to the sume and his present loss of 50 li. and this deponent
further sayeth that hee had at the the tyme of the beginning of the
rebellion aforesaid, in the County of dublin and Wexford the sume of 210
li. in morgage vpon certayne lands in the sayd Countys which sume of
mony by reason of the aforesaid rebellion this deponent is depriued
thereof, and the present benefitts of the land wherevpon the said 210 li.
was disbursed, Alsoe at the tyme of the begining of the
rebellion aforesaid this deponent had in debts due vnto him vpon
specialty satutestaple and otherwise in the Countys aforesaid the Sume
of 250 li. which by reason of the said rebellion this deponent verily
beleeueth that he is vtterly depriued of them, And this deponent sayth
further that at the tymebegining of the aforesaid
rebellion he had seuerall leases in the Countys aforesaid at easy rents
whereout he receiued declaro all his landlords rents dischardged the
sume of 60 li. per annum which from henceforth he is likly to be
depriued of: And this deponent for his future loss and damage can giue
noe estimate of the same And he further sayth that so many of
the rebells that soe robbed <A> and spoyled him that he can name as he
was informed by his seruants are Lawrence Rowen preests Barnaby [] Breahowne and Tho: Lynnan, of swords in the
County of Dublin.
Summa tot: 608 li. 0 li.
Christopher Hewetson
Jurat: martij 5o 1641
Hen: Brereton
William Hitchcocke
452
summa – 608 li.- 0 s.
fol. 280v
453
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/36777
1641 Depositions
fol. 188r
276
The Examinacion of William Rowen of Finglas Butcher taken before us Sir
Richard Bolton Knight Lord Chancellor of Ireland & Sir Gerrard Lowther
Knight Lord Chief Justice of his Maiesties Court of Chief Pleas this
19th day of November 1641.
<L> This Examinant saith that upon Thursday last was fortnight at night
this Examinant Richard Delahide John Sephton Bartholomew Welsh Henry
Merrick John Coopland Patrick Weston Patrick Dillon & diuerse
others whose names hee now remembreth not were drinking together at the
howse of John England in Finglas were they stayed but saith
that he doth not remember that att that time or any other time they had
any discourse conerning the Rebells in in the North. And
saith that he never had any intention to goe towards neither
hee nor any other to his knowledge had any intention to goe towards the
Rebells in the North to k see in what state the stoode Hee
further saith that on the Sunday before they hearing by Sir Henry <M>
Tichborne his Coachman that there were three hundred Rebells in the
parish of Santry this Examinant said to John Sephton & others that if
Sir Edward Bagshaw would giue him leaue hee would goe to Santry to see
if that were true or not & thereupon the said John Sephton said that if
hee had a horse hee would bare him Company for his owne horse was
fallen lame this Examinant replyed that if hee would soe doe
per adventure they might borrow a horse in the Towne for
that purpose Hee further saith that the next morning after this
Examinant went to the Constablesto of Finglas &
tould him that he would had lost a Cow & that he would goe to
Santry as well to seeke for <N> his Cow as to know whether that report
were true or not And that hee went to Santry accordingly & there found a
Troupe of horse & enquired of of the Troupers & likewise of
the Townes people whether any Rebells had beene there or not who tould
him that there had bene none there & then this Examinant went to Swords
where he bought his Cow & likewise enquired there aswell for his Cow as
whether
any
fol. 188v
277
<O> any Rebells had bene there and the people of Swords tould him there
had bene none And then returning homeward he found his Cow at Dunbrow &
so came home & brought his Cow with him & tould his neighbours of
Finglas that the report made by Sir Henry Tichborne his Coachman was
altogether untrue And denyeth that either hee this Examinant or any
other to his Knowledge was promised any horse by the sa <P>
did promise the said John Sephton any horse to goe & help the rebells or
to any other purpose then is aboue expressed He farther denyeth that
euer he knew or heard of any plott or conspiracy for the taking or
burning the Towne of Finglas or any howse therein or
thereabouts or that Richard Delahide was levying or intended to leavy
any men to follow the Kings Sould souldiers to the North or
to any other purpose.
William Rowen
Ri: Bolton Canc
Gerrard Lowther
fol. 189r
fol. 189v
19o 9bris 1641.
The Examinacion of William
Rowen
19o Junij 1642
Thomas Lloyd of Swords in the Com of Dublin Clark maketh fayth
that sythence the Rebellion began he hath lost & bin Robbed & spoyled by
occasion of the Rebellion ofthe Rebellion of
ffoure Cows of English breed worth __________________________________ 10
li._0_0
Three Garrens worth ______________________________________________ 8
li._0_0
In houshould stuffe beare Coales & other provision _____________________
40 li._0_0
And that the persons undernamed are indebted vnto him in the somms
hearvnder written to their names & that all or most of them are in
rebellion or higly suspected to be soe
<A> James Lynam of Dublin merchant ______________________________
118_0_0
Richard Gouldinge of Kinsale gentleman _____________________________
40_0_0
Mychael Taylor of SwordesCom Dublin
_____________________________ 3_0_0
David McKey nere Drumballyrony in Com Downe [ ]
___________________ 7_0_0
Robert Bowen of Maybestowne in Com Dublin
_________________________ 8_0_0
<B> John Byam of Swords _________________________________________
1 li._16 s._0
William Russell of Swordseaton
_____________________________________ 7_10_0
Bartho: Lynam of Swordes
_________________________________________ 4_16_0
<C> Bartho: Enos of the fforrest Com Dublin
__________________________ 10_0_0
Bartho: Russell of SeatonSeaton Com Dublin
__________________________ 12_0_0
Besides three hundred & odd pownds owinge vnto him by diverse
protestants who pleadg that they are disabled to make satisfacon by
reason they were Robbed & spoyled sythence the beginige of the
rebellion.
<In toto 569 li.- [ ] -0>
Tho: Lloyd
Jur xviijo Junij 1642
Will: Hitchcocke
Will: Aldrich
fol. 165v
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37122
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1641 Depositions
fol. 244r
The Deposicion of Edward Leech of the Iland of
Lambay in gent who being sworne and examined
saith before his Maiesties Commissioners saith
<A> That on the 12th day of December 1641 John O Malony a fryer with
Thomas Hurlston and Jesper Hurlston both of Skerrys a Haven towne in the
County of Dublin and one Dennis Connor a Clarke in the Courts in Dublin
armed came to the Iland of Lambay aforesaid neere Howth, in one
Boate belonging to the Ilandarmed,
and two Boats more with other men armed in them being of
the Inhabitants of Rushe came to the m & thatthereabouts
and sixe or seaven boats more (that putt not off from the mayne
shoore) at Rush neere the Skerryes aforesaid which Boats
were ready as the ffryer said and were directed to followe them if
they should make a fyre, with men in them to ayde them as this deponent
heard them say. Imediatly vpon the landing of the said ffryer in the
Iland he sent to this Deponent a Lettre without date offring this
deponent quarter (if he would leave all to him) voweing by the Allmighty
if he refused this gratious offer to kill man woman and Child belonging
to the said deponent Soone after the said ffryer came vpp to the Castle,
and told this deponent what he must trust vnto And this deponent being
vnable to resist (his owne servants and the whole Tennants of the Iland
being Papists f Leaving him) he submitted to the ffryers
pleasure, who ransaked the Castle, and tooke all that he had within
doores and without (saue xx s. which he left this deponent
out of 7 li. 9 s. 6 d. in money which he tooke from him.)
this deponent and two Caddowes with & certaine wearing
apparrell) and allsoe he left withtooke from
a sonne in Lawe of this deponent xx s. out of xiij li. xvij s. which he
tooke from him And afterwards he gave to this Deponent and his Company,
a passe calling himselfe Chaplen Maior of the Catholique Army and
Ouerseer of the Coasts & harbours and caused this deponent the next
day and his family the next day to be landed at Howth, and would
not suffer them to stay at Lambay alleadgeing he did intend the Castle
of Lambay for a storehouse for the Catholique Armye And as the said
Deponent and his family were travelling from Howth to Dublin on the
xiiijth of December 1641 they were robbed of all their apparrell and
what other
491
fol. 244v
other things the ffryer left them (saue the mony & Clothes on their
back s ) neere vnto the towne of <B> Clantarfe vizt (vpon
the uery lands of Clantarfe the vsuall place of salting
herrings) by the Inhabitants neere adioyning. And this deponent further
saith that vpon his landing at Howth he found the Inhabitants there
keeping strict watch & ward for feare of their neighbours then in armes,
and were loath to enterteine this deponent alleadgeing that they should
fare the worse for it (he being a protestant) & an english man) Hee
allsoe saith that the Rebbells who robbed th him of
and the rest, at that tyme said thay they were souldiers vnder the
commande of Captain Richard Golding of Kinsaly two or three myles
distant from the place and that the said Captain was the same tyme with
others at Swords & wished this deponent to goe thither vnto him
which he refused to doe. Hee allsoe saith that at the same time
he refused to goe through the towne of Clantarfe, andbut
came by the sea side hearing and fearing worse vsage in the Towne. Hee
allsoe saith that at the same tyme he heard there were 300 men in Armes
in the Wood of Tartaine <C> belonging to Mr Hollywood (adioyning to
Clantarfe) Hee allsoe saith that the said ffryer shewed this deponent
two Commissions (which as he alleadged were from the King of Spaine)
sealed with Crucifixes, which he said was to authorize him to doe what
he did, And the said ffryer tooke a Masse booke out of his pockett &
swore by the contents thereof, that he was the first man that drewe the
plott for the present Rebellion in Ireland and that he himselfe in
person had acquainted the Pope and all the Kings in Christendome
therewith excepte the King of England and the King of Denmark and that
some Collonells in Dublin, had had mony of him, for to rayse men for
Spaine, and that he had kept them aboard for some tyme within the harbor
of Dublin
492
fol. 245r
Dublin, and that it was resolved by them meaning the Catholicks
armie, then that not the Spawne of an English protestant
should be left in Ireland very shortly. He said he was well acquainted
with the Lord Justice Parsons and bid this deponent tell the Lo: Justice
Parsons soe much, and allsoe saith that they (meaning those who hade
taken Armes) had noe reason to complaine of their greivances to the
Lords Justices because they had noe power to intermedle therein Hee
allsoe said that they had both powder, and Ordnance makeing in Ireland,
and when the deponent desired his Bible, which the said ffryer tooke
from him with other Books, he refused to give it, andbut
told this Deponent that he was sworne to burne all the protestant Bibles
that came to his hands. The said ffryer vsed many perswasions to this
deponent and his wife to turne to their Religion and promised them, that
if they would soe to <D> doe, they should goe with him to the
howse of Mr Barnewell of Brymore, and fare noe worse then he did, and
that if they would trye, if they lyked it not, he would leaue them safe
in at the Walls of Dublin, which this Deponent refused, and
then he comanded the Inhabitants of the Iland on paine of death to looke
to the Cattle and goods there to the vse of the Catholique Armye Hee
allsoe saith that in the way as he came by the sea syde from Howth to
Dublin, with his Company being about 13teene all on foote saue his wife
and haueing their Books goods at their backs and on
vppon one Carre, there were many of the women of the villages
thereabouts gathering Cockles (as vsually they doe) they
who shouted aloud sayeing Siggy Sassinagh, Siggy Sassinagh, that is
there comes English, which this deponent conceiveth was to sett on the
people in armes Hee allsoe saith that at the same tyme as he passed by
Clantarfe, he sawe some Coles carryeing away by some of the Inhabitants
there adioyning from aboard a shipp a s h that came into the
harbour with Coales which shipp they pillaged, but wheather
they carryed the Coales he this deponent knoweth not.
Hee allsoe saith that all whichthis was
493
fol. 245v
was performed before the burning of Clantarfe and (as he conceiveth) was
one of the causes thereof, he haueing vpon the said xiiijth of December
shewed the said passe to some neere freinds of the Lords Justices and
related the said proceedings and he saith that he was robbed as
aforesaid Comeing by Clantarfe, after sheweing his passe and quarter to
Captain Goldings company and after one of them had
reading yt: Hee allsoe saith that about a weeke before
that the said ffryer came to him to Lambay, a shipp comeing out of
England to the key of the L Skerryes laden with diverse goods
was pillaged by the said ffryer and the Inhabitants thereabouts as the
said ffryer told this deponent Hee allsoe saith that abo u
vpon the 9th day of December 1641 se he sent a Boy e to
D Man to with Lettres to Dublin to learne howe the
busines went there, hearing that our Army was defeated goeing to Wickloe,
which man as soone as he landed at Rush, was put in prison by the
Inhabitants thereof and his Lettres opened and himselfe deteyned vntill
he brought the Lettre from Malony above mencioned. He allsoe saith that
being in familier discourse with the said ffryer the ffryer told him
that all the English in Christmas Dublin should be
put to the sword before Christmas then followeing and that he would
saye Masse in Christchurch on christmas daysaid and
seeming to favour this deponent gave him the word Skeane to preserve him
when that day should come, and at this tyme the said Malony told this
deponent that on the said 13th of December all the protestant
party in Drogheda were to be massacred
Edward Leech
Jurat xviijo Martij 1643
Hen: Jones
Edw Pigott
Dublin
Edward Leech, & Lewis Meredith C. Dublin
Jurat
Intw
hand 12 dec
Intw
494
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37247
1641 Depositions
fol. 245v
(Note: Entered on margin)
Lewis Meredith being alsoe duely sworne saith that he was
present with Mr Leech at the receiveing of the Lettre above mencioned
in his examinacion from the ffryer, and at the rest of the
passages above mencioned, and deposeth the contents of what is above
related by the said Mr Leech to bee is true, save
that he sawe not the Comission mencioned to be from the King of Spaine
but heard the said Mr Leech presently relate after relate it,
And he saith that the said <A> ffryer was earnest with this deponent to
carry a Goshawke which he tooke from the said Leech to CollLuke Nettervile then in Swords as a present from the
said ffryer promising him a good reward which this deponent refused
Lewis Meredith
Jurat Martij: 20. 1643
Hen: Jones
Edw: Pigott
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37250
1641 Depositions
fol. 289r
John Locke of Soords in the Parish of Soords the Baroney
of the Nether Crose within the Com of dublin sworne saith
That on or about the 7 day of december Last 1641 hee was robbed
& dispoyled of his goods and Chattells of the value hereafter expressed
of bills & specialties to the value of 26 li. 2 s. 3 d. of
Corne in the hagard woorth 40 li. of Corne in the grounde sowen woorth
54 li. of Leasses of Land houses houshouldstofe & tooles fitte for his
Trade woorth 60 li. of heaye woorth 2 li. 17 s. of Cattell woorth 12 li.
of smith <A> Cooles woorth 13 li. 10 s.- 4 d. of hearnies & other goods
woorth 20 li. of debts due by booke woorth 72 li. 9 s. 8 d.
In all amounting to the some of – 300 li. 19 s.- 3 d.
By or by the meanes of these & other rebells following &
others
Luke Neuterfeelde of the Corbelis
Echristopher Russel of Setton & parish of Soords
<B> x Richard Jurden of the Toune of Soords +
John Bealling & Larance Bealling of Beallingston in the parish of
Soords
Thomas of Johnes of Soords
Richard Golding of Kinsaly &
<Antoney Asly of Corbilis
Richard Sherlye of the same
Larrance Rowinge A cheefe Comander of the Rebbles
Clemente Donnell of Swords>
John Locke
Jurat: Jan 20o 1641.
coram nobis
Hen: Brereton
Will: Hitchcock
504
fol. 289v
9 267
John Locke Comitat
Dubljn: 20 Jan: 1641
Cert fact
Intw 7 dec
11
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/36801
1641 Depositions fol. 119r
Robert Booth of theSwordes in the County of Dubljn
Chapm{an} & Francis his wife sworne & examined say That since the
begining of this Rebellion & by meanes thereof They hath haue
been expelled from depriued robbed or otherwise dispoyled of their
goodes & Chattells of the values following vizt of wares housholdgoodes
& Cattle worth 20 li. all taken away by the rebells after mencioned
vizt & in debts xxiij li. And after the English army comeing
burned Six of his dwelling howses of the rent of xv li. per annum which
before the rebellion were worth One hundreth & fifty powndes & now
esteemed to be worth nothing: Soe as their whole Losse by meanes of the
rebellion amounteth to one hundreth neentie three powndes sterling: And
further sayth that the rebells that soe robbed & dispojled them &
were then in actuall rebellion were & are theis that follow vizt
Luke Nettervyle Collonell or ringleader of those rebells: Andrew Russell
<A> of theswords gent Richard Jordan of the same gent
Christopher Russell of the same gent sonn to Bartholomew Russell of
Seaton gent Henry Birt of Tulloge Esquire James Fleemeing Collonells:
Francis Barnwell sonn to the Mr Barnwell of Lispopple Esquire that
married the Lady Bedlows daughter Nicholas Stokes of Balhary <B> Mathew
Caddell of Rebell & his brother William Caddell all Captains
of rebells Captain Jordeine of Barbestowne Captain Gowlding Captain
Robert Traves Captain Stanmiss Captain Kent of Garristowne Captain Kelly
of Lusk & Captain Michell Murphy all w And further saith That
George Berris of Swords did ordinarily harbour & releeve rebells
at his howse & robbd Mr Loyds howse <I> & said that his sonn shold be
hanged before he should be a souldjer for the King
Signum predictorum
Roberti & Fran: Boothe [2 marks]
Jurat 8o Julij 1642
John Sterne
Will: Aldrich
212
fol. 119v
Draw this a new George Berryes a Rebell protected harbored rebells saying his sonn
shold be hanged before he shold be souldjer for the king
Dublin
Robert Booth & frances his wife
Jur 8 July 1642
Intw Cert fact
hand w
hand
hand
213
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/36995
1641 Depositions
fol. 158r
The Examinacion of John Huxley of Rushe in the parishe of
Luske & County of Dublin, a Brittishe Protestant The said Examina te beinge duly sworne and Examined deposeth
as followeth vizt That vppon the first day of December Last 1641 Robert
Kelly, John Kerrigan, Bartholomewe Cassye Murogh McMorris, Walter
Cockrell, WalterPatricke Martyn <A> Edward Walshe,
Thomas Hamelton, Walter Bissett William Bissett, Richard Clifford, John
White Nicholas Mannaghan Richard Canton, Murtoghethe houlder of This
deponent s plough s , all at the parish of Lusk aforesaid yeomen
and others Irishe Rebells to the number of xxi ij came to this
deponents howse in Rushe, and tooke from him, sixtene head of Cattell
beinge Cowes and Oxen worth xxxij li. ster. Also they tooke five horsses
or plough garrens worth x li. ster Also they tooke five horsses or
plough garrens worth x li. ster Also they tooke houshold stuffe and
other Chattells about the house worth v li. Also hee is damnified for
not sowinge his Sommer Corne beinge hindered therof by reason of this
Rebellyon xv li. ster. Item hee is damnified for that he cannot enioy
his ffarme which he had in Lease, and had lately paid fforty poundes
Income for to James Russell gent, lx li. All which losses occasioned
by the rebellion doth amount to the summe of One hundred Twenty and
twoe powndes. And <B> this deponent further saith That one Malone (whoe
as hee heard is a fryer,) and called himselfe the Chaplaine Major to the
Irishe hoast about the vj th of december last 1641 said hee was
the beginner of this Rebellyon, and that it cost him to bringe it to
passe three and Twenty Thousand pounds, & the said Malone did
saye that this deponent and his wife should be both hanged by him, that
there might bee non of their breed left, but with much intreaty of a
gentle woman Mr James Russells wife (fallinge vpon her knees
vnto him to spare their liues) hee was contented, but gaue present order
to take away all their Corne and Goodes and to send it to the
Army ar calledof the Irishe
hoast This deponent further saith, that his wife tould him. That about
Easter last, After the Battaile in Swordes, Thomas <C> Ryan and
Patrick Ryan Tennants to Mr ffinglas of Portraren & liveing in
Portrar e n came to Rushe, to a house where she lodged, and
saidthe said Patrick Ryan said hee was the man that
shott & kild Capten Cary at Swordes and the said Thomas
Ryan drewe out his sword and would haue kild her this deponents wife,
and forced her tobut she rann to a Chamber to hide
herselfe, or ells hee and his said brother had kild her as he verely
bele e veth he the said []Ryan
also said, hee wisht the Divell had those that began that Rebellyon,
becawse that they haddid not kild every
Englishe man and woman, and then they should haue had all thinges as
they list themselues, or wordes to that effect
John Huxley
Jurat xxjo May 1642
John Sterne
John Watson
468
fol. 158v
Dublin (229)
The [ ] E xamynacion of John Huxley of Rushe
Jur 31 May 1642
Cert fact
hand w Intw
[] 78 1 dec
469
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37104
1641 Depositions fol. 235r
William Hollis gent nowe one of the traine of Artilerie at
Dublin Sworne and examined deposeth and saith: That since the
begining of the present Rebellion vizt about the xth of March Last 1642
This deponent being then vnder the Comand of Captain Devaleere & a
trooper: Martched with this said Captain & the rest of his troope out of
the towne of Swordes in the Countyterritory
of ffingall vpon a partie to meete with, & (if possible) to surprise the
Slowbegg or small runing army of the Rebells: then very
frequent & dangerous to the kinges Lojall subiects in the Cuntrie) And
haveing ridd vpp and downe seuerall myles at length this deponent &
the re six more by Consent of the rest, ranged over the feilds the
next way homewa d homewards (as they conceived) But in their
way The Rebells Captain <A> John ffatt Oliver Welsh (a frier)
Captain ffinglass & Captain John ffinglasse, Joh ffotterell
father Rowen the Preist & other preists in their Company: and divers
other Rebells Consisting in all of 100 horse & 15 musketeers or
thereabouts (Lying in ambush) suddenly asaulted and sett vpon this
deponent & the other six: But 2 of the six rydeing away: this deponent &
the other 4 were were surprisedstill pursued
& one of them instantly slaine (after they hadd skirmished with the
rebells), & at length they fled into a mylne which the Rebells
burned about their heads) soe as they were inforced to stand to the
Rebells mercie: & haveing quarter, were brought out: yet this deponent &
2 more of them were carried towards the place of execucion & all
threatened to bee hanged, and those twoe vizt William Murphy & Henry
Shelton were then and there hanged accordingly: But this deponent
earnestly pressing the Rebells for the liffe they promissed him vpon his
quarter, Hee with much difficulty escaped death att that tyme: But
was stript presently of his clothes money & weapons worth iiij li.
at Least, and alsoe of his horse & armes: & then they carried this
deponent to Westpalstowne: from thence to another towne called (as he
thincketh) the Currogh: Where the Rebells kept a Court of guard all
night & this deponent was kept prisoner amongst them: And from thence
was carried with them to Kylartareirey
432
fol. 235v
nere Minowth in the County of Kildare: & from thence was carried a long
with the said Welsh, & the rest vpp & downe the County of
Kildare into & from theis seuerall townes vizt <B> Cloncurry
Kilbride, &into Corckerstowne where one M r.
Ailmer Liveth with a great Company of his tennants frends and servants
Whoe are all (as this deponent is veryly perswaded) most notorious
Rebells (although as is reported) Protected by Captain Sandford or some
others; ffor indeed the said Mr Ailmer & his tennants & Inhabitants of
that towne ordinarily harbour releeve & entertaine Rebells (the said
Walshs his Ancient liveing with his family in that towne): &
his Sergeant liveing closse by, And the Cuntry farmers (whose howses are
burnd) carried thither frequently their Corne: ffrom whence it & other
provision, hath beene Comonly sent to the Rebells army for their
releeffe: And the Rebell souldiers are daily & nighty billetted in
Corkerstown aforesaid: and in all the other towns aforesaid And from
thence this <C> deponent was carried to Scurlockstowne: Where hee
observed & saw that the Rebells keept a Court of guard in the howse of
one Morrice ffitzgarald In which Court a guard this Deponent was kept
prisoner 2 seuerall nights: And from thence this deponent was carried to
Dunnadey 6 myles or thereabouts beyond Manowth (: which as the
inhabitants report) is protected <D> by the Marquesse of Ormond: And yet
the Lady Ailmer & her tennants in that towne doe most frequently harbour
entertaine and releeve Rebells vizt the said Captain Welsh <E> Captain
Scurlock & one Captain Talbott & their Rebell souldjers alsoe
sending Corne & releefe to the Rebells army: and keepeing the gates of
the towne open in the day time for the Rebells: But when they heare of
any English armie then they shutt the gates & place Centurys vpon the
topp of the Ladie Ailmers howse: in show, against the Rebells as both
the deponent himself obserued, & as was confessed vnto him by divers of
the Rebells themselues: And from thence this deponent was carried
prisoner by the Rebells to that and into
433
fol. 236r
<F> the Island of Allen & to the howse where Morrice ffitzgarrett gent
dwelleth: which said ffitzgarrett (being Lord of all or the principall
parts of that Island) is (as the inhabitants there confidently report)
protected by Sir Arthur Loftus knight Captain and governor of the Naas
And the said ffitzgarrett frequently & att his pleasure goeth to and
from the Naas: seuerall times sending to the said Sir Arthur Loftus
smalldivers small presents: And in that deed,
that whole Island being protected, The Rebells vizt Captain Welsh
Captain Scurlogh Captain Talbott and divers other Rebellious persons and
their souldiers doe comonly resort vnto & haue free & open
harbor & entertainment there And on Ester day Last this
deponent being there, sawe a Markett there kept, where alsoe
there were a great number of preists & fryers & Masse publiquely said,
and the towne where the Market was kept vizt Kilmeige entertained
the neth em at the least 200 Rebell souldjers which
keept a Court of guard in a stable closse by the said Morrice
ffitzgarrets howse & keepe Centries & haue there cast vpp framed, and
finished a great work of earth & sodds: which this deponent Conceiveth
to bee Cannon proofe: In And the Rebell Captains Last named
have (in this deponents sight) freely and familiarly gone into and out
of the said ffitzgarrets howse & have discoursed and consulted with him,
Insoemuch as those Captains (as this deponent is verely perswaded) doe
Comand all the howse work, & I l e and Island, & all the
souldjers there: And when this deponent was brought from thence that is
to say on Wednsday or Thursday in Ester weeke, a great number of
souldjers were ready to bee sent from thence to ayde the
Rebellious irish Army: And from that Island this deponent was carried
back to Corkerstowne aforesaid: Where he was in restraint till Sunday
sevenight following: & then a party of English from Mynowth comeing
through that towne The deponent breake then
434
fol. 236v
then and there brake seeing them) broake from his keepers the
Rebellious souldiers that had him in restraint and from the women in the
howse that endeavoured to hold him fast & soe escaped to those English
souldjers: And further <G> saith That the said Captain ffottrell
weare whoe is now brought to Dublin a prisoner, weareth about him
this deponent{s} Coate which was taken from him when he was surprised as
aforesaid: And saith alsoe that one George Laiborne alias Labrum: Whoe
is now in the Citty of Dublin (an English man) his wiffe being one of
the Rebellious Welshes doth ordinarily goe and passe from hence to and
amongst the Rebells and had the Rebells passes Amongst whom
this deponent saw him at Cloncurry & other places neere Johnstowne: And
this deponent was credibly <H> informed by one Richard Condron (one of
fryer Welshes souldjers & one of his this deponents keepers) that the
said Laiborn alias Labrum hath brought from Dublin ffortie or fifity
Pownds worth of wares & goods to the Rebells And that amongst other
thinges that hee brought a hatt and a feather to the said
frier Welsh which this deponent himself sawe, & hee alsoe brought vnto
the Rebells, provition of fruite spice Cheeses wollen cloth sneeseing &
other thinges on horses backs: & the deponent saw 3 of those horses &
their loads which hee soe brought whilst the deponent was soe in
restraint amongst the Rebells But before this deponent gott at liberty
divers of the Rebells (in th is deponentshis
hearing) reported that they heard that the said Laiburne alias Laibrum
was apprehended & imprisoned in Dublin: & as they was to be
hanged, others said that he was taken & killd or almost killed All of
those Rebells expressing great sorrow for the newes
William Hollis
Jur 27o Aprilis 1643 coram
Joh Watson
Hen: Brereton
435
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37227
1641 Depositions
fol. 237r
Elizabeth the Relict of Roger Parr late one of the Clearks of his
Maiesties Court of Exchequer sworne & examined deposeth and sayth That
in the begining of the present Rebellion and by meanes thereof her
said husband being deprived & dispoyled of his imployment and
meanes worth formerly at least 60 li. per annum: and haveing a charge of
wiffe and 3 smalle children to manteine, he tooke up armes for his
Maiesty against the Rebells: & goeing out vpon a party to the towne of
Swordes was there slaine in the way to the vtter
vndoeing of her & her poore Infants: whoe are Like to perish for want of
meanes
Signum predicte [mark] Elizabeth Parr
Jur vijo Ja: 1643
Hen: Jones
Hen: Brereton
561
fol. 237v
Dublin
Elizabeth Parr Jur
7o Jan: 1643
562
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37230
1641 Depositions fol. 269r
Tho: Williams of Santrie in the County of Dublin husbandmanlaborer sworne and examjned deposeth and saith That since the
begining of the present Rebellion That is to say about the begining of
december 1641 before the burning of Clantarf or the the
battaile or skirmish at Swordes in the County of Dublin: Hee this
deponent was at Santry aforesaid forceibly depriued robbed and dispoyled
of a Cow and a Mare of his apparell howsehold goodes & other thinges
worth about vj li. xiij s. iiij d. being all the
goodes he had & had his howse pulled downe to the grownd But hee
himself with his wiffe & children escapeing away with their liues fled
to Dublin And further saith That those Rebells that robbed & spoild him
were his neere neighbours & thus named vizt James Lickin <A> of Santry
aforesaid laborer sonn to ould Lickin of the same farmer William Cantaun
of the same laborer Andrew lickin of the same brother to the said James,
& Caddell sonne of Caddell of Moretonn in the said County gent (whose
elder brother was a Captain of Rebells,) and by others whose names he
cannott expresse: And further sajth That the Rebells in those partes of
the County of Dublin about One fortnight before this deponent was soe
robbed did robb & dispojle of their Corne cattle and other goodes
diverssome of the deponentes english and protestant
neighbours vizt Mr Henry Brereton Cleark minister of Santry & one Mr
Doby of Corballyes nere Santry gent And would as he is verely perswaded
haue robd the rest of the protestant English, but that for feare and
saffty they were fled away & taken away alsoe their goodes with them:
And this deponent hath for 2 yeres been a souldjer against the Rebells
under Captain Smith But haveing bin since sick and weak gott none of his
pay or entertainement for nere half a yere last past: & now with his
wiff & children are is like to starue, As they had done if
the charitys of good people had not releeued them,
<Dr J H B>
[mark]
Jur xo Jan: 1643 coram
Hen: Jones
Hen: Brereton
774
fol. 269v
Dublin 230 121
Tho: Williams Jur 10o
Jan: 1643
Intw 1 dec
775
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/37314
1641 Depositions
fol. 222r
336
19 Januarij: 1641
<M> John Smithe of ffinglasse in the Countie of Dubline yeoman duelie
sworne & examined by vertue of his oath sayth that in the time of this
presente rebellion (vizt): from the seconde of December laste vntill the
15th: he loste worth 30 li. of corne & haye which was thrashed & carried
awaye by Lawrence Rainepres t e& James Loung of
Abatestowne the rebelles then lyng in finglasse and there aboute:
Also aboute the same time was taken from this deponent an Englishe boore
& an Englishe sowe greate in farrowe worth 50 s. Also aboute the same
time was taken from this Deponent 6: cowes worth 3 li. 6 s. 8 d. a peece:
by the said rebelles Also when ffinglasse was burnte, there was a house
of this deponents burned: for which this deponent paid 3 li. 10 s. fine
& 3 li. yearlie rente for 21: yeares to come <N> Also aboute the same
time was taken from this deponent in all manner of houshold stuffe to
the value of 30 li. by the said rebelles: Also about the same time was
taken from this deponent newe timber strawe & winter fewell to the value
of 5 li. by the sayd rebbells
All which Losses amounteth to: 91 li.
<O> Also this deponent helde 4: acres of lande & a house from mr Caddell
of the moretowne in the parishe of Swords: Also this deponent
helde an other house from mr Dillon of Huntstowne in the Countie of
MeatheDubline which houses were burned in Swords:
out of which houses & lande this deponent had 3 li. yearlie encrease of
rente lefte him by his brother valentine Smith for 50: yeares vnexpired
The benefitte of which this Deponent hath vtterlie loste:
Wm: Ryves
<P> And the sayd Jo: Smith further sayth vpon his oath that Richard Long
of Abbotstowne and on Frind of Dunsinck ar both gonn from theire howses
and have left great store of Hay and corne and grayne of all sorts
behind them: And hath driven all their cattell to the rebells
Wm: Ryves
fol. 222v
fol. 223r
fol. 223v
19 Januar 1641
A noate of John
Smythes Losses by
the Rebbelles
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/35519
1641 Depositions
fol. 279ar
Ann the wife of Thomas fforeside Late of Coolock in the County of
dublin this d sworne and examined saith
That about one month since her said husband and herselfe were at Coolock
aforesaid forcibly robbed and dispoiled of their goods & of the values
following. of nyne Cowes one heffer and six garrons, []
ffive pownds in mony: 30 barrells of Malt besides seuerall Ricks of
Corne and howsholdstuff In all <80 li.> amounting to at
ffowrscore Pownds ster at the least <A> By Andrew Russell of SwordsgentLaborer Rowland Archbold of Cloghran SwordsgentLabourer James ô Neale of ffeltram in the
said County Alehowskeeper John Hayward of Rahenny in the said
county husbandman Richard Caman of Rahenny aforesaid husbandmen
James Ryley of Clantarfe Labourer, and Richard More of Cullock
aforesaid <b> husbandman John Walsh of Newtowne in the parrish of
Coolocke husbandman John Coleman of Artaine in the said County & many
others to the number of 200 persons and above, And that the said
Rebells then alsoe burnd all her husbands howses there & expu, And
that the Rebells aforesaid turned expulsed her, her husband & 5
children from their howses and grownds whereon they have growing 7 acres
of Beare & wheat, and that all their howses are since burned <140 li.>
to their damage of 140 li. more, being all their meanes <In toto 220 li.>
And further saith that it was comonly and publiquely reported by and
amongst the Rebells aforesaid that they had the Kings Comission for what
they did. And saith further saith that the said James ô Neale
John Hayward Richard Caman & James Ryley came afterwards to seeke for
this deponents husband & sayd they would kill him. which she thinks they
would have done if they could have mett with him: But he to shun the [] danger hid himself in a ditch of water from 12 a clock in the
night till 8 in the morning: By which he gott a sicknes which th
she thincks will kill him: and [] that the Rebells swore
they wold hang this deponent becawse they could not meete with her
husband: & had done it as she thincks: but that some women her neighbors
privately carr i ed conveyed her away
Signum predicte [mark] Anne
Jur 5o Jan: 1641 coram nobis
Will: Hitchcock
Hen: Brereton
370
fol. 279av
371
http://phaedrus.scss.tcd.ie/1641/items/show/36774
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
"APPENDIX v.— A.D. 1630.
Extracts relating to Fingal from an " Account of the Dioces of Dublin,
drawn up by Archbishop Bulkeley, and presented to the Privy Council of
Ireland, June I, 1630." The MS. account is in the Library, T.C.D. There
is also a translation published in "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
1869, Vol V., p. 145, &c., from which these extracts are taken. Lancelot
Bulkeley, D.U., was Archbishop from A.D. 1619 to A.D. 1650. He
endeavoured to restrain the seditious harangues which, during his time,
were abundantly delivered by the Jesuits and Friars of Dublin. He died,
"being spent with grief for the calamities of the times." (Cotton's "Fasti.")
XI Swordes. The church, by neglect of the gentlemen of that
parish, who are recusants, is lately fallen flat to the ground, and no
part standing only some part of the bare walls. There is one Doyle, a
mass-priest, who keeps school in the town of Swordes, to whom
many gentleman's sons do resort. This priest commonly says mass in the
house of
Mr. Taylour, of Swordes, gent., whereunto there is great
concourse of people on Sundays and holidays. There
useth to come to church there about threescore to hear Divine Service
and sermon. Mr. Christopher Huetson
is vicar there, whose means there are worth £40 per annum. "
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Irish: Annála Ríoghachta
Éireann) or the Annals of the Four Masters (Annála na gCeithre Máistrí)
are a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the
Deluge, dated as 2,242 years after creation to AD 1616. The annals are
mainly a compilation of earlier annals, although there is some original
work. They were compiled between 1632 and 1636 in the Franciscan friary
in Donegal Town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annals_of_the_Four_Masters).
We read in the Annals of the Four Masters, that Dun-Sobhairce was among
the first fortresses erected in this island by the Milesians:
A. M. 3501. "This is the year in which Heremon and Heber assumed the
joint government of Ireland, and divided Ireland equally between them.
In it also the following fortresses, &c. were erected, viz.
Rath-beathaigh, on the banks of the river Nore, in Argatros, (now
Rathveagh, within five miles of Kilkenny; (Rath-oin, in the territory of
Cualann, (now the County Wicklow;) the causeway of Inbhear-mor, (now
Arklow;) the house in Dun-nair. on the Mourne mountains. Dun-Delginnis,
in the territory of Cualann, (now Delgany, Co. Wicklow;) DUN SOBHAIRCE,
in Murbholg of Dalriada, (Dunseveric,) was erected by Sovarke; and Dun
Edair, (on the Hill of Howth,) by Suighde; all these foregoing were
erected by Heremon and his Chieftains. Rath-Uamhain, in Leinster;
Rath-arda, Suird, (Swords;) Carrac Fethen, Carrac Blarne, (Blarney,)
Dun-aird Inne, Rath Riogbhard, in Murresk, were erected by Heber and his
chieftains."
Annals of the Four Masters
The Battle of Clontarf, Brian Boru and his wake at Swords
1013 [Annal M1013.11]
"An army was led by Brian, son of Ceinneidigh, son of Lorcan, King of
Ireland, and by Maelseachlainn, son of Domhnall, King of Teamhair, to
Ath-cliath. The foreigners of the west of Europe assembled against Brian
and Maelseachlainn; and they took with them ten hundred men with coats
of mail. A spirited, fierce, violent, vengeful, and furious battle was
fought between them, the likeness of which was not to be found in that
time,—at Cluaintarbh, on the Friday before Easter precisely. In this
battle were slain Brian, son of Ceinneidigh, monarch of Ireland, who was
the Augustus of all the West of Europe, in the eighty-eighth year of his
age; Murchadh, son of Brian, heir apparent to the sovereignty of
Ireland, in the sixty-third year of his age; Conaing, son of Donncuan,
the son of Brian's brother; Toirdhealbhach, son of Murchadh, son of
Brian; Mothla, son of Domhnall, son of Faelan, lord of the Deisi-Mumhan;
p.775
Eocha, son of Dunadhach, i.e. chief of Clann-Scannlain; Niall Ua Cuinn;
Cuduiligh, son of Ceinneidigh, the three companions of Brian; Tadhg Ua
Ceallaigh, lord of Ui Maine; Maelruanaidh na Paidre Ua hEidhin, lord of
Aidhne; Geibheannach, son of Dubhagan, lord of Feara-Maighe; Mac-Beatha,
son of Muireadhach Claen, lord of Ciarraighe-Luachra; Domhnall, son of
Diarmaid, lord of Corca-Bhaiscinn; Scannlan, son of Cathal, lord of
Eoghanacht-Locha Lein; and Domhnall, son of Eimhin, son of Cainneach,
great steward of Mair in Alba. The forces were afterwards routed by dint
of battling,
p.777
bravery, and striking, by Maelseachlainn, from Tulcainn to Ath-cliath,
against the foreigners and the Leinstermen; and there fell Maelmordha,
son of Murchadh, son of Finn, King of Leinster; the son of Brogarbhan,
son of Conchobhar, Tanist of Ui-Failghe; and Tuathal, son of Ugaire,
royal heir of Leinster; and a countless slaughter of the Leinstermen
along with them. There were also slain Dubhghall, son of Amhlaeibh, and
Gillaciarain, son of Gluniairn, two tanists of the foreigners; Sichfrith,
son of Loder, Earl of Innsi hOrc; Brodar, chief of the Danes of Denmark,
who was the person that slew Brian. The ten hundred in armour were cut
to pieces, and at the least three thousand of the
p.779
foreigners were there slain. It was of the death of Brian and of this
battle the following quatrain was composed:
Thirteen years, one thousand complete, since Christ was born, not long
since the date, Of prosperous years—accurate the enumeration—until the
foreigners were slaughtered together with Brian. Maelmuire, son of
Eochaidh, successor of Patrick, proceeded with the seniors and relics to
Sord-Choluim-Chille; and they carried from thence the body of
p.781
Brian, King of Ireland, and the body of Murchadh, his son, and the head
of Conaing, and the head of Mothla. Maelmuire and his clergy waked the
bodies with great honour and veneration; and they were interred at
Ard-Macha in a new tomb."
More references from Annals of the Four Masters 965 [M965.2 Ailill, son of Maenach, Bishop of Sord and Lusca;]
[celt] 993, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Maolsechlain."
[Reeves]
1016, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Sitric, son of Aniat, and the
Danes of Dublin." [Reeves]
1020 [M1020.6 The burning of Cluain-Iraird, Ara, Sord, and
Cluain-mic-Nois.] [celt]
1020, "Sord of Columcille was plundered by Connor O Maclachlann, who
burned it, and carried away many captives, and vast herds of cows."
[Reeves]
1023. Maelmaire Ua Cainen, wise man, and Bishop of
Sord-Choluim-Chille, died [archive.org]
1028. Gilla- christ, son of Dubhchuillinn, a noble priest of Ard-Macha,
died at Ros-Commain.
Coiseanmach, son of Duibheachtgha, successor of Tola ; Gillapadraig Ua
Flaith- bheartaigha, airchinneach of Sord ; Cormac, priest of
Ceanannus ; Maelpadraig Ua Baeghalain, priest of Cluain-mic-Nois ;
Flaithnia Ua Tighernain, lector of Cill-Dacheallog w ; and Cearnach,
Ostiarius of Cluain-mic-Nois, died. [archive.org]
1031, "Sord of Columcille was burned and plundered by Connor
O'Maclachlann, in revenge for the death of Raghnall, son of Ivar, Lord
of Waterford, by the hand of Sitric, son of Anlaf." [Reeves]
1035 Raghnall, grandson of Imhar, lord of Port-Lairge, was slain at
Ath-cliath by Sitric, son of Amhlaeibh ; and Sord Choluim Chille
h was plundered and burned by Con-chobhar Ua Maeleachlainn, in revenge
thereof. [archive.org] [M1035.4 Ardbraccan was plundered by Sitric
afterwards, and Sord Choluim Chille was plundered and burned by
Conchobhar Ua Maeleachlainn, in revenge thereof.] [celt]
1042, "died Eochagan, herenach
of Slane, Lector of Sord, and a distinguished writer." [Reeves]
[M1042.3 Eochagan, airchinneach of Slaine, and lector of Sord,
and a distinguished scribe;] [celt]
1045, "An army was led by M'Eochaidh and Maolsechlann, with the
foreigners who burned Sord, and wasted Fingall." [Reeves]
1048 Aedh, son of Maelan Ua Nuadhait, airchinneach of Sord, was
killed on the night of the Friday of protection before Easter, in the
middle of Sord. [archive.org]
1056, "the fire of God (that is, lightning) struck the Lector of Sord, and tore asunder the sacred tree."
[Reeves] Lightning appeared and killed three at Disert-Tola, and a
learned man at Swerts" [Swords], "and did breake the great tree.
[archive.org]
1060 Maelchiarain Ua Robhachain, airchinneach of Sord-Choluim-Chille
; and Ailill Ua Maelchiarain, airchinneach of Eaglais-Beg [at
Cluain-mic-Nois], died. [archive.org]
1061 Mael- incited these of Delvyn-Beathra, with their kiaran O'Robucan,
Airchinnech of Swerts" king, Hugh O'Royrck, in their pursuite,
who [Swords], "mortuus est. [archive.org]
1069, "Lusc and Sord of Columcille were burned."
[Reeves] [M1069.4 Dun-da-leathghlas, Ard-sratha, Lusca, and
Sord-Choluim-Chille, were burned.] [celt]
1102, "Sord of Columcille was burned." [Reeves]
1130, "Sord of Columcille, with its churches and relics, was burned."
[Reeves] [M1130.1 Sord-Choluim-Chille, with its churches and
relics, was burned.] [celt]
1136 [M1136.6 Mac Ciarain, airchinneach of Sord, fell by the men
of Fearnmhagh.] [celt]
1138, "Sord burned." [Reeves] [M1138.3 Cill-dara,
Lis-mor, Tigh-Moling, and Sord, were burned.] [celt]
1150, "Sord burned." [Reeves] [M1150.6 Ceanannus,
Sord, and Cill-mor-Ua-Niallain,with its oratory, were burned.] [celt]
The first part of this book looks at the wide range of biodiversity
present in Ireland. It provides descriptions of ‘its hills, its woods,
heaths, bogs.’ Not only that, it also goes into ‘its springs and
fountains, brooks, rivers, loughs.’ It is written by Gerard Boate and
also includes some pull-out elements.
Part two is a collection of papers of the Dublin Philosophical Society
by William Molyeux, Samuel Foley, and St George Ashe; and part three is
Thomas Molyneux’s theories of ‘Danish mounds’.
Boate was a physician to the English King in London during the 1630’s.
He helped compiled evidence on Irish topography and resources, which
were later published as The Natural History of Ireland (1652) by his
friend Samuel Hartlib. The publication had a dedication to Lord
Cromwell.
A Natural History of Ireland in Three Parts was heralded as being for
the common good of Ireland and for the benefit of the adventurers and
planters.
The antiquities of Ireland (1791)
Author: Grose, Francis, 1731?-1791; Ledwich, Edward, 1738-1823,
continuator
Volume: v.1 Publisher: London, Printed for S. Hooper
"COUNTY OF DUBLIN.
SWORDS CHURCH.
THIS town of Swords is situated in the barony of Coolock and
country of Fingal, six miles from Dublin, and had very early a religious
house there founded by St. Columba, who bellowed on it, according to
tradition, his missal, which he had transcribed himself. His festival is
kept the 9th of June.
In 1016, Sihtric [sic]and the Danes of Dublin burnt Swords, and the fame calamity
happened to the abbey and town in 1035, 1069, and at other times.
By a writ of 1 Henry VI. we find the prebend of Swords was
granted to Cardinal Placentinus, with a flail in the choir, and a seat
in the chapter of Dublin. This was what was called the golden prebend,
and which was worth the cardinal's acceptance. Archbishop Talbot
however, to prevent any such donation in future to foreigners, did with
the concurrence of William Cruise the rector A. D. 1431, divide this
prebend among the petty canons and choiristers of St. Patrick's
cathedral, and the same year it was confirmed by King Henry.
The present church and steeple are modern, the abbey and nunnery have
been long in ruins. This view was drawn by Mr. Gandon, jun. Anno 1791."
Tower, Belfry and Church.
'Published by T Hooper June 11th 1791 Engraved by Jas Newton'
for the The Antiquities of Ireland 1791
DATE PRINTED: c.1797. The view was engraved
in 1791 (dated on the view) and also drawn in 1791 (dated in the
original text).
SIZE: The printed area is approximately 17 x 14 cm (6.75 x 5.5
inches) plus margins with a blank back (medium).
ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: Drawn by James Gandon and engraved by
James Newton and published by Hooper. James Gandon (1743–1823) is today
recognised as one of the leading architects to have worked in Ireland in
the late 18th century and early 19th century. His better known works
include The Custom House, the Four Courts, King's Inns in Dublin and Emo
Court in County Laois. Samuel Hooper was Francis Grose's close friend
and publisher. He died in 1791 and this work was subsequently published
by his widow, Mary. James Newton (1748-1804) was a London based
engraver.
PROVENANCE: This print was published in "The Antiquities of
Ireland", by Francis Grose. Francis Grose (1731–1791) was an antiquary
and lexicographer, of Swiss extraction. He published Antiquities of
England and Wales (1773–87), which was well received, and thereafter, in
1789, set out on an antiquarian tour through Scotland, the fruit of
which was Antiquity of Scotland (1789–91). He afterwards undertook a
similar expedition to Ireland, but died suddenly at Dublin. Before his
death he issued volume 1 and his nephew Daniel and a Dr. Edward Ledwich,
who had already published a book on Irish antiquities, completed volume
2 shortly afterwards.
TYPE: Antique copper block engraving printed on paper.
VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side which is blank.
SWORDS CASTLE.
IN Pope Alexander's bull, A. D. 1170, enumerating the churches, towns,
and possessions of the fee of Dublin, the town of Swords is there
named Sord. In 1282, John Fitz William of Merrion recovered six
messuages* in Swerdes, from William Wycombe, and it is probable
then built the castle. Here was formerly a palace of the archbishop of
Dublin. It is said the lords Kingsland were obliged to hold the
archbishop's stirrup whenever he came to his palace, for which service
they had lands of the value of 300 l. a year. There was a
sessions-house, and one knight of the shire was formely [sic] elected in
the town.
In 1641, Luke Netterville made proclamation that the gentlemen of the
county of Dublin should assemble at Swords upon pain of death,
which they did ; when they constituted Richard Golding, Thomas Russel,
Francis Russel, Robert Travers, Christopher Holywood and others their
commanders, [sic]
The same year Sir Charles Coote was sent to disperse the rebels, who
were in force about Swords. He found the approaches to the town
well secured; however, bravely overcoming every obstacle, he beat them
out of their fortifications and killed two hundred of them, without any
material loss, except that of Sir Lorenzo Carey, second son of Lord
Falkland, who fell in the engagement. This view was taken by T. Cocking,
Anno 1790. "
*messuages - (Law) Property law
a dwelling house together with its outbuildings, curtilage, and the
adjacent land appropriated to its use [from Norman French: household,
perhaps through misspelling of Old French mesnage ménage]
Swords Castle.
'Published by T Hooper August 9th 1791 Engraved by Jas Newton'
for the The Antiquities of Ireland 1791
This stone was erected by Rob Willon of Sords in
memory of his father
William Willon who departed
this life Nov. 6th 1750 aged 57 [...] their
posterity.
(St Columba's Church of Ireland graveyard, Swords)
Newtown House c.1740 Balheary Road, Newtown,
Swords
Newtown House c.1740 (Photo: Declan Power) (2020)
Newtown House c.1740 (Photo: Declan Power) (2020)
Newtown House c.1740 (Photo: Declan Power) (2020)
John Sweetman (1752-1826), United Irishman buried in St Columba's
graveyard, Swords
John Sweetman grave
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
JOHN SWEETMAN, (1752–1826), United Irishman, was born of Roman catholic
parents in Dublin in 1752. The family had for more than a century
conducted in that city an extensive brewery, to which Sweetman succeeded
on the death of his father. He became identified with the movement for
the removal of the civil and religious disabilities of the catholics,
and was one of the chief supporters of the vigorous policy initiated by
John Keogh (1740–1817) [q. v.] in 1791, which led to the secession of
most of the catholic gentry. He was also a delegate at the catholic
convention which assembled in Dublin on 3 Dec. 1792. In the same year a
secret committee of the House of Lords accused certain ‘ill-disposed
members’ of the Roman catholic church of contributing money in support
of the ‘defenders,’ a secret agrarian society. They founded this
assertion upon the discovery of a letter by Sweetman, enclosing money to
defend a peasant accused of ‘defenderism.’ Sweetman immediately
published ‘A Refutation,’ in which he denied the accusation, and stated
that he had offered assistance because he believed the man to be
innocent. He described himself as ‘Secretary to the sub-committee of the
Catholics of Ireland.’
Sweetman was an active United Irishman. He was a member of the Leinster
directory of the revolutionary organisation, and some of the most
important meetings of its executive committee took place at his brewery
in Francis Street, Dublin. He was arrested with other leaders of the
movement on 12 March 1798. Seeing that all hope of a successful
insurrection was over, they entered into a compact with the government,
by which, in consideration of a promise of the suspension of the
executions of United Irishmen, they made a full disclosure of their
objects and plans, without implicating individuals, before committees of
the lords and commons. Sweetman was one of the group sent to Fort George
in Scotland early in 1799. In June 1802 they were deported to Holland
and set at liberty. After eighteen years of exile Sweetman was permitted
to return to Ireland in 1820. He died in May 1826, and was buried at
Swords, outside Dublin. He married, in 1784, Mary Atkinson, the daughter
of a Dublin brewer.
Sweetman was one of the few catholics of position who belonged to the
organisation of United Irishmen as a revolutionary conspiracy. Of the
twenty leaders consigned to Fort George, ten were episcopalians, six
were presbyterians, and only four (including Sweetman) were catholics.
Wolfe Tone, writing in his journal in France under date 1 March 1798, on
hearing a rumour of Sweetman's death, said: ‘If ever an exertion was to
be made for our emancipation, he would have been in the very foremost
rank. I had counted upon his military talents.’
[Madden's United Irishmen; Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography;
MacNevin's Pieces of Irish History; Wolfe Tone's Autobiography.] John
Sweetman by Michael MacDonagh
Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 55
Amongst the family portraits hung on the walls of Lisnavagh is one of a
seemingly benign, well-fed gentleman clad in blue ermine. The note on
the back indicates that he was the attorney Redmond Kane of Mantua,
Swords, one of the wealthiest commoners in Ireland during the late
18th century. It was from him that much of the McClintock Bunbury landed
wealth came. In 1773, his daughter and sole heiress, Katherine Kane,
married William Bunbury of Lisnavagh. The 1773 marriage was arguably the
finest hour of the Lisnavagh Bunburys. William’s father Thomas Bunbury
of Kill rather excitedly wrote in his diary: ‘I compute her fortune to
be above £40,000', which, using the RPI standards, worked out at nearly
£4 million in 2008. It also brought into their possession the
substantial Kane estates, which had a gross rental of £2,819 in 1840. In
time, the Kane estates would pass by marriage to William and Katherine
Bunbury's son Colonel Kane Bunbury, from him to their grandson, William
McClintock Bunbury ... and from him to the 2nd Lord Rathdonnell.
SALE OF LANDS IN THE NAUL
In May 1764, Redmond was listed as one of the agents handling the sale
of various lands in the Naul, as well as lands in Swords. I may be wrong
but, if Thomas Bunbury was buying lands at this point in time (and he
was), then presumably he would have heard of Redmond Kane. And didn't
the Bunbury family go on to own those very lands sold in the Naul? The
complete notice read as follows: TO be sold, an undivided half of the
Towns and Lands of Naul, and of the Mill thereon, and also of Bodingtown,
Roach, Caddelstown, Flemingtown, Mooresides, Kenroestown, and
Clogherstown, situate in the County of Meath, the whole Estates being
set for £341. 3s. 10 yearly. Proposals will be received by Mrs. and Miss
Mervyn in Dawson-street, Dublin, and by Mr. Redmond Kane in
Bolton-street. -- And also to be sold, a House and Garden, with
Coach-house, Stable and Cow-house, and 11 Acres of Land, at Swords
in the County of Dublin, formerly in the Possession of Mr. Coles, and
held for a Term of Years, whereof 14 or 15 Years are unexpired, at the
yearly Rent of £20. Proposals to be received by the Rev. Mr. Eustace at
Swords, and by the said Redmond Kane. (The Dublin Journal, 19 - 22 May,
1764).
Swords in Redmond Kane's Day
Redmond Kane lived between his city residence on Bolton Street and the
three storey seaside villa of Mantua in Swords, Co Dublin. In the
18th century, Swords was a small town, containing a 12th century Norman
castle, a few townhouses and many handsome cottages which were chiefly
let in summer for sea bathing. It had a Constabulary Police and a
Coast-guard Station. St. Colmcille founded a monastery there in the 6th
century and a 9th century round tower survives today, along with a 13th
century square Norman tower. On a clear day you can see the Mountains of
Mourne from the top of the Round Tower. One wonders did Redmond Kane
ever clamber up those stone steps and gaze north to where his new lands
lay? John Sweetman, the United Irishman and friend of Wolfe Tone, was
buried in the shadow of the two towers. The Molesworth family acquired
much of the neighbouring land during their rise to power in the wake of
the Boyne. The 1st Viscount Molesworth built Brackenstown House in the
early 18th century; Jonathan Swift was among his regular visitors.
Swords in Redmond Kane's day was a notoriously corrupt borough.
For most of Dublin City, the canvassing of individual voters was
normally frowned upon. Instead, political candidates solicited the
endorsement of each of the 23 guilds whose members tended to vote in a
body. However, in Swords, the individual householders were
determined to vote as they saw fit and were thus wide open to the
concept of selling their votes to the highest bidder. I have little
doubt Redmond learned his craftiness in such an environment! In 1788,
ten years after Redmond Kane's death, an inspired businessman named
M'Intyre secured the passing of an Act through the Irish Parliament
enabling him to build a canal from Malahide to Swords and neighbouring
Fieldstown. Unfortunately the scheme failed, as did the same mans'
cotton manufacture which had been granted £2,000 from the Irish
Parliament. (Turtle Bunbury)
Richard Montgomery (December 2, 1738 – December 31, 1775) born in
Swords.
Richard Montgomery (December 2, 1738 – December 31, 1775) was an
Irish-born soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became
a Major General in the Continental Army during the American
Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775
invasion of Canada.
Montgomery was born [in Swords] and raised in Ireland. In 1754, he
enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin, and two years later joined the
British army to fight in the French and Indian War. He steadily rose
through the ranks, serving in North America and then the Caribbean.
After the war he was stationed at Fort Detroit during Pontiac's War,
following which he returned to Britain for health reasons. In 1773,
Montgomery returned to the Thirteen Colonies, married Janet Livingston,
and began farming.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Montgomery took up the
Patriot cause, and was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in
May 1775. In June 1775, he was commissioned as a Brigadier General in
the Continental Army. After Phillip Schuyler became too ill to lead the
invasion of Canada, Montgomery took over. He captured Fort St. Johns and
then Montreal in November 1775, and then advanced to Quebec City where
he joined another force under the command of Benedict Arnold. On
December 31, he led an attack on the city, but was killed during the
battle. The British found his body and gave it an honorable burial. It
was moved to New York City in 1818.
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1800s CE
Memoir of Gabriel Beranger, and his labours in the cause of Irish art
and antiquities, from 1760 ... (1880) Author: William Robert W . Wilde, Gabriel Beranger, Jane Francesca
Elgee Wilde
Publisher: Simpkin, Marhsall
Year: 1880
LIST OF BERANGER'S SKETCHES.
"13. The Round Tower and Church at Swords, seven miles from Dublin. This Round Tower is not as elegantly built as some others, being of
black quarry stone, as in the church, and, I believe, the steeple,
though I cannot decide, as it is all plastered over and yellow-washed.
The ground round being a cemetery, is much raised by continual buryings,
so that the door of the Round Tower is now accessible from the ground;
while in other places the ladder is required to reach the door which is
generally twelve to fourteen feet from, the base; the diameter within is
sixteen feet ; the inside is very smooth; and some projecting stems,
like brackets, are at various heights, on which, I suppose, wooden
stairs were fastened."
JOHN COMYN.
[Sue. 1181. Ob. 1212,]
When the English monarch could no longer keep
this see vacant, and absorb its revenues, he resolved
* De Burgo, Hib. Dom. p. 22.
t It should be here noted, that the attack of Hasculph on Dublin,
stated ante, p. 56, &c., as in aid of the siege by Roderic and the
natives, is by some stated as a distinct and earlier occurrence.
JOHN COMYN. {)<)
tliat an office, of so much consequence and value,
should not be entrusted to an Irishman, entertaining
some apprehensions, perhaps justifiable at the crisis,
that a native might assume the mantle of the de
parted prelate, and consummate, with more hostility,
those political objects which St. Laurence had
laboured to effect in peace. Accordingly, on the
monarch s urgent recommendation, his chaplain, John
Comyn, a native of England, a monk of the Bene
dictine abbey of Evesham, and a man of learning and
eloquence, was, on the 6th of September, in the year
1181, elected to the archbishopric of Dublin, by some
of the clergy of that city, who had assembled at
Evesham for the purpose. He was not then a priest,
but was subsequently, in the same year, ordained
such, at Velletri; and, on Palm Sunday (21st March)
was there consecrated archbishop by Pope Lucius the
Third, who, also, by a bull dated the 13th of April,
1182, took under his especial protection, and con
firmed to this see, the manor of Swords, with its
church and other appurtenances, the town of Lusk,
with its church and appurtenances, c. He also
further established its metropolitan authority over the
suffragan sees, ordered that no canons or monks, or
clergymen in any of the churches of the diocese,
should remove or appoint chaplains therein, unless
fortified in so doing by privilege from Rome, or by
ancient and reasonable custom, prohibited the selling,
aliening, or incumbering church property, without
the consent of the archbishop, or any similar acts by
the archbishop himself; and, lastly, in pursuance of
the authority of the Holy Canons, ordered and de-
70 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
creed that no archbishop, or bishop, should, without
the assent of the archbishop of Dublin, (if in his
bishopric,) presume to hold, within the diocese of
Dublin, any conference, or to entertain any causes or
ecclesiastical matters of the same diocese, unless en
joined thereto by the Roman pontiff, or his legate.*
From this latter privilege, which appears to have been
introduced as against the antiquated claims of Can
terbury, arose that controversy on the Jus Primatiale
between the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin,
which continued to distract both provinces for cen
turies afterwards, the archbishop of Armagh contend
ing, that, notwithstanding this grant, he had a right
of primacy, of bearing up the cross, and of holding
appeals and visitations in the whole province of
Leinster. Cambrensis, who was personally acquainted
with Archbishop Comyn, asserts, that at the said time
of his consecration, he was created a cardinal ; but, as
there is no assumption of this title in any of Comyn s
charters yet extant, nor any evidence thereof in
Onuphrius or Ciaconius, who have published cata
logues of the cardinals, nor in the very bull of Pope
Lucius before mentioned, Ware very reasonably
concludes, that Giraldus was mistaken in this par
ticular.
Notwithstanding the necessities of the province
over which he was thus appointed to preside, and the
singularly arduous duties he had to prosecute, if the
English representations of the state of Ireland could
be fully accredited, Comyn deferred visiting that
* Alani Regist. f. 2. Ware and Harris completely mistake the
meaning of the original
JOHN COMYN. 71
country for three whole years, until at last, in Sep
tember, 1184, he was despatched thither by the king,
to prepare for the reception of Prince John, Earl of
Moreton, whom his royal father had resolved to send
into this country. It was, upon this occasion, accord
ing to some,* that the king conferred upon Comyn
and his successors, the lands of Coillagh and its ap
purtenances, in barony tenure, in which right he
became a lord of parliament, and was the first of the
Irish hierarchy invested with those feudal and baronial
rights, which the Norman policy had introduced, as
particularly mentioned at " Swords," in the " His
tory of the County of Dublin. " In 1185, he was
one of the English nobles, who, as pre-arranged, re
ceived John and his train on his arrival at Waterford ;
and in the same year obtained from the boy prince,
during his sojourn in Ireland, a grant of the Bishopric
of Glendalough, with all its appurtenances in lands,
manors, churches, tithes, fisheries, liberties, c., to
hold to him and his successors for ever.f This grant
Prince John professes to make under the impulse of
divine love, and for the safety of his soul, and that of
his father and all his ancestors and successors, and in
consideration of the thinness of the population and
the poverty of the church of Dublin. It was pro
vided, however, that this union should not take effect
until after the decease of the then Bishop of Glen
dalough, William Piro, an event which did not occur
-until the year 1214, when Comyn was himself in the
grave.
* Liber Niger and Crede Mihi. f Ib.
72 AliCIIUISHOI H OF DU1JLIN.
In the year 1 180, after the return of Prince John
into England, Archbishop Comyn held a provincial
synod in Dublin, in the church of the Holy Trinity,
which began to sit on the Sunday Lsetare Jerusalem,
or the fourth Sunday of Lent. The canons there
agreed to, and confirmed under the leaden weal of
Pope Urban the Third, are yet extant among the
archives preserved in Christ Church, Dublin, arid arc
as follow : The first prohibits priests from celebra
ting mass on a wooden table (or altar) according to
the usage of Ireland, arid enjoins that in all monas
teries arid baptismal churches altars should be made
of stone ; and, if a stone of sufficient size to cover the
whole surface of the altar could not be bad, that in
such case a square, entire and polished stone be fixed
in the middle of the altar, where Christ s body is
consecrated, of a compass broad enough to contain.
five crosses, and also to bear the foot of the largest
chalice. Hut in chapels, chantries, or oratories, if
necessity compelled the use of wooden altars, that
then the mass should be celebrated upon plates of
stone of the before-mentioned size, firmly fixed in
the wood. Second provides, that the coverings of
the holy mysteries shall spread over the whole up
per part of the altar, and that a cloth shall cover
the front of the same, arid reach to the ground or
floor. These coverings to be always whole and
clean. Third, that in monasteries and rich churches,
chalices be provided of gold and silver; but in poorer
churches, where such cannot be afforded, that pewter
chalices may be substituted, which must be likewise
JOHN I OMYN. 73
kept puro and clean. Fourth, that the Host which
represents the Lamb without spot, the Alpha and
Omega, be made so white and pure, that the par
takers thereof may thereby understand the purifying
and feeding of their souls rather than their bodies.
Fifth, that the wine in the saerament be so tempered
with water, that it l>e not deprived either of the na
tural taste or colour. Sixth, that all vestments and
coverings belonging to the church be clean, line, and
white. Seventh, that a lavatory of stone or wood be
set up, and so contrived with a hollow, that whatever
is poured into it may fall through and lodge in the
earth ; through which, also, the last washing of the
priest s hands after the holy communion may pass.-
Fighth enjoins, that an immoveable font be placed
in the middle of every baptismal church, or in such
other part of it as the paschal procession may conve
niently pass round. That it be made of stone, or of
wood lined with lead for cleanness, wide and large
above, bored through to the bottom, and so contrived,
that, after the ceremony of baptism be ended, the holy
water may by a secret pipe be conveyed down to
mother earth. Ninth, that the coverings of the altar,
and other vestments dedicated to God, when injured
by age, be burned within the enclosure of the church,
and the ashes transmitted through the aforesaid pipe
of the font, to be buried in the bowels of the earth.
Tenth prohibits any vessels used in baptism, from
being applied ever after to any domestic purposes.
Eleventh forbids, under the pain of an anathema, any
person from burying in a churchyard, unless he can
74 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
show by an authentic writing, or undeniable evidence,
that it was consecrated by a bishop, not only as a
sanctuary or place of refuge, but also as a place of
sepulture ; and that no laymen shall presume to bury
their dead in such a consecrated place, without the
presence of a priest. Twelfth forbids the celebration
of divine service in chapels built by laymen, to the
detriment of the mother churches. Thirteenth re
cites, that the clergy of Ireland , among other virtues,
have been always remarkably eminent for their chas
tity, and that it would be ignominious if they should
be corrupted, through his (the archbishop s) negli
gence, by the foul contagion of strangers, and the
example of a few incontinent men ; and, therefore,
prohibits, under the penalty of losing both office and
benefice, any priest, deacon, or sub-deacon, from
having or retaining any woman in their houses, either
under the pretence of necessary service, or any other
colour whatsoever, unless a mother, own sister, or
such a person, whose age should remove all suspicion
of any unlawful commerce.- Fourteenth contains an
interdict against simony, under the before-mentioned
penalty of losing both office and benefice. Fifteenth
directs, that if any clerk should receive an ecclesias
tical benefice from a lay hand, unless after a third
monition he renounce that possession which he ob
tained by intrusion, he should be anathematized, and
for ever deprived of the said benefice. Sixteenth
prohibits a bishop from ordaining the inhabitant of
another diocese without the commendatory letters of
such person s, proper bishop, or of the archdeacon,
JOHN COMYN.
and orders that none shall be promoted to holy or
ders, without a certain title of a benefice assigned
to him. Seventeenth prohibits the conferring on
one person, two holy orders in one day. Eigh
teenth provides, that all persons living unchastely
together, shall be compelled to celebrate a lawful
marriage ; and, also, that no person, the offspring of
an illicit connexion, should be promoted to holy or
ders, nor be esteemed heir either to father or mother,
unless they be afterwards joined in lawful matrimony.
Nineteenth directs, that tithes be paid to the mo
ther churches out of provisions, hay, the young of
animals, flax, wool, gardens, orchards, and out of all
things that grow and renew yearly, under pain of an
anathema after the third monition, and that those,
who continue obstinate in refusing to pay same, shall
be compelled to punctuality for the future. Twen
tieth provides, that all archers, and all others who
carry arms, not for the defence of the people but for
plunder and sordid lucre, shall, on every Lord s day
be excommunicated with bell, book, and candle, and,
in the last extremity, be denied the rites of Christian
burial.
On the 3rd of September, 1189, Archbishop
Comyn assisted at the coronation of King Richard
the First, and was a witness of that monarch s letters
patent* for surrendering to William, King of Scot
land, the castles of Rockbork and Berwick, thereby
acknowledged to belong to the Scottish king by he-
* Rymer s Fceclera ad ann.
76 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
reditary right. He also, on the 17th of September
following, assisted at a council of the nobility and
gentry, which the same monarch, previous to his de
parture for the Holy Land, assembled in the Abbey
of Pipewell in Northamptonshire, on which occasion,
the regency of the kingdom, during the monarch s
absence, was arranged. There, likewise, on the en
suing day, Comyn consecrated John, Bishop elect of
Whitherne.
In the following year, this prelate, having taken
down an old parochial church which was said to have
been founded by St. Patrick, in the southern sub
urbs of the city of Dublin, erected on its site the fair
edifice, which was also dedicated to that saint, ele
vated it to the rank of a collegiate establishment, and
endowed it with suitable possessions, placing in it
thirteen prebendaries, afterwards augmented to the
present number. He also, about the same time,
partly repaired and partly enlarged the choir of the
cathedral of Christ Church, and founded and en
dowed the nunnery of Grace Dieu in the County of
Dublin, for regular canonesses of the order of St.
Augustine, whom he removed thither from the more
ancient convent of Lusk.
Early in the year 1191 John Earl of Moreton,
as Lord of Ireland, confirmed to this prelate and his
successors, all liberties theretofore granted to his see,
with the extraordinary additional licence, that he
and they might hold a court throughout the land
of Ireland, and administer justice to their own
people, as well within as without this diocese. Har-
JOHN COMYN. 77
ris doubts the authenticity of the instrument, on
the ground, that at the time, to which he refers it,
(1184,) John had no power to give such an extent
of authority; the grant, however, from the names
of the witnesses and other internal evidence, is
correctly referrible to the above year, when John s
assumption of power was more probable, in the ab
sence of King Richard at the siege of Acre, and
the charter is undoubtedly preserved amongst the
most ancient documents of the See in Christ Church.
About the same time, Maolisa, on being raised to the
See of Clogher, surrendered to this prelate and his
successors his claim to the church of All Hallows
near Dublin, reserving it, however, to himself durin*
his life, to be held of the said archbishop and of the
church of the Holy Trinity.
In 1 1 92 Prince John gave this prelate an additi
onal mark of his favour, confirming to him and his suc
cessors for ever the previous grant of the bishopric of
Glendalough, "so that upon its vacancy the archbishop
should hold it without rendering any account to the
crown therefore, and should provide for it according to
his discretion, and that, in the mean time, the bishop
elect should be his chaplain and vicegerent ;" the
charter of which grant was, thereupon, confirmed by
the apostolic legate, Matthew O Heney, Archbishop
of Cashel, at a great synod held in Dublin. Comyn
had at the same time a royal grant for an eight day
fair, to be held in his town of Swords, with all cus
toms to the same justly appertaining ; and, in the
exercise of his worldly prudence, still farther forti-
78 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
fied the rights of his see by a confirmation of its
possessions, both spiritual and temporal, from Eva,
the daughter and heiress of Dermot Mac Murrough,
while in 1193 he obtained from Pope Celestine the
Third a further assurance of the see of Glendalough,
according to the above arrangement of the legate.
In 1197 this prelate was much harassed and
despoiled by Hamo de Valoniis, alias de Valois,
who, being appointed Justiciary of Ireland under
Prince John, and finding the government embar
rassed by the want of a treasury, seized on several
lands belonging to this see notwithstanding the op
position of the archbishop. Representations of these
and other wilful and unauthorised spoliations by de
Valois having been made at Rome, and Comyn
having felt himself obliged to fly to France, Pope
Innocent the Third wrote a remonstrance to John,
dated 18th September, 1198, in which he complained
of the unjust and outrageous conduct of the Deputy,
and also of John himself, for having detained the
archbishop in Normandy. Hamo was thereupon re
called from the government, having greatly enriched
himself by the plunder of not only the church, but
the laity. It is recorded, however, that he soon felt
remorse for his crimes towards Comyn, and, in part
compensation therefore, made a grant of twenty
ploughlands to the archbishop and his successors for
ever. But the resentment which John conceived, by
reason of the appeal to Rome, was more inflexibly
cherished, and not until 1206, does he seem to have
received the prelate to his favour, as is testified by
HENRY DE LOCJNDRES. 79
a record of that year, preserved in the Chapter-house
of Westminster, wherein the king, after reciting that
he had given up his " anger and indignation" against
the Archbishop of Dublin, and received him into
full favour, commands the Lord Justice of Ireland to
protect him from any injury, and to restore to him
the lands and liberties which he enjoyed, " on the
day when the discord first commenced between us
and him, concerning our foresters and others our
servants."
Comyn survived this reconciliation about six
years, and, dying on the 25th of October, in the
year 1212, was buried in Christ Church, where a
marble monument was erected to his memory, in the
soutli side of the choir which he had repaired and
enlarged.
ROBERT DE WIKEFORD.
[Succ. 1375. Ob. 1390.]
Robert de Wikeford, of the ancient family of
Wikeford Hall, in Essex, Archdeacon of Winchester,
Doctor of the Civil and Canon Law of the University
of Oxford, and for a time Fellow of Merton College,
was advanced to this see by a provision from Pope
Gregory the Ninth, dated at Avignon, on the 12th
of October, 1375, before the close of which year he
was consecrated. In the Easter following he had
restitution of the temporalities, but his writ for that
purpose does not bear date until the 30th of January,
1376, when he had performed all the previous requi
sites. He was in great favour with King Edward
the Third, and employed by him in many affairs of
importance before his advancement to this see. In
particular, in 1370, he was commissioned to treat with
Wenceslaus, Duke of Brabant, for the entertainment
of that prince and his army in pay during the wars ;
in 1371 was sent ambassador, in conjunction with
others, to the Earl of Flanders, in which commission
* Rot. Pat. in Cane. Hib.
ROBERT DE WIKEFORD. 143
he is described as a doctor of both laws.* In 1373,
being then constable of the castle of Bourdeaux, he
was employed to treat of a league, offensive and de
fensive, with Peter, King of Arragon, and on the 12th
of April, in the same year, was joined in commission
with Thomas Felton, Seneschal of Aquitain, to take
possession of that principality, then surrendered to
the king by his eldest son, Prince Edward, to whom
he had previously granted it for life. De Wikeford
was at the same time appointed one of the commis
sioners to hear appeals therein,f but he did not con
tinue long in this office, the king having occasion for
his services elswhere. In the year 1375, a little be
fore his advancement to this see, he was condemned
in a suit prosecuted against him by Ivo Beaustan,
before Sir Guy de Bryan and Edmund Mortimer,
Earl of March, then the king s judges in Aquitain,
concerning the right to a prisoner, and without cita
tion, confession, or conviction, all requisite forms
being pretermitted, was, although absent and in the
king s service, adjudged to pay and render 7625
franks, 200 marks of silver, two good coursers, and
one hackney. From this judgment, however, he
appealed to the king and council in England as to
his superior judges, and Edward thereupon sent a
mandatory writ, dated the 26th of June, 1375,
(wherein he styles him his beloved clerk,) to Thomas
Felton, seneschal of Aquitain, William de Elmham,
seneschal of Gascony, and Richard Rotour, then
* Rymer s Foeclera. f Ib.
144 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
constable of Bourdeaux, commanding them to super
sede the said judgment, to cite the said Ivo to appear
before the king and council at Westminster, the day
after the purification following, and to stand to such
decree as the king and council should make in the
premises. On the 3rd of August, in the same year,
the king, at the request of the prior and convent of
the Holy Trinity, and of the dean and chapter of St.
Patrick s, granted them licence to choose a bishop in
the place of Thomas Minot, deceased, and their
choice falling on de Wikeford was confirmed as be
fore mentioned.
Immediately on his appointment, he was sum
moned to attend a parliament to be held in Dublin.*
A remarkable law case is mentioned connected with this
period of the archbishop s life : one Thomas, a clerk
in England, obtained judgment against him before
he was archbishop for 10, and, upon affidavit that
the defendant lived in Ireland and had goods and
lands there, and the sheriff s return that he had no
goods or lands in England, the plaintiff had a writ
of fieri facias against him when archbishop, to levy
the said money out of his lands and chattels in
Ireland.
In the parliamentary representation which sat at
Westminster in 1376, the proctors representing the
clergy of the diocese of Dublin were John Fitz Ellis
and Thomas Athelard. In Ireland, it may be here
observed, the clergy seemed to have early complied
* Rot. Clans, in Cane. Hib.
ROBERT DE WIKEFORD. 145
with the model of Edward the First in sending proc
tors to parliament ; and, while the archbishops and
bishops, mitred abbots, and priors sat in the upper
house, the proctors assembled in the lower. In that
year de Wikeford was appointed Chancellor of Ire
land, and in 1377 received a mandatory writ to alter
the great seal by changing Edward into Richard ;
while, at the same time, he had a liberate for 20
from the treasury, for his expenses in attending " a
great council."* He was also at that time summoned
to attend a parliament to be held at Castledermot,f
and ordered to direct the deans and chapters of his
cathedrals to choose sufficient proxies to appear for
them on the occasion.J In 13/8 he had an exem
plification and confirmation of the manor of Swords
to him and his successors, and on the 23rd of April,
1380, had a grant to the see of all its possessions, by
one of those little slips of parchment which formerly
conveyed whole baronies, while the smallest estates
of modern times are deemed to require a pile of
skins for their transmission. In the same year the
assizes, which were to be held before him, were, on
the petition of the council, postponed, in consequence
of his necessary attendance in England. In 1381
he was directed by royal mandate to appoint collectors
of a clerical subsidy for the service of the State,|| and
summoned to attend a parliament in Dublin, with
sufficient proctors for his dean and chapter and the
clergy of his diocese.ff He was also required in the
* Rot. Glaus, in Cane. Hib. f Ib. J Ib.
Rot. in Cane. Hib. H Ib. ih.
146 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
same year to assign the usual corody to a clerk of the
king s nomination.*
In 1382 de Wikeford was ordered to attend a
conference of the prelates and nobles to be held at
Naas,f and was further specially directed not to ab
sent himself from Ireland without licence. J In 1385
he was again appointed Lord Chancellor. In 1387
he had a confirmation of the right of holding a fair
at Swords, and also obtained a grant to the see of
that half of the cantred of the abbacy of Glenda-
lough, which lay next to the castle of Bally more,
and in 1389 was one of the persons appointed to
assess the clergy and commons of the County of
Dublin, for a prescribed subsidy which they had
gran ted. 1 1
Early in 1390 he had leave of absence for one
year to visit England,^f during which interval, on the
29th of August, 1390, he died. In the Book of Obits
of Christ Church it is recorded of this prelate, that he
remised and released to that cathedral an annual pay
ment of five marks, which his predecessors had re
ceived for archiepiscopal proxies, and in return a
yearly commemoration was appointed for him there,
with an office of nine lessons.
RICHARD TALBOT. 155
In 1431 the king granted to him the custody of
two-thirds of the manor of Trim, and of certain other
premises, being in the crown by reason of the mi
nority of Richard Duke of York, and in the same
year, with the consent of the prebendary of Swords
and of the two chapters of the diocese, he instituted a
Rot. in Cane. Hib. f Ik.
156 ARCHBISHOPS OF DUBLIN.
new corporation within the cathedral of St. Patrick s,
consisting of six minor canons, and six choristers :
the former were to be presbyters ; of these he de
signated the first in rank by the title of sub-dean,
and the second by that of succentor ; they were not,
however, to have a voice in the chapter, or any fixed
stall in the choir. For the support of this body, he
allocated the tithes of the parish of Swords, except
such portions as were specially reserved to the pre
bendary and perpetual vicar ; the two elder canons
were to receive six marks yearly, over and above the
stipend of ten marks allowed annually to each of the
other four ; each of the choristers were to have four
marks of English money, while twenty from the
residue were reserved to the precentor for life ; but,
after his death, the whole of such residue was ap
propriated for ever to lighting the altars, and other
uses of the cathedral.* He also established a chantry
in St. Michael s church, which, from being a chapel
he constituted parochial, and likewise, founded the
chantry of St. Anne in St. Audeon s church, for
the maintenance of six priests, to pray for the king,
and the founder, and their successors, and procured
a licence to purchase in mortmain to the extent of
66 135, 4d. per annum for its endowment.
In 1484, being blind and in an infirm state of
health, he voluntarily resigned the archbishopric,
reserving to himself for a maintenance the manor
of Swords during his life ; a saving which was
confirmed to him in the following year by act of
parliament duly enrolled. A short time previous
to his resignation, he terminated a long litigation,
which had existed between the see and the prior and
JOHN WALTON. 1(39
convent of Holmpatrick, the particulars of which may
be seen at that locality in the " History of the County
of Dublin."
In 1489, five years after he had vacated the see,
emerging from the obscurity and repose which only
his age and infirmities necessitated, he again appeared
in the pulpit of his cathedral, and preached at St.
Patrick s church on the festival of its patron, before
the Lord Deputy and the nobles, to the admiration
of the hearers. He was led thence to the archbishop s
palace, where he dined with the chief men of the
State. The Registry of Swords gives an account of
this and two other sermons preached by him when
he was blind, and speaks of him in terms of high
commendation, especially for his hospitality and his
cheerful and innocent disposition. The precise time
of his death has not been ascertained, but his will
without date is extant among the manuscripts in
Trinity College, Dublin. He therein ordered his
body to be buried at Osney, among its abbots, if he
died in England, directed one portiforiuin (an eccle
siastical book), with the Mass-book and a book called
" pupilla oculi" to be restored to that abbey, together
with the following articles : viz. one silver cup with a
gilded cover, one white cup with a cover, and two
silver bolbecis, a silver gilt salt-cellar with a gilt
cover, a double neck-cloth of diaper, two long diaper
towels, and three short ones of the same sort, a large
hanging branch for four candles, of tin, four other
candlesticks of tin, ten jackets, two pair of vestments
of green damask, six rochets, and other particulars ;
and he also bequeathed to the said abbey, two books
of physic, twelve silver spoons, a feather bed, bolster,
and four pillows.
ANCELOT BULKELEY. 259
son of Sir Richard Bulkeley of Beaumaris, by his
second wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Needham,
and acquired his education at Brazen-nose College,
Oxford; into which he was admitted a commoner in
1587, in the eighteenth year of his age. He after
wards removed to St. Edmund s Hall, where he took
the successive degrees of bachelor and master of arts,
and was in November, 1593, ordained deacon by
Hugh Bellot, bishop of Bangor, in a private ora
tory in that prelate s palace, being then also licensed
to preach ; he was on the same day instituted to the
rectory of Llandyfnan, in the March following to that
of Beaumaris, and immediately afterwards ordained
priest in the cathedral of Bangor, by the same bishop.
Having for a short time filled the archdeaconry of
Dublin, he was promoted to its see in 16 19, with
the usual mandates for investiture, consecration, and
restitution. He was accordingly consecrated at
Drogheda in St. Peter s Church, on the 3rd of
October in that year, by Christopher, Archbishop of
Armagh, assisted by the Bishops of Kilmore andDro-
more, and was soon afterwards called into the privy
council by King James, who early in the following
year granted him a licence to hold in commendain
one or more ecclesiastical benefices, not exceeding the
annual value of 100 sterling in the king s books.
In 1621 this prelate granted to Christopher and
Richard Fagan the office of constable of the castle of
Swords, with certain lands annexed.*
The Round Towers of Ireland
Henry O'Neill (1877) 62 pages
SWORDS
Malahide station is on the Dublin and Belfast line, from which,
about two miles west, is the town of Swords.
The country around is richly agricultural. The tower is in a churchyard,
in which are also a modern church and a square belfry tower, not very
ancient, possibly of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The style of
the windows, like that of the Lusk square tower, in few miles distant,
is early English.
Altogether detached. but close to the belfry-tower and the church,
stands the round tower. Their relative positions are shown in the view I
have published in my illustrations of the towers. That View is looking
north, and shows that the tower is on a moderate eminence, which, owing
to the generally level character of the country, renders this and the
neighbouring one of Lusk conspicuous objects for along distance.
The tower is in very good condition. Material: the limestone of the
neighbourhood, an excellent building stone: coarsely hammered rubble is
the style of construction. Probable height, 80 feet.
At the end of the last century the tower was repaired, being then
pointed throughout. A very old man, the sexton (John Wilson), told me
that he has heard his father state that, one hundred and fifty years
ago, he (the father) was present when the top was repaired, and the
cross put on the apex; there had been a small cross there before. The
top part, from the basis of the four windows at that part, has evidently
been added in recent times.
Diameter of Swords tower at the ground level : 16 feet 10 inches.
This tower is built irregularly inside. The lower diameter is from 8
feet 1 inch to 8 feet 5 inches.
At the doorway the thickness of the wall is a trifle over 4 feet.
Doorway - The sill is only 1 foot 3 inches up from the ground ;
its height is 5 feet 4 inches; width below.
3 feet 5 inches; at top, 3 inches less.
The aspect is east, a little south.
The material is coarsely-hammered limestone; the name material and mode
of construction as the rest of
the tower.
Windows to the Lofts.
As l could not ascend the tower, I cannot give the size of thee
openings. At about 16 feet up from the threshold of the doorway, there
is a rude, imperfect flooring: of flags, which has a large opening. This
flooring prevented my seeing farther up. There are the remains of
ladders inside, too much decayed for use. The construction of the tower
inside is very coarse. The curving and sloping of the walls are
irregular.
There are four ascending openings, which look, 1st, east; 2nd, north;
3rd, south; 4th, west. These are all straight-lined, and rather small ;
with the exception of the first, they are of a nearly square form and
are coarsely built. I could not get the measurements of them, but the
first one is apparently nearly four feet high, by about half that much
in width.
This one is over the doorway, and may be about eighteen feet up.
On the inside there are five floor courses, which, except the first one,
only project a few inches.
The top of the tower, from a little below the top windows, is evidently
not part of the original structure. These windows are four in number,
are circular-headed, and look to the cardinal points. Some bricks, as
well as I can judge, have been used in the heads of these windows; they
are of an unusually large size.
REMARKS.
Fifty years back ("Cromwell's Excursions through Ireland," Vol. ll., p.
38, A.D. 1819-20) the change of structure in the top was noticed, and
its modern construction suggested.
Other writers have also noticed the modern character of the top. Thus,
in the Dublin Penny JournaI, No. 23, Dec. 1st, 1832, there is the
following passage:-
"Present entrance level with the ground. This, as well as the roof and
upper story, are of modern construction.”
The Dublin Penny JournaI was edited by Dr. Petrie. I see no indications
of the doorway being of modern construction." For more information see: http://www.bookprep.com/read/mdp.39015074726913
History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff (7 vols., 1858–1890)
"Saint Columba or Columbcille, (died June 9, 597) is the real apostle of
Scotland. He is better known to us than Ninian and Kentigern. The
account of Adamnan (624-704), the ninth abbot of Hy, was written a
century after Columba's death from authentic records and oral
traditions, although it is a panegyric rather than a history. Later
biographers have romanized him like St. Patrick. He was descended from
one of the reigning families of Ireland and British Dalriada, and was
born at, Gartan in the county of Donegal about a.d. 521. He received in
baptism the symbolical name Colum, or in Latin Columba (Dove, as the
symbol of the Holy Ghost), to which was afterwards added cille (or kill,
i.e. "of the church," or "the dove of the cells," on account of his
frequent attendance at public worship, or, more probably, for his being
the founder of many churches.79 He entered the monastic seminary of
Clonard, founded by St. Finnian, and afterwards another monastery near
Dublin, and was ordained a priest. He planted the church at Derry in
545, the monastery of Darrow in 553, and other churches. He seems to
have fondly clung all his life to his native Ireland, and to the convent
of Derry. In one of his elegies, which were probably retouched by the
patriotism of some later Irish bard, he sings:
"Were all the tributes of Scotia [i.e. Ireland] mine,
From its midland to its borders,
I would give all for one little cell
In my beautiful Derry.
For its peace and for its purity,
For the white angels that go
In crowds from one end to the other,
I love my beautiful Derry.
For its quietness and purity,
For heaven's angels that come and go
Under every leaf of the oaks,
I love my beautiful Derry.
My Derry, my fair oak grove,
My dear little cell and dwelling,
O God, in the heavens above I
Let him who profanes it be cursed.
Beloved are Durrow and Derry,
Beloved is Raphoe the pure,
Beloved the fertile Drumhome,
Beloved are Sords and Kells! [inmhain Sord as Cenanddus [Betha
Colaim chille] (1918)]
But sweeter and fairer to me
The salt sea where the sea-gulls cry
When I come to Derry from far,
It is sweeter and dearer to me —
Sweeter to me."
Ireland Illustrated (1831)
Wright, G. N. (George Newenham), 1790?-1877; Bartlett, W. H. (William
Henry), 1809-1854
(London : H. Fisher, Son, and Jackson)
THE ROUND TOWER, THE CHURCH AND STEEPLE AT SWORDS, COUNTY DUBLIN.
These splendid remains of decaying grandeur speak to the imagination in
a strain of
eloquence, which no modern work, of any magnitude, can reach. They
transfer their
grand ideas to the landscape, and, in the representation of elevated
subjects, assist the
sublime. Several of the various theories, explanatory of the origin and
use of the ancient
Irish Pillar Tower, have been already briefly quoted ;* and although
some few remarks
may yet be added, without exhausting this interesting and mysterious
question, — yet
" No record lives to tell what they have been."
Mr. O'Halloran says, " Those ancient monuments, from their solidity, at
this day, appear
to have been built with such firmness, as almost to defy the ravages of
time;" and adds,
"that they were the retreats of wretched hermits and pious recluses." To
this opinion
the learned reader will probably object, that a wretched hermit must
have possessed much
genius, considerable wealth, and more considerable influence, in order
to procure the erection
of such an edifice, in such an age. A very agreeable writer, and equally
acute critic, expresses
himself in the following manner as to the uses of the Round Tower — " I
cannot help
inclining to the opinion of their being belfries, as their very name in
Irish (cloghad)
imports a steeple with a bell ; and from the following consideration :
Over a great part of
the Eastern world, they have tall round steeples, called minarets, with
balconies at top,
from whence a person summonses the people to worship at stated hours. As
the Irish derived
their arts from Phoenicia, we may suppose from thence also came the
model of these towers,
which served as the minarets of the East do at present, till bells came
into use : for, narrow
as they are, (about ten feet in the clear at the base,) they might hold
a bell large enough
to summon the congregation, as effectually as the voice of a man." It is
rather obvious
that this doctrine is strained in its application, since the antiquarian
acknowledges, tliat
the Pillar Tower might hold a bell large enough for the required
purpose.
The Tower of Swords is furnished with stairs to the top, on the inside,
evidently of
late construction, and it is finished with a cross surmounting the
conical covering. It stands
in the church-yard, at a short distance from the steeple and church, the
latter of which is
rebuilt in a very elegant Gothic manner, with buttresses and finials,
and on rather a large
scale. The Tower measures seventy-three feet in height by fifty-two in
circumference, at
an elevation of ten feet from the ground, and is a plain and simple
structure.
The Village of Swords, to which the church is adjacent, was formerly a
borough,
returning two members to the Irish Parliament ; and the ruins of an
extensive building,
formerly the palace of the Archbishops of Dublin, occupy a conspicuous
position at the
northern extremity of the Market-place.
From TheDublin Penny Journal, Volume
1, Number 23, December 1, 1832.
The ancient town of Swords, situated in the barony of Coolock, about
seven miles from the metropolis, though now reduced to an insignificant
village, is remarkable for its picturesque features, its ruins, and its
historical recollections. Its situation is pleasing and romantic, being
placed on the steep banks of a small and rapid river, and though its
general appearance indicates but little of prosperity or happiness, its
very ruins and decay, give it, at least to the antiquary and the
painter, a no common interest.
Like most of our ancient towns Swords appears to be of ecclesiastical
origin. A sumptuous monastery was founded here in the year 512, by the
great St. Columb, who appointed St. Finian Lobair, or the leper, as its
abbot, and to whom he gave a missal, or copy of the gospels, written by
himself. St. Finian died before the close of the sixth century. In
course of time this monastery became possessed of considerable wealth,
and the town rose into much importance. It contained within its
precincts, in addition to St. Columb's church, four other chapels, and
nine exterior chapels subservient to the mother church. Hence on the
institution of the collegiate church of St. Patrick, it ranked as the
first of the thirteen canonries attached to that cathedral by archbishop
Comin, and was subsequently known by the appellation of "the golden
prebend." There was also a nunnery here, the origin of which is unknown.
To this monastery the bodies of the monarch Brian Boru, and his son
Morogh, were conveyed in solemn procession by the monks, after the
memorable battle of Clontarf, and after remaining a night, were carried
to the abbey of Duleek, and committed to the care of the monks of St.
Cianan, by whom they were conveyed to Armagh.
Swords was burnt and plundered frequently, as well by the native
princes, as by the Danes, who set the unholy example. By the latter it
was reduced to ashes in the years 1012, and 1016, and by the former in
the years 1035 and 1135. On this last occasion the aggressor, Conor
O'Melaghlin, king of Meath, was slain by the men of Lusk. Its final
calamity of this kind occurred in the year 1166.
Here it was that the first Irish army of the Pale assembled on the
9th of November, 1641, preparatory to that frightful civil war which
caused such calamities to the country; and here they were defeated and
put to the rout by the forces under Sir Charles Coote, on the 10th of
January following, when he beat them from their fortifications and
killed two hundred of them, without any material loss, except that of
Sir Lorenzo Carey, second son of Lord Falkland, who fell in the
engagement.
Of the numerous ecclesiastical edifices for which Swords was
anciently distinguished, the only remains now existing are those
represented in the prefixed engraving--for the castle, though said to
have been the residence of the archbishop of Dublin can hardly be
included under this denomination. These consist of a fine and lofty
round tower, coeval with the foundation of the original monastery, and
the abbey belfry, a square building of the fourteenth or fifteenth
century. The former is seventy-three feet high, fifty-two feet in
circumference, and the walls four feet thick. It contained five stories,
or floors. Its present entrance which is level with the ground, is of
modern construction, as well as the roof and upper story: what appears
to have been the original doorway is twenty feet from the ground, and
but four feet high. Respecting the uses of those singular ancient
buildings, we deem it improper to express any opinion, till the Royal
Irish Academy shall have announced its decision on the prize essays on
this subject, now under its consideration.
These two towers with the adjacent church, form a picturesque and
uncommon architectural group; but the church which is of modern
erection, having been completed in the year 1818, though imposing in its
general appearance, is but a spurious and jejune imitation of the
pointed or gothic style of architecture, and such as might have been
expected from minds so wanting in good taste and feeling as those which
permitted the removal of the beautiful ruins of the ancient abbey to
erect it on their site. Similar acts of wanton destruction are now
unfortunately of daily occurrence, and are anything but honorable to
their perpetrators, who, though they may regard such remains as
vestiges of ancient superstition, should still remember, as Byron says,
that
----"Even the faintest relics of a shrine
Of any worship, wake some thoughts divine."
We are told that the inhabitants of Swords feel proud of this
pretending, but tasteless structure, and we believe it possible; but if
the principles of a refined and educated architectural taste should ever
again be generally disseminated in Ireland, they will indulge in a very
different feeling. In this country we have yet to learn that elegance of
form and correctness of design in ecclesiastical buildings are, in the
hands of a judicious and educated architect, quite attainable, even with
the limited means usually appropriated to the purpose.
We shall give a view and account of the castle, or episcopal palace
of Swords, in a future number.
SWORDS, a market and post-town (formerly a parliamentary
borough), and a parish, in the barony of NETHERCROSS, county of DUBLIN,
and province of LEINSTER, 7 miles (N.) from Dublin, on the road to
Drogheda by Balbriggan; containing 3722 inhabitants, of which number,
2537 are in the town. The place appears to owe its origin to the
foundation of a monastery here, in 512, by St. Columbkill, who presented
to it a missal written by himself, appointed St. Finan Lobhair, or the
Leper, its first abbot, and blessed the well there. The monastery
continued long to increase in character and wealth, and the town in
consequence rose to such a magnitude, that it had several additional
places of worship, among which were chapels dedicated to St. Finan and
St. Bridget, near the latter of which was an ancient cross, called
"Pardon Crosse."
It was repeatedly plundered and burnt by the Danes; and about the year
1035 it suffered in a similar manner from an attack by Conor O'Melaghlin,
king of Meath, who was killed in the engagement, to revenge which his
brother ravaged the whole district of Fingal with fire and sword.
Notwithstanding these repeated injuries it still retained the character
of a place of much importance: for when the bodies of Brian Boroimhe and
his son Murrough, who fell in the arms of victory at the famous battle
of Clontarf, were being conveyed to their final place of interment at
Armagh, they were deposited for one night during the journey in the
abbey of this town.
On the foundation of the collegiate establishment of St. Patrick's,
Dublin, by Archbishop Comyn in 1190, Swords was not only
constituted a prebend of that church, but it is noticed by Archbishop
Alan, in his Repertorium Viride as "the Golden Prebend, similar to that
of Sarum in England;" and in the same work it is registered as giving
name to one of the rural deaneries in the northern part of the diocese.
King John granted to the same prelate the privilege of holding a fair
there for eight days after the feast of St. Columbkill. It was
incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in 1578. James I., in 1603, granted to
the Archbishop of Dublin a confirmation of the privileges of the town,
together with a weekly market on Monday; in this document the place is
called the Archbishop's manor of Swords. A grant of two
additional fairs was made to it in 1699. On the breaking out of the war
in 1641, the Irish army of the pale assembled for the first time at
Swords, and on the 10th of the following January they were driven
from it with the loss of 200 men, by Sir Charles Coote, with scarcely
any on his side except that of Sir Lorenzo Carey, a son of Lord
Falkland, who was slain in the action.
The town occupies a pleasing situation on the steep banks of a small but
rapid stream, which discharges itself northwards into the inner
extremity of the creek or pill of Malahide: the creek, which comes
within a mile of the town, is navigable for boats at high water. It
consists chiefly of one wide street, a mile in length, formed of houses
which, with but few exceptions, are of mean appearance.
Fairs are held on March 17th and May 9th for cattle and pedlery; petty
sessions on Wednesdays; and it is a constabulary police station. Its
charter, already noticed, which bears date in the 20th year of the reign
of Elizabeth, incorporates the place by the name of the "Bailiff and
Burgesses within the Town of Swords." It was a potwalloping
borough and sent two representatives to the Irish parliament, but was
disfranchised at the union.
By an order of the privy council of Ireland, dated Jan. 10th, 1837,
under the Act of the 6th and 7th of William IV., for extending the
jurisdiction and regulating the proceedings of the Civil Bill Court, the
county of Dublin is divided into two districts: the northern, called the
district of Balbriggan, consists of the barony of Balrothery, so much of
the parishes of Swords, Killossory, and Malahide as are in the
barony of Coolock, and the barony of Nethercross, except the part of the
parish of Finglass which is within that barony; the act of council
directs that two general sessions of the peace are to be held annually
at Balbriggan and two at Swords for this district: for the
particulars of the southern district, named the district of Kilmainham,
see KILMAINHAM.
The parish, according to the county book in the custody of the
treasurer, contains 3536 Irish acres, of which 1227 are in the town and
its liberties. The soil is good, and the system of agriculture rapidly
improving: there are several extensive corn-mills within the parish, and
it is embellished with numerous seats and villas.
Brackenstown, the seat of R. Manders, Esq., is a spacious mansion,
situated in a demesne laid out with much taste, in which is a cemetery
erected by the present proprietor's father, whose remains are interred
there: this place was the residence of the Chief Baron Bysse in the time
of Cromwell, who visited him here during his military expedition to
Ireland. Balheary House, the residence of A. Baker, Esq., is a large
square structure with several apartments of ample dimensions; in the
saloon and dining-rooms are some fine pieces of tapestry, formerly the
property of the Earl of Ormonde: the surrounding demesne, through which
flow the small rivers of Fieldstown and Knocksedan, is well laid out,
and commands a fine view of Howth and the Dublin mountains, with the
town and environs of Swords, which, with its church, round tower,
ruins of the monastery, and other interesting objects, presents a varied
and picturesque scene in the foreground.
Seafield is the residence of J. Arthure, Esq.; Little Lissenhall, of R.
Smith, Esq.; Newport, of P. Wilson, Esq.; the Vicarage, of the Hon. and
Rev. F. Howard; Swords House, of James Taylor, Esq.; Prospect
Point, of Captain Purcell; Cremona, of Lieutenant Col: Gordon; and
Mantua, of Mrs. Daly.
The parish is a prebend, rectory, and vicarage, in the diocese of
Dublin. In 1431 it was divided by Archbishop Talbot into three unequal
portions, one of which was assigned to a prebendary of St. Patrick's,
the second to the perpetual vicar, and the remainder to the Economy of
the same cathedral, which was thereby bound to maintain six minor canons
and six choristers, and to furnish lights and to keep the building in a
proper state of repair. At present, the rectory in part constitutes the
corps of the prebend of Swords; one of the other portions is
appropriated to the Economy fund of St. Patrick's, Dublin; and the
other, with the vicarage, is episcopally united to the rectory of
Kinsealy, and the curacies of Killeek and Killossory, in the patronage
of the Archbishop.
The tithes amount to £273. 1. 2 ½., of which £112. 13. 5 ½. is payable
to the dean and chapter, and the remainder to the vicar.
There is a glebe-house, and a glebe of 33a. 2r. 20p. The church,
completed in 1818 by aid of a loan of £2500 from the late Board of First
Fruits, is a handsome building of hewn stone in the pointed style of
architecture: the interior is fitted up neatly but without any display
of ornamental decoration; a gallery, in which is an organ, extends
across the west end: the east window is of modern painted glass. The
belfry tower is that of the former church, which was allowed to remain
when the rest of the edifice was taken down; it stands a little detached
from the main building. Near it, in the same direction, is an ancient
round tower, 73 feet high, which is of a ruder construction than most of
the others now existing, but has been kept in good repair; it also
differs from all the others by having on the vertex of its conical roof
a small cross: near the summit are four round-headed windows opening to
the four cardinal points, and at different heights are four other small
square windows; an opening of about four feet high, apparently intended
for the doorway, is nearly 24 feet above the ground.
In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district,
which comprises the parishes of Swords, Malahide, and Cloghran,
and contains two chapels, one in the town, a spacious and neat edifice
with a small tower and spire, the other at Balheary. The free school,
which is situated in the town, owes its origin to circumstances
connected with the Union.
On the suppression of the elective franchise of the borough at that
period, the claimants for shares of the £15,000 allowed as compensation
for the loss of that right were very numerous: but all their claims were
disallowed, and the sum was vested in the Lord Chancellor and several
clergymen of high station, in trust to found a school here, for the
daily education of the children of the place in reading, writing,
arithmetic and such branches of manufacture as would be most likely to
be useful to them during their future life; the surplus to be applied to
apprentice fees for those pupils who had completed their school course,
for premiums, and for the general encouragement of manufactures and
agriculture in the district: upwards of 300 children receive instruction
in the school, and 6 of each sex are apprenticed every May with a fee of
£12 each: a dispensary attached to the institution is supported from the
fund, and also a coal yard for selling fuel to the poor at low prices in
times of scarcity.
The old R. C. chapel has been converted into a school, which is in
connection with the Board of National Education: there are 87 boys and
52 girls in it. Another dispensary is supported by Grand Jury
presentments and private subscriptions in equal proportions.
The principal relics of antiquity still in existence are the ancient
round tower and the archbishop's palace; the latter was a fortified
structure in the centre of a court surrounded by embattled walls flanked
with towers; these walls compose the whole of the existing remains, the
enclosed area having been converted into a garden. The only evidence of
the former existence of a nunnery, founded here at an unknown period, is
the record of a pension granted by parliament, in 1474, to the prioress
and her successors.
To the south of the town, near the sea-shore, are the ruins of Seatown
castle, once a chief seat of the Russell family: about a mile from the
town, in the same direction, is Drynam, built by the same family in
1627, and now the property of Robert Russell Cruise, Esq. Lissenhall, an
ancient seat in the vicinity of Swords, belonged to the de Lacey
family in the reign of Edward I.; Sir William Fitzwilliam resided in it.
for some time, when he was Lord-Deputy of Ireland. Near Brackenstown
House is a high rath, which commands a fine view of all the surrounding
district: near Seafield is an old burial-ground, called Ballymadrouch.
George Petrie The Ecclesiastical Architecture of
Ireland 1845
George Petrie (1 January 1790 – 1866), was an Irish painter, musician,
antiquary and archaeologist of the Victorian era.
'Essay on the Round Towers of Ireland'in The
Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland
"I have already stated that many of the Towers have in their second
story an aperture placed directly over the entrance doorway, but little
inferior to it in size, and which might be considered as a second
doorway. Such second apertures, when the original doorway is
quadrangular, are always of the same form, as shown in the annexed
illustrations of the lower and upper doorways of the Round Tower of
Swords. The lower doorway is at present but three feet above the level
of the ground, and measures six feet in height, two feet in width at the
top, and two feet two inches at the bottom. The second aperture, which
is twenty feet from the ground, is four feet in height, and two feet in
width. The church of Swords owes its origin to the great St. Columbkille,
and was originally erected previously to the year 563."
Index of illustrations gives page 402 [below] for Swords Round Tower
doorway
"Petrie suggested that the window in the second storey was an auxiliary
doorway when the enemy was around the one below. This is hard to accept
in those terms but in Petrie's time the original doorway may have been
blocked up and it is possible that this was done for security reasons
and the window was then used as an entrance."
George Lennox Barrow The Round Towers of Ireland (Dublin: The
Academy Press,1979) p.89
Descriptions of towns from Thom's Directory of 1848
SWORDS, an inland market-town and parish, (formerly an Irish
parliamentary borough.) partly in Coolock barony, but chiefly in that of
Nethercross, Dublin county, eight miles N. from Dublin, comprising an
area of 9,171 acres of which 104 are in the town. Population of the
parish, 3,638 ; of the town, 1,788, occupying 348 houses. The town is
situated on the road to Drogheda via Balbriggan, and on a small river
that empties itself into the sea at Malahide.
It is the most ancient town in the county, and had its origin in an
extensive abbey founded by St. Columbkill in the beginning of the sixth
century, over which he placed St. Finian Lobhar, to whom he presented a
missal written by himself. It suffered much from the Danes, by whom it
was incessantly plundered or burnt and subsequently similarly treated by
the petty native princes in their border feuds, in one of which Conor
O'Melaghlin, King of Meath, was slain in 1035. Here the Irish army of
the Pale assembled on the breaking out of tile war in 1641, from which
they were driven and defeated by Sir Charles Coote. The charter of
incorporation, styling it the "Bailiff and Burgesses of the town of
Swords," was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1578, and confirmed by
James I. in 1603, by which it returned two members to the Irish
parliament, down to the period of the Union, when the £15,000 granted
for the abolition of its franchises vested in trustees to found a
school, which is at present in operation, attended by upwards of 300
children, and from which six, of each sex are annually apprenticed out
in May, with a fee of £12 each each. The parish is a prebend in the
Cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin, and is noticed by Archibishop Alan in
his Reperorium Viride, as the "golden prebend," a term similar to that
given to Sarum in England - which its endowment in tithes or land does
not seem to favour at the present day.
The town consists of one wide, street, about a mile in length. Its
public buildings are the Parish Church, a handsome modern structure of
hewn stone, in the pointed style ; a neat and spacious Roman Catholic
Chapel, with a small tower and spire. A Loan Fund, having a capital in
1845 of £435, which circulated during the year £1,665, leaving a profit
of £31. It has two Dispensaries, and a National School for children of
both sexes. A patent for a market exists, but is not now held, and there
are, fairs on March 17, May 10, July 12, Sept. 10, and Nov. 5. Quarter
and petty sessions are held here - the former twice in the year, in
April and October, and the latter every alternate Saturday. The parish
is studded with numerous seats and villa residences, among which are
Brackenstown - R. Manders. esq. ; Ballieary House - Henry Baker, esq. ;
Seafield -Benedict Arthure, esq. ; Lissen Hall- Owen Beahan, esq. ;
Newport Despard Taylor, esq. ; Swords House - James Taylor, esq.
; Cremona -Patrick Bowden esq., and Mantua - Joseph St. Clair Mayne,
esq. The only remains of the early ecclesiastical structures that
adorned this place, is the belfry tower of the old church, a square
building of the 14th or 15th century ; one of the ancient round towers,
73 feet high, and 52 foot in circumference ; and the archbishop's
palace. The latter was an extensive structure in the centre of a court,
encompassed by embattled walls, flanked by towers, the inner portion of
which is now a garden. There was also a Nunnery here, as appears on
record by a pension being granted by Parliament in 1474, to the Lady
Prioress and her successors.
Swords is two and a half miles W. from the Malahide station of
the Drogheda Railway. The mail from Dublin arrives at 15 minutes past 8,
a.m., and 40 minutes past 9 P.M. ; and is despatched at 4, P.M., and at
30 minutes 6, p.m. The Post Office grant and pay money orders.
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
A Lecture on the Antiquities of Swords
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse
on Wednesday Evg., Sep. 12, 1860,
by
The Late Right Rev. William Reeves
D.D., L.L.D., M.B., M.R.I.A.,;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk
THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS (Republished 1970) A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF SWORDS
Delivered at Swords, in the Borough Schoolhouse on Wednesday Evening.,
Sep. 12, 1860,
by THE LATE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM REEVES D.D., L.L.D., M.B.,
M.R.I.A.;
Bishop of Down; formerly Vicar of Lusk
[Page 3 (first page)]
It has happened that an Englishman (forgetting all the names of places
in his own country ending in mouth) has regarded with a kind of
religious horror the number of parochial names in Ireland beginning with
the syllable Kill, as a sad, but apt indication, even in spirituals, of
the Hibernian proneness to truculence. The feeling would hardly be
diminished were it to be told, that a professed messenger of peace was
lecturing this evening on Swords, aye, and the same Swords in part
appropriated by ecclesiastical ordinance to the canonry of a church,
like St. Patrick's, where every stall exhibits the three great emblems
of war - the sword fixed, the helmet erected, and the banner waving in
defiant array.
Leaving such a display, were he to travel northwards, he would find a
townland in the county of Louth, bearing the kindred name of Glasspistol,
and draw very plausible conclusions as to the social condition of a
county where the voice of blood cried as it were from the very ground.
And yet he might be mistaken: the prefix "Kill" is nothing but an Irish
form of the Latin cella, a monastic term appropriated to the
idea, "Church;" and that, as originally employed by the most harmless of
mortals, the secluded hermit. The amusingly ominous name Glasspistyll is
a British compound, signifying "Green-stream," while the Swords
of this evening are as weak as water, though having the common attribute
of being drawn.
In fact, your name Swords, as borne by this parish of 9,674 acres, in
the barony of Nethercross, with 1,294 inhabitants in the town, and a
gross population of 2,962, signifies nothing more or less than "Pure,"
and belonged to the well, which being near the spot on which the
primitive church was founded, became in after times what is called "a
holy well," and gave its name to the church and parish at large.
The original word is properly written "Sord," or "Surd," which is
interpreted "clear," or "pure," although in modern Irish the word so
spelt bears the meaning of "order ... industry ... diligence." The w
came into it after the settlement of the English, who wrote the name
Swerds, though pronounced Swords, as the verb shew has the
sound of show. This interpretation which I give you is from an ancient
Life of St. Columbkille, preserved in a very venerable MS. of the Royal
Irish Academy, of the fourteenth century.
But, to afford you an instance of the danger and uncertainty of
conjectural derivation, I may mention, that I once met at a clerical
meeting a gentle man of sound scholarship, who gave me to understand
that Swords was a corruption of the Latin word Surdus, "deaf," it
being an appellation borrowed in the middle ages from a monastery or
hospital, which was founded here for the admission of superannuated
ecclesiastics who had lost their hearing. Upon which I could not resist
the temptation of creating a set off in the case of my own parish of
Lusk, which, on the spur of the moment, and with equal credibility,
I alleged was derived from the Latin Luscus, "blind of one eye,"
observing that as Swords was the asylum for the deaf, so Lusk was the
hospital for those of defective vision.
But in all seriousness, it was the practice of the early founders of
Christianity in these islands, when planting a church in any spot, to
have special reference to the proximity of a well. We could easily
understand how the existence
[Page 4]
of a well in an eastern clime would determine the choice of site for a
church; but in a cool and over-irrigated country like Ireland; it may be
somewhat more difficult to account for the great importance which was
attached to the well, and for the great number of holy wells, with their
stations, and patrons, and votive offerings, which came to be regarded
with religious veneration.
The famous Bishop Boniface writes to Pope Zachary in 745, complaining of
Adalbert, a Gaul, that he dissuaded men from visiting the Limina
Apostolorum, dedicating in his own honour oratories, and erecting
crosses and chapels in plains, and at wells, and ,wherever he
chose, and there persuaded them to celebrate public worship, till
multitudes of the people, setting other bishops at nought, and forsaking
the ancient churches, thronged to such places, saying, "The merits of
holy Adalbert shall aid us." I could tell you curious stories of the
supposed sanctity of wells, but they would divert me from the immediate
object of our lecture; suffice it to say, that well-worship existed in
the country before the introduction of Christianity, and that when the
people were converted, like the transfer of pagan temples, these wells,
with all their veneration, were made over to the aid of the new
religion.
Besides, the convenience of every-day life tells us how desirable it is
to have a good supply of pure water at hand, and we must bear in mind,
that ecclesiastics in old times were men of like passions as in the
present day, and required the same elements of sustenance for their life
and health.
Conspicious among the evangelical labourers in Ireland was St. Columba,
or Columbkille, whose genius and devotion have won for him a high place
in the annals of the Church of Christ. This man was born in Gartan, in
the county of Donegal, in 521. About the year 553 he founded the church
of Durrow, and previously to 563, when he departed from Ireland to Iona,
it is recorded that he founded your church of Swords.
The early Irish Life of him, to which I have already alluded, thus
relates the origin of your church and of its name "Columbkille founded a
church at Rechra (that is, the island of Lambay), in the cast of Bregia,
and left Colman, the Deacon, in it. Also he founded a church in the
place where Sord is at this day. He left a learned man of his people
there, namely, Finan Lobhar, and he left a gospel, which his own hand
wrote, there.
There also he dedicated a well named Sord, i.e., 'pure,' and he
consecrated a cross. One day that Columbkille and Cainnech were on the
brink of the tide, a great tempest raged over the sea, and Cainnech
asked, 'What saith the wave?' Columbkille answered, 'Thy people are in
danger yonder on the sea, and one of them has died, and the Lord will
bring him in unto us to-morrow to this bank on which we stand."
"As Bridget was one time walking through the Currach of Life (i.e., the
Curragh of Kildare), she viewed the beautiful shamrock-flowering plain
before her, whereupon she said in her mind, that if to her belonged the
power of the plain, she would offer it to the Lord of creation. This was
communicated to Columbkille in his monastery at Sord, whereupon he said
with a loud voice, 'Well has it happened to the holy virgin; for it is
the same to her in the sight of God as if the land she offered were in
her own right."' Hence St. Columba has always been regarded as the
founder and principal patron of the church of Swords. He died in 597, on
the 9th
[Page 5]
of June, and that day has been regarded as his festival in Scotland
as well as in Ireland. Accordingly, when, 600 years afterwards, the
privilege of holding a fair at Swords was conceded to the Archbishop of
Dublin by King John, the day chosen, or rather ratified, as previously
observed, was the feast of St. Columba, on the 9th of June.
And so intimately was the memory of the founder associated with the name
of the place, that almost the invariable designation of the church and
district was Sord-Columcille. But coupled with this
saint's name, there is another, which shares the ecclesiastical
patronage of the spot; and though but few particulars are recorded of
his history, there is sufficient evidence to prove that in his day he
was an ecclesiastic of considerable eminence.
This was St. Finan, surnamed Lobhar, or "the Leper." How strange
that such should be made a saint; but Christanity had long before
abolished the disabilities of the Leper, and with the fall of the Jewish
ordinal, arose the prospects of the bodily sufferer.
The Irish seem to have held such in veneration; and we can prove that
several of the most honoured names in our native calendar are men whose
skin was the scat of a loathsome disease, or whose features had been
levelled by the ravages of cancer.
St. Finan belonged to the former class, St. Mobhi (Movee), of Glasnevin,
styled the clarenach, or "flat- faced," is referable to the
latter; and in the great veneration which the ancient Irish always
entertained for extreme asceticism and self-denial, their respect for
those who suffered by the hand of God was not less when that compulsory
mortification was coupled with a holy life.
St. Finan the Leper was patron saint of three churches in Ireland,
namely: Swords; Ardfinnan, in the county of Tipperary; and Innisfallen,
in Loch Lene, or Killarney. The latter part of his life was spent at
Clonmore near Enniscorthy, in the county of Wexford, where he continued
for thirty years, all the while labouring under a sore disease, and
given up to pious contemplation, frequently enjoying rapturous visions.
He died here on the 16th of March, about 650, and was buried in this
monastery. Of him there is testimony in an exceedingly ancient Irish
poem, where it is said in reference to Clonmore:-
"There are two worthies whose bodies lie near the cross on the south,
St. Onchuo, who rose superior to the love of this fleeting world, and
St. Finan the Leper, the strenuous performer of good works."
His celebrity was early recognised in England; for in the Salisbury
Martyrology is the commemoration of "St. Finan the Bishop, a man of
singular sanctity, who, among other miracles, restored three dead men to
life." In Scotland, too, there is a memorial of his name. Sunart, which
lies near the south end of the Caledonian Canal, is known by the
ecclesiastical name of Ellen Finan, or "Finan's island," from the
parish church which is seated on an island in Loch Sheil. In this place
is preserved St. Finan's Bell, of iron, and of that square pattern, of
which so many examples are to be seen in our Museum of National
Antiquities.
It is well known that most of the west coast of Scotland was peopled
from Ireland in the early part of the sixth century. And the colonists
naturally took with them their native associations, and long maintained
a
[Page 6]
close relation with the mother country. One result was, that the
founders of Christianity in that territory were Irishmen, and their
names are borne by the churches which they founded. In 1857 I had a
letter from a Scotch Advocate, a zealous investigator of his national
antiquities, in which he says,
“Perhaps you will permit me to ask a question, which I have heard a good
deal agitated while on a visit in the Moidart part of Inverness- shire,
some weeks ago: Which of the St. Finans that appear among the Roman
Catholic saints, gives his name to Glenfinan in that part of the
country? There is a beautiful islet in Loch Sheil, running from
Glenfinan almost to the Western Ocean, called after the same saint,
Ellanfinan, on which are the ruins of an ancient church, and a
churchyard, where the inhabitants on both sides of the loch, and of both
faiths, still bury their dead. There is also a stone called St. Finan’s
Chair, on which tradition says the holy man sat down, and admired the
beautiful island on getting the first sight of it, as he came over the
Ardnamurchan hills from Iona. l have looked in vain into the books
here, &c.”
To this I replied, that as we had several Finans in the Irish Calendar,
he must endeavour to find out the day on which he was commemorated, and
then I might succeed in determining the saint in question.
After some months I received a second letter stating that, after the
most diligent local search, he had just succeeded in learning this much,
that a tradition existed in the place, that the saint’s festival was
either the day before, or the day after, St. Patrick’s Day. That is,
either the 16th or 18th of March.
Thus guided, I turned to our Calendar, and there, sure enough, I found
at March 16th, “S. Finan the Leper, of Sord and Clonmore.” Meanwhile I
had removed from Ballymena to Lusk, and having early made the
acquaintance of the neighbouring saints, I was able to inform my Scotch
correspondent, that I lived within four miles of the principal church of
this saint, whose memory reached to the confines of Argyle and
Inverness.
Further, Finan the Leper was of the race of Clan, son of Olill Olum, who
flourished in the year 234; and, as such, was a kinsman of St. Mac
Cullin, the founder and patron saint of Lusk, who died on the 6th of
September, 497; as also of St. Cianan, the founder and patron saint of
Duleek, who died November 24th, 488.
All these were the offspring of Fadhg, son of Cian, which Cian was the
progenitor of the race called the Cianachta, or “Descendants of Cian;”
one branch of whom settled in the east of Bregia, and occupied a
maritime tract, extending from Clogher Head southward to Clontarf, and
running inland about five or six miles. It is curious to find the family
location of saints, even at this early date, which foreshadowed the
system of lay presentation; both taking their rise from the principle,
that the original endower of a church was entitled to have the
nomination of the minister to serve therein.
Part of this territory of Cianachta was called Ard Cianachta by Adamnan,
in his Life of St. Columba, which he wrote about the year 690; and the
district described by him as extending from the Ailbene, or Delvin
River, to the River Liffey. In after-times, when the Danes settled in
Ireland, this district became occupied by them; and as they were styled
Sails, or “foreigners,” by the native Irish, their possessions acquired
the name of Fine Gall, that is, “the region of the strangers,” and the
name
[Page 7]
eventually became attached to it in the Ossianic form of Fingal, still
familiar to us; and giving the title of Earl in the Irish peerage to a
member of the Danish family of Plunket. The headquarters of the Danes in
Fingal were at Malahide, formerly called Inver Domnon; and the name of
this place is associated once in Irish record with the neighbourhood of
Swords.
In Moortown, which is about an English mile N.-W. of you, on the way to
Killossory, at the left-hand side of the road is a curious, sombre-looking
ruin, and in the adjacent meadow is a well, with an old tree
overhanging, and having all the appearance of a holy well.
This place is marked on the Ordnance Map as the site of the Abbey of
Glassmore, and the Well as St. Cronan’s, who founded a church here,
before the middle of the seventh century. St. Cronan was martyred on the
10th February, as appears from the old entry in the Calendar.
“Glassmore is a church near Swords, on the south; whither came the Northmen of Inver Domnann, and slew both Cronan and his entire
fraternity in one night, so that they let no one escape; and there the
entire company was crowned with martyrdom.”
We have got so far now as the establishment of the following facts: the
Church of Swords was founded by St. Columba, about 550, in the region of
Keenaght, who placed there as its first minister St. Finan the Leper, a
member of the occupying tribe, and probably a native of the
neighbourhood.
After this, all records became silent, and we lose sight of the place
for some centuries. Meanwhile, however, we may be sure the seeds of
Christian religion once sown here were steadily bearing fruit- the
church becoming more deeply rooted, its influence spreading, its
endowments increasing, and its presence steadily operating against the
surrounding tendency to lawlessness and barbarity. It became at an early
date a little monastic establishment; not such as one would expect to
find, whose eye was accustomed to the stately fabrics of after-times,
when wealth and civilization lent their aid to the embellishments of
Christianity; but a little group of cold, comfortless cells, enclosed by
a circular entrenchment of earth and stone; having a plain oratory for
divine service, and a common apartment for their meals.
Wood formed, probably, a principal ingredient in the structure of these
primitive buildings, and everything was constructed on the simplest and
cheapest scale.
Swords does not appear in the Irish Annals until the year 965, when
their (sic) is recorded “the death of Ailill, son of Maenach, bishop
of Sord and Lusk.” At 1023 is recorded the “decease of Malmuire
0’Cainen, sage bishop of Sord Columcille.” At this period, and
previously, it was the custom of the Irish to have bishops resident in
their principal monasteries, who were often under the control of the
abbots, like the modern bishops in the Moravian Churches; and whose
functions were not so much the government of a diocese, as the
transmission of holy orders, and the performance of those rites peculiar
to the episcopal office.
Such we may believe to have been the case at Swords. There were no
territorial dioceses as yet established in Ireland; nor was it till near
the early part of the twelfth century that even an attempt was made to
partition Ireland into ecclesiastical districts, called dioceses.
Meanwhile Lusk and Swords were the two principal churches on this side
of Glendalough, and though Lusk had a much earlier and fuller succession
of bishops and abbots, still the
[Page 8]
sister church was one of considerable importance also. It rose, I
believe, to this importance about the middle of the tenth century; and
it is to the beginning of that, or the preceding century, that I would
refer the erection of the round tower, which still remains the chief
curiosity, and indeed, only surviving relique of the ancient
ecclesiastical establishment of the place.
And it is remarkable to find these two churches of Lusk and Swords
vindicating their claim to antiquity, by the existence of these
memorials of a remote age; and, though but four miles asunder,
possessing the only structures of the kind, with the exception of Clondalkin, in the county.
Another did indeed exist at St. Michael le Pole's Church, in Ship
Street, Dublin, near the back Castle gate; but has long since
disappeared. We may, therefore, regard Swords and Lusk as the
ecclesiastical capitals of the district, and the nucleus of the diocese
of Dublin. They are older than any church in the metropolis; and when
they were flourishing monastic establishments, the site of Dublin was a
muddy estuary, of neither note or importance.
Dublin was strictly a Danish city, and called into existence, as it was
afterwards maintained, by the invading Northmen. In such an institution
as the monastery of Swords we might expect an ample predial endowment,
in the way of lands. And so it was; and these lands were farmed by an
officer called a herenach, who was a kind of ecclesiastical
tenant, having high position in the monastery, and being generally in
holy orders.
At 1028, the Annals inform us, "died Gillapatrick O'Flaherty, herenach
of Sord." Again, in 1048, "Hugh, son of Maelan O'Nuadhat, was killed on
the Friday before Easter, in the middle of Sord."
In 1060, "Malkieran O'Robbacan, herenach of Sord Columkille, died;" and,
in 1136, "MacEravain, herenach of Sord, fell by the hands of the men of
Farney."
Now, these four are the only names of the herenachs of this church which
have come down to us; but they are sufficient to prove the existence in
this church of this ancient office, and, therefore, of all its monastic
accompaniments.
When the diocese in after-times became defined, the bishops got control
of all these herenach lands, the herenachs being put under rent to them;
and thus it happens as an almost general rule through Ireland, that
bishops' lands are to be found in the most ancient parishes, and
generally near old churches; for, in fact, the episcopal endowment
became a centralization, as it wore, of all the little monastic
settlements that were dotted over the country, which in their primitive
days, when wants were few, manners simple, and pretensions low,
afforded, each, abundant maintenance to its local superior.
But when bishops assumed a station of temporal importance, becoming
peers of Parliament, and the occupiers of stately palaces, then grew the
demand for increased revenues; and all the minor endowments were swept
into a common purse, which filled and swelled, till the monstrous
revenues of the episcopal body, in the last and early part of the
present century, threatened the existence, as they impaired the health,
of the Established Church.
The church lands of Swords and Lusk formed a large item in the rental of
the bishop, who at first had Glendalough as his episcopal seat; and
when, about the period of the English invasion, the Danish see of
Dublin, which extended no further than the city walls, became enlarged
with a suburban district, Swords and Lusk were transferred from the
see
[Page 9]
of Glendalough to that of Dublin. And in Pope Alexander Ill's bull to
St. Laurence O'Toole, in 1179, confirming his archiepiscopal see, the
churches of his diocese are enumerated, Lusca being the first,
and Sord the second. Swords then became the head of a rural
deanery; and thus preserved to some extent a shadow of its former
importance.
But the cultivation of literature was always an attribute of the Irish
monasteries, which were educational as well as devotional, and each had
its Ferleighin, or "man of lecturing," that is, a Lecturer or Professor.
The Annals notice two such at Swords. In 1042, "died Eochagan, herenach
of Slane, Lector of Sord, and a distinguished writer." His successor
came to a more violent end, for in 1056, "the fire of God (that is,
lightning) struck the Lector of Sord, and tore asunder the sacred tree."
After the battle of Clontarf, where Brian Boru fell in the arms of
victory, on Good Friday, 1014, his body was conveyed to Swords of Columcille; whither, according to the Four Masters, came Malmurry, the
successor of Patrick, that is, Bishop of Armagh, with his clergy; and
they carried from thence the body of Brian, King of Ireland, and that of
Murragh his son, and the heads of Conary and Mothia.
Another collection (the Annals of Innisfallen) varies in the details,
and states that the monks of Sord Columcille, hearing that Brian had
fallen in the battle, came on the following day, and carried his body to
Sord, and thence to Duleck of St. Kienan; the clergy of which conveyed
it to Louth, where they were met by Malmurry and his clergy, who carried
the sovereign's body to Armagh, and buried it there.
In the interval between 993 and 1166, Swords was burned and wasted by
various hands.
993, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Maolsechlain."
1016, "Sord of Columcille was burned by Sitric, son of Aniat, and the
Danes of Dublin."
1020, "Sord of Columcille was plundered by Connor O Maclachlann, who
burned it, and carried away many captives, and vast herds of cows."
1031, "Sord of Columcille was burned and plundered by Connor
O'Maclachlann, in revenge for the death of Raghnall, son of Ivar, Lord
of Waterford, by the hand of Sitric, son of Anlaf."
1045, "An army was led by M'Eochaidh and Maolsechlann, with the
foreigners who burned Sord, and wasted Fingall."
1069, "Lusc and Sord of Columcille were burned."
1102, "Sord of Columcille was burned."
1130, "Sord of Columcille, with its churches and relics, was burned."
1138, "Sord burned."
1150, "Sord burned."
1166, "Sord of Columcille was burned."
This is the last mention of the name in our Irish Annals. Six years
afterwards, the English subjugated Ireland; and Fingall presently
yielded to their sway, so that the native annalists lost sight of it;
and henceforth we consult another class of records for the continuation
of its history.
But before we pass from the Irish to the English occupation, let us
observe that, in 1130, Swords was possessed of several churches. Now it
contains but one, at least on an old site. Those churches seem to have
been but a short way asunder, and within the limits of the present town.
[Page 10]
The Documents of a later date give us the names of two chapels, which
probably represented these earlier structures. One of these was a
chapel, dedicated to St. Finian, which, with its adjoining cemetery, was
situated on the south side, near the Vicar's manse, on the road to
Furrows, or Forest, as it is now called, lying to the south-west.
The other was St. Bridget's Chapel, on the north side of the town,
adjoining the Prebendary's glebe, and not far from the gates of the old
palace; near to which was an ancient cross, called "Pardon Crosse."
The former of these was standing in 1532; but the latter was in ruins at
that date; and Archbishop Alan observes that beside it were two burgages,
which were let to the Monastery of Holmpatrick at Skerries. The ground
occupied by the latter of these chapels now belongs to the economy lands
of the parish; the site of the former is the space occupied by the modem
glebe house.
But we must return to the transition period of the Irish Church, namely,
the English invasion in 1172, when ecclesiastical matters, especially in
the diocese of Dublin, underwent an important change. St Lawrence
O'Toole, the last native Irish Bishop for a long period, died in 1180,
at Eux, in Normandy, whither he went to deliver the son of Roderick
O'Connor, king of Connaught, as a hostage for the tribute his father
agreed to pay the king.
An Englishman called John Comyn was appointed to succeed him in 1181,
being a favourite with the king of England, and an assiduous promoter of
the English interest, he was handsomely rewarded, and obtained several
grants and immunities for his see.
At this time, Swords was one of the principal churches in the diocese,
and contributed largely to the Archbishop's income. As a benefice, it
was of great value; and being what was styled a plebania, or
"mother church," it possessed a great number of dependent chapelries,
some of which still continue in union with it, though others have been
detached.
This Archbishop on one occasion presented his kinsman, Walter Comyn, to
the parsonages of the churches of St. Columcille and St. Finan, of
Swords; with the appendant chapels of Cloghran, Killechni (Killeek),
Killastra (Killossory), Donaghbata (Donabate), Malahida, Kinsale,
Ballygriffin, and Coloke.
Of these, Cloghran, Donabate, Balgriffin, and Culock, were separated
from it at an early date, but Malahide continued in union much later;
and Killossory, Killeck, and Kinsaley, still form part of the union; the
Incumbent being Vicar of Swords and Kinsaley, but Curate of Killossory
and Killeck.
Rich and fat as this great benefice thus became, it was natural that,
like the fine parishes of Winwick and Stanhope in England, it should be
eagerly sought by these of high and influential connections. In 1302,
William de Hothum, a nephew of the Archbishop, enjoyed it.
In 1366, the famous William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, and
Chancellor, held it together with eleven benefices in England. And in
1423 it was even a fit object for transmontane endowment; for Brande,
Cardinal of Placentia, was nominated to it by Henry IV; and the writ,
directed to the Archbishop, commanded his to assign to the Cardinal a
stall in the choir, and voice in the chapter.
In like manner, Lusk was once a great and lucrative benefice, so much
so, that King Edward I thought it worth conferring, in 1294, upon James
of Spain, nephew of his Queen Eleanor. Lusk was
[Page 11]
another plebania, and embraced, besides the present parish, all
Balrothery and Balduncan. How the times are altered, when my friend, Mr
Twigg, and myself, are all that are to be shown for a Cardinal and a
Queen's nephew!
But I forgot to mention, that in 1190, when the collegiate church of St.
Patrick's was founded, Swords was named as its first canonry; and among
its endowments, were the tithes of all the Archbishop's mills, except
that of Swords, which had previously been granted to the Nunnery of
Grace Dieu (de Gratia Dei), in Lusk parish, on the borders of Swords; it
being the Archbishop's first foundation, and indicative of religious
gallantry in giving precedence to the gentler sex. In 1219 it became a
pre- bend, in the remodelled foundation.
But, as I have observed, it grew to be very rich; its large income,
arising out of its considerable demesne, and the tithes issuing from a
wide and fertile district. It was, therefore, called (after the style of
Sarum and Durham) the golden prebend; being, as Archbishop Alan
observes, as it were, a sack virtually full of gold. Therefore it was,
that in 1431, Arch- bishop Richard Talbot formally divided it; his
motive being, as it is said, "that it was sought too zealously by
cardinals, and other minions of the Papal See."
It was parted into three unequal portions-namely, one part to the
Prebendary, the second to the Vicar, and the third to the Economy of St.
Patrick's. Out of the last portion were to be maintained six vicars, and
six choristers, and the residue to be expended in furnishing lights,
repairs, and the defraying of necessary expenses.
The charters which the Archbishops of Dublin obtained from the new Lords
of Ireland, not only confirmed them in the possession of the lands
hitherto belonging to the See, but also conferred upon them feudal
dignities and increased powers. Thus, in 1192, the Archbishop obtained a
patent, authorizing him to hold in his manor of Swords an annual fair,
commencing on St. Columba's Day (June 9), and lasting a week. The tolls
arising from this proved a source of considerable emolument.
About this time - namely, 1200 - the castle was built. An Inquisition of
1265 finds that a constable was there in John Comyn's time.
In 1216 the manor of Swords, with fresh privileges and enlarged
possessions, was granted by King Henry 111 to Henry de Loundres, the
second English archbishop, on condition that he should build and
maintain a castle on his manor of Castlekevin, with a view to defend the
pale in that quarter from the invasions of the great Wicklow
families-the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles.
Coming into this country as a conquering race, and introducing new laws
and customs, the English settlers required places of refuge, and depots
for property, in the midst of an oppressed and exasperated people.
Hence, the lord of the manor not only needed security for himself and
his immediate retainers within his crenelated walls, but felt it his
interest, by the military influence of his fortress, to crush the
refractory, and overawe the surrounding country; while, in cases of
emergency, it afforded shelter to those in danger.
John Comyn, the first English Archbishop, was a strenuous instrument in
the extension of English rule. For which reason the see became possessed
of unusual privileges, and the Archbishop grew to be one of the most
powerful barons in the kingdom.
[Page 12]
Seized of considerable estates in Swords, Lusk, and several adjacent
parishes, he and his successor, Henry, felt the importance of their
position in Fingall; so that this mansion of Swords served not only as a
tower of strength, but a store-house of English civility and law for the
territory, and withal a wholesome check upon the excesses of the neighbouring temporal barons.
On this manor the Archbishop had his own seneschal, who was exempt from
all interference of the sherifi of the county, and the courts of law. He
had the right to try every plea, except the four pleas of the crown. He
had his gallows on an eminence near the town, afterwards known as the
Gallows’ Hill, where many a male-factor paid the penalty of his life for
his misdeeds; and every writ which issued from the civil courts was
transferred from the sheriff to his seneschal, ere it could be served.
In fact, he was a little king in his principality.
But being an ecclesiastic, and, as such a man of letters, and a father
of his clergy, the military development was rather an accident of office
than an essential attribute; consequently, the archiepiscopal abode
required to be such as would afford scope for the accommodation of a
brotherhood, and the exercise of religion-frowning battlements without,
but smiling peace within. Thus the palace of Swords demanded space, that
it might embrace within it the appliances of religion and peace.
At the present day we are able to form a tolerable estimate of the
original strength and internal proportions of the premises, for the
outline externally is perfect, and a considerable share of the old pile
remains within- more, indeed, than might have been expected in a country
where the demolition of ecclesiastical remains, and wanton contempt for
things venerable, have seldom been attended by censure or
discouragement. What the original character and contents of Swords’
castellated palace were, we learn from an interesting Extent of the
archiepiscopal manors, preserved in Archbishop Alan’s Register, called
the Liber Niger.
In 1326, Alexander de Bicknor, the Archbishop, having displeased the
king, and further, being greatly in arrear in his accounts as Lord
Treasurer, the king seized into his hands the profits of the see, in
satisfaction for the deficiency; and, in order to ascertain the
available amount, Inquisitions by jurors were held before the Sheriff in
the various manors.
That on Swords was sped at Dublin, on the 14th March, 1326, and twenty
jurors were empanelled. The result of their finding, as regards the
palace of Swords, was as follows:-
“Who being sworn, say on their oath, that there is in this place a hall,
and the chamber adjoining said hall, the walls of which are of stone,
crenelated after the manner of a castle, and covered with shingles.
“Further, there is a kitchen, together with a larder, the walls of which
are of stone, roofted with shingles. And there is in the same place a
chapel, the walls of which are of stone, roofed with shingles. Also
there was in the same place a chamber for friars, with a cloister, which
are now prostrate. Also, there are in the same place a chamber, or
apartment, for the constables by the gate, and four chambers for
soldiers and wardens, roofed with shingles, under which are a stable and
bake-house.
“Also, there was here a house for a dairy, and a workshop, which
[Page 13]
are now prostrate. Also, there is on the premises in the haggard a shed
made of planks, and thatched with straw. Also, a granary, built with
timber, and roofed with boards. Also, a byre, for the housing of farm
horses and bullocks.
"The profits of all the above-recited premises, they return as of no
value, because nothing is to be derived from them, either in the letting
of the houses, or in any other way. And they need thorough repair,
inasmuch as they are badly roofed."
Thus we perceive that so early as 1326, these buildings were beginning
to suffer from the effects of time.
In 1380, the manor of Swords was seized again into the king's hands by
Sir Nicholas Daggerworth, a Commissioner of Forfeitures, on the plea
that the conditions of 1216 had not been fulfilled. In the return,
however, of said Sir Nicholas to a writ de certiorari, he
confessed that cause had not been shown why the said manor should be so
seized.
Accordingly, a writ of restitution to Robert de Wykeford, the
Archbishop, was issued by the Treasurers and Barons of the Exchequer.
There is no evidence that this place was repaired so as again to become
a residence of the Archbishop. Probably it was not, for in 1324 was
erected by Alexander de Bicknor the archiepiscopal palace of Tallaght,
in the south part of the county, which for centuries continued to be
employed as the country scat of the Archbishop.
And it was not till 1821that it formally ceased to be regarded as a
palace, and its adjuncts as manorial land, when an Act was passed,
divesting the Archbishop of it, and placing the premises in the same
condition as ordinary church property. It is to be observed that the
site of the palace of Tallaght is now occupied by a nunnery.
Swords Castle had ceased to be regarded as a palace ages before this.
Connected with this stronghold was the office of Chief Constable, which
was considered as one of importance, and long survived the occupation of
the castle. In 1220, William Galrote filled the situation.
In 1240, Sampson de Crumba. Thomas Fitzsimons, of Swords, was constable
in 1547. In this year the reversion of the constableship was conveyed to
trustees in the minority of Patrick Barnewall, of Grace Dieu; and
afterwards, the office and endowments descended to his son, Sir
Christopher Barnewall, who, in 1563, conjointly with the Archbishop, by
consent of the two cathedral Deans and Chapters, granted, in trust, to
Richard Fagan, of Dublin, the office of constable of the castle or manor
of Swords, with all appurtenances, lands, and endowments, to hold for
ever, with power to appoint deputies; and in lieu of the salary of £5,
Irish, to have two acres of meadow in the Broad mead, to the said office
appertaining, and all messuages, lands, and fishings whatever, in New
Hagard in the parish of Lusk, and Rogerstown in the parish of Swords.
In 1624, Patrick Barnewall, of Grace Dieu, obtained pardon for
alienation of certain interests, and, among them, this of the
Constableship of Swords, with ten acres in the Broad meadow, to the said
office belonging. With this constableship, it is likely that the tenancy
of the premises also was vested in the Barnewalls, whose interest
therein seems to have given rise to the tradition, that Lord Kingsland,
in consideration of his
[Page 14]
holdings under the See of Dublin, was bound to wait on the Archbishop
whenever he visited Swords, and to hold the stirrup, as His Grace
mounted or dismounted. The old palace is still hold under the See of
Dublin.
In later years, the only officers who have exercised jurisdiction within
the Corporation were a portreeve, and the seneschal of the manor of St.
Sepulchre's. The portreeve was appointed by the Archbishop, and annually
sworn in at the Michealmas courtleet in Dublin, before the Seneschal of
St. Sepulchre's. He has no salary nor emolument except the annual profit
of three acres of land, near the town, for which he receives about £8 a
year. The portreeve formerly held a court here once in the week,
entertaining all claims within the manor, but otherwise without limit.
His authority, however, having been questioned, he has wholly
discontinued to act, and the ordinary Petty Sessions Court is now the
only town jurisdiction. The manor of Swords embraced, not only the
Archbishop's properly here, but his lands in Lusk, Clonmethan, and the
neighbouring parishes; and lately, when the south commons of Lusk were
enclosed by Act of Parliament, the sum of £2,000, awarded as
compensation, was claimed by the Archbishop, as lord of the manor, and
at first allowed, but afterwards disallowed, and adjudicated to the
parishioners by the Court of Chancery; and thus we see the gradual
declension of church secularities, until, in the present day, almost all
the feudal privileges of the church have been abolished.
Proportionate with the decline of the Archbishop's influence in Swords,
seems to have been the rise of the popular element. In 1578, Queen
Elizabeth incorporated the borough and invested it with municipal
rights. Among these was the privilege of returning two members to
Parliament, the franchise being enjoyed by burgesses, who for their burgages paid an annual rent of twelve pence.
The first members who represented Swords were Walter Fitzsymonds, of
Ballymadroght, and Thomas Taylor of Swords, Esqrs. They were returned in
April, 1585. From that time, we find the names of Blakeny, Taylor,
Tichbourne, Reading, Molesworth, Plunket, Bolton, Cobbe, Hatch,
Beresford, Massey, and Synge, representing the potwallopers, or
occupants of houses resident in the borough, being Protestants, who were
of the meanest class of citizens, and whose venality was as black as the
pots that qualified them.
A writer in 1798 thus humorously describes the experiments resorted to
by candidates, on the eve of an election:-
"General Eyre Massey, some time since, cast a longing eye on this
borough, which he considered as a common open to any one occupant, and
to secure the command of it to himself, he began to take and build
tenements within its precincts, in which he placed many veteran
soldiers, who having served under him in war, were firmly attached to
their ancient leader. Mr. Beresford, the first Commissioner of the
Revenue, who has a sharp look out for open places, had formed the same
scheme with the General, of securing this borough to himself; and a
deluge of revenue officers was poured forth from the custom-house to
overflow the place, as all the artificers of the new custom-house had
been exported in the potato-boats of Duncannon, to storm that borough.
The wary General took the alarm, and threatened his competitor, that for
every revenue officer appearing there he would introduce two old
soldiers, which somewhat
[Page 15]
cooled the first commissioner's usual ardour; thus the matter rests at
present; but whether the legions of the army, or the locusts of the
revenue, will finally remain masters of the field, or whether the rival
chiefs, from an impossibility of effecting all they wish, will be
content to go off like the two kings of Brentford, smelling at one rose;
or whether Mr. Hatch's interest will preponderate in the scale, time
alone can clearly ascertain."
In 1783, Charles Cobbe and John Hatch had been returned, but the upshot
of the election in 1790 was that Hatch was beaten, and the two rivals
both admitted to the enjoyment of parliamentary honours.
Out of the £15,000 which was awarded as compensation for the borough
disfranchisement at the Union, have grown this school and its
endowments. Would that the Union had in every instance brought forth
such wholesome fruits. Fortunately, there were no wealthy masters here
to claim this sum; so a public institution was founded, and the poor,
for once, got the benefit of a wise and liberal disposition of public
money.
Monasticon hibernicum: or, A history of the abbeys, priories, and
other religious houses in Ireland; interspersed with memoirs of their
several founders and benefactors, and of their abbots and other
superiors, to the time of their final suppression (1873)
Archdall, Mervyn, 1723-1791; Moran, Patrick Francis, 1830-1911, editor
"Swords.
A village in the barony of Coolock, and six miles north of
Dublin.
It was anciently called Surdum Sti. Columbae.
Regular Canons.
A sumptuous monastery was founded here, A.D. 512, by
the great St. Columb, who gave to it a missal written by him-
self, blessed the well there, and placed St. Finan Lobhair, or
the Leper, over the abbey; he died some time before the
year 563; although other writers extend his years to 593 or 597.
St. Columb is honoured at Swords on the 9th of June;
where St. Finan is honoured on the 16th of March; and the
feast of the Holy Virgins Ethnea and Soldevia, was observed
here on the 29th of March.
Nunnery.
In the 14th year of the reign of King Edward IV., A.D.
1474, we find an actual grant, by the parliament, of 20s.
yearly out of the revenue of the crown, to Eleanora, prioress
of Swords, and her successors. But we meet with no other
account of this nunnery.
There are in this village some ruins of a palace, which was
formerly the residence of the archbishops of Dublin. "
"Moortown
St. Cronan Mochua was the first who received the monastic habit from St. Carthag in his monastery of Rathenen.
A.D. 571 or 572, he placed St. Cronan over the church of
Cluain-Dachrann, near Rathenen ; he was afterwards a monk
of Lismore, and was probably abbot there; on quitting
which, he presided over the monastery of Glassmore,
where, on the lOth of February, he was inhumanly butchered,
together with all his monks, by a party of Danish pirates,
who landed at Inbher-domhnann*, a port in the east part of
Leinster, and not far from Dublin ; the year in which this un-
compassionate act was perpetrated, is uncertain, but we are told
that St. Cronan was living about the year 631 or 636. The
above account strongly evinces, that Glassmore was situated
near to Swords ; and as a further proof of this, the Calendarium Casselense tells us, that St. Cronan rests near
Swords, Surdum Sti. Columbani. From hence we may, with
some probability, infer, that the site of the ancient Glassmore,
and the present Moortown, are the same ; the latter is
situated about a mile from Swords.
*Inbhir Domhnaan was the old name for the harbour of Malahide, i.e., the
"estuary of the Damnonians," a people who gave their name to Devonshire,
in
England and to Erris Domhnaun, in Mayo. St. Cronan's well is marked on
the
Ordnance map at Moortown. "
Robert Walsh Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch
(M. A., Dublin and London, 1888)
'North-east View, Church of St. Columba, Norman Tower, and Round Tower,
Swords, A.D. 1887' Fingal and its Churches - A Historical Sketch, by Robert Walsh,
M. A., Dublin and London, 1888.
"The stately monuments of the past which still remain at Swords and Lusk
would convey a very false impression of the surroundings of these early
Celtic Christian communities. The round towers were not yet built.
Wattles, oaken planks, and mud were most commonly the materials which
formed the huts or bothies refectories, and churches of these
communities and their ambulatories were vaulted by the heavens. Dr.
Petrie says, stone was sometimes employed even in the case of these
early communities. Of course, examples of this material would alone
survive. '' Houses used for abbots and monks are of a circular or oval
form having dome roofs constructed without a knowledge of the principle
of the arch, and without cement, and all encompassed by a broad wall.
So, in the monastic establishment
of St. Molaise, at Inismurray, on the Bay of Sligo, and of St. Brendan,
at Inisglory, on the coast of Erris, Mayo." These encompassing walls
were sometimes fifteen feet high. Dr. Petrie thinks that these date from
the sixth century ; but he adds : "Most probably, in their monastic
houses and oratories, the Irish continued the Scotic custom of building
with
wood until the twelfth or thirteenth century." But, as time went on, we
may believe that the churches of Finglas, Swords, and Lusk were built of
stone. The roofs of the smaller churches were also built of stone, as in
the case of St. Doulagh's. But the larger churches were roofed with
wood, covered with reeds, straw, or oak shingles. This would account for
the frequent mention in the annals of burnings of churches. Often the
chancel roof was of stone, and
the roof of the nave of the lighter materials. Of this we probably have
examples in the ruined churches on St. Patrick's Island and Ireland's
Eye. The windows were not glazed ; often parchment was stretched across
them."
"There is, about one mile and a-half to the north west of Swords, an
interesting old ruin and well. The ruin is called Glasmore Abbey. The
well is called St. Cronan's Well. The Abbey had been founded by this
saint about a century after Columba founded Swords. The annals tell us,
but with some disregard to the points of the compass : —
" Glasmore is a church near Swords in the south, whither came the Northmen of Inbher-Domnainn, and slew both Cronan and his entire
fraternity in one night. They did not let one escape. There was the
entire company crowned with martyrdom," (Archdall's Monasticon, p. 631.)
That fatal night was probably February the 10th, for that is the date
given in the calendar for the martyrdom of St. Cronan."
"We can well believe that the towers of Swords and Lusk were often used
as stores for valuables, and as places for refuge during the centuries
of unrest we have described, more especially when we remember the frail
nature of the structures of the churches and monasteries at the time.
Indeed, the condition of Fingal at the probable time of the erection of
the towers of Swords and Lusk suggests the strong probability that
considerations of safety for person and for property were the chief
reasons for their erection."
"Of our two round towers. Swords is probably the older. Bishop Reeves
thinks it was erected during the ninth century, or early in the tenth
century. As in the case of the older towers, it has little ornament
about it. It stands alone. It is built of hammered stones, and it has
quadrangular doorways. Most of the towers have one doorway, about nine
feet
from the ground. Through this doorway refugees could gain admittance by
a ladder, which they could draw up after them in time of attack, and
thus, in days when artillery was unknown, be completely safe from every
method of assault but the one which proved successful at Slane ; for it
is quite conceivable that an immense fire round the base of a tower
could practically roast all the inmates. But the tower of Swords, like
only a few others, has a second door directly over the entrance doorway.
Both doorways are quadrangular. The lower or entrance doorway is at
present only a few feet from the ground. It is 6 feet high, 2 feet wide
at the top, and 2 feet 2 inches at the bottom. The upper doorway is 20
feet from the ground, 4 feet high, and 2 feet wide. The total height of
the tower is 75 feet. It is one
of those with the largest circumference, 55 feet, and with the thickest
walls, 4 feet 8 inches. Inside of the walls are projecting stones to
sustain four floors. An enthusiastic antiquarian, who was Vicar of
Swords from 1682 to 1704, resolved to suggest to succeeding generations
that this tower had evidently a Christian origin. He placed the cross on
the apex of the cone which still caps the tower. Under this cone are
four large openings directly facing the four
points of the compass."
"The institution of parishes in England was a gradual process ; it was
not completed until the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) . The
system had been adopted in the Danish city of Dublin long before the
English Conquest. The time of its introduction into Fingal is probably
about the year 1179, the date of a bull of Pope Alexander III. to
Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, in which the Pope — asserting
the authority he claimed as supreme and sovereign Pontiff — states that
he confirms to the Archbishop " the parochial churches of St. Thomas,
St. Nicholas, &c., in the city of Dublin,' thus speaking of the
parochial system as existing already in the city.
But when the Pope proceeds to confirm to the Archbishop the country
parts of the diocese, he mentions in his bull not parochial churches,
but simply churches ; for the old system of filial churches, dependent
on a mother church, and without territorial boundaries, existed still in
Fingal. Bishop Beeves has translated this bull, and has identified most
of the names mentioned in it. What were henceforth to be " the parochial
contents of the Diocese of Dublin " are set forth at length. It is only
necessary here to give that part of the bull relating to Fingal. The
Pope confirms to Archbishop O'Toole " the churches towns, and
possessions of the church committed to you, hereinafter named, to wit,''
Lusca (Lusk, which extended to the northern boundaries of the diocese
and the county, including Balrothery and Balungan), with all that
belongs to it; Sordum (Swords), with all its appurtenances within
and without ; Finglas, with all its appurtenances, saying moreover the
half of Rechrannu (Lambay), and the port of Rechrann (Portrane) ;
Rathchillin (Clonmethan), Glasnedin (Glasnevin), with its mill ;
Duncuanach (Drumcondra), Balengore (near Coolock), Killesra (Killester),
Cenannsale (Kinsaley), Clochar (St. Doulagh's), Rathsalehan (?Kilsallaghan),
the island of the former sons of Nessan (Ireland's Eye, including its
chapel of Kilbarrack)."
"It might have been expected that the Norman barons should be forced to
protect themselves by the strong arm but not that the Church should have
been obliged to do so. The native Celtic Church in Fingal in her early
struggles had not allowed herself to forget that her Master's kingdom
was " not of this world," however much the Celtic Church at large, too
soon afterwards, permitted the natural tendencies of the Celtic nature
to get the better of her. The servants of the imported Norman Church
made themselves quite ready to fight with carnal weapons. The castles of
Baldungan and Swords were built for ecclesiastics. They must have been
the two strongest castles in the district. The Archbishop of Dublin was
a great feudal baron as well as a great ecclesiastic. About the year
1200 he fixed on Swords for his country residence, and built the castle
whose ruins still remain. Swords had become, within two centuries of the
conquest, an immensely wealthy parish. Archbishop Allen (1532) says it "
was called the golden, as if it were virtually a bed full of gold." The
Archbishop had a large share of this wealth, and here he lived as a
prince bishop, dispensing profuse hospitality, and rigorously enforcing
English law."
"The Romish persecutions on the continent helped the Reformation in
Fingal. In 1583, Sir Henry Sydney, the Queen's Lord Deputy, planted
forty families of Protestant refugees from the Low Countries in the old
Castle of Swords. It is significantly related of them: "Truly it would
have done any man good to see how diligently they worked and how they
re-edified the quiet spoiled castle of the town, and repaired almost all
the same and how godly and cleanly their lives and children lived." "
"On the 9th of December, 1641, the Irish army of the Pale assembled at
Swords under the leadership of many of the Roman Catholic gentry of the
county. A contingent, which had been at first assembled at Santry, under
Luke Netterville, joined them. The Lords Justices issued a proclamation
calling upon this army of insurgents to disperse, and ordering that nine
of the chief leaders should come before the Council the next morning, to
explain their conduct. This proclamation having been disregarded, Sir
Charles Coote was sent against the rebels. He was a good but stern
soldier ; he made short work of the insurgents. He burned the village of
Santry, and slew some rioters there ; and finding Swords fortified, he
stormed it, put its defenders to flight, and killed about two hundred of
them. At Kilsallaghan the Earl of Fingal, with some of the Barnewalls,
Seagraves, and others, assembled a force about the castle. It is stated
that their position was made very strong by the woods surrounding the
castle, and by defences which they raised. It was not strong enough,
however, to resist the Earl of Ormond, who attacked and carried it,
driving the enemy out of the castle, which be left a ruin, and in that
condition it has remained ever since."
"One Fingal school calls for special mention. In 1809 Swords Borough
School was opened. In 1812 it was attended by 261 pupils. Swords had
returned two members to the Irish House of Commons. Upon its
disfranchisement at the time of the Union with Great Britain, £15,000
was awarded as compensation, and was assigned as an endowment of the
school. All inhabitants of the borough were entitled to benefit by it.
At first the school was readily attended by Roman Catholic as well as by
Protestant children. The religious convictions of all the pupils were
scrupulously respected. The process which took place elsewhere, however,
in one year withdrew the Boman Catholic pupils, and a demand by their
religious teachers was made for the greater part of the endowment. In
the present year [1888] the controversy has been settled by the decision
of the ''Endowed School Commissioners." The Church of Ireland
retains the school buildings, and the endowment (after deducting £2000,
which sum was given to the Roman Catholic Church as an equivalent for
the school buildings) is divided between the Church of Ireland and the
Roman Catholic Church, in proportion to the average numbers of the
children of each religion attending the school for some
few years past."
"APPENDIX I.— A.D. 1275.
Extracts from the "Crede Mihi," relating to Fingal. The " Crede Mihi" is
the oldest existing record of the state of the
Parishes in the Diocese of Dublin. The record was made about A.D. 1275,
according to Archbishop Ussher. The original is in the custody of the
Archbishop of Dublin. There is a transcript in the Library, T.C.D.,
which is somewhat difficult to decipher accurately. Some of the
observations are notes afterwards added by Archbishop Allen, A.D. 1528—
1534. N.B. — For the sake of more easy reference and comparison, the
Parishes in each of the following eight Appendices are put in the same
order, and grouped as they were in 1S86.
XI. Swerdes (Swords), Church of. Archbishop Patron,
Thomas Comyn, with Chapels —
Killythe (Killeek).
Lispobel.
Kilrery (Killossory).
Kilsalthan (Kilsallaghan), Church of, belongs to Abbot of St. Thomas for
his own use.
Chapelmidway (not mentioned).
Kinsale (Kinsaley), Church of, belongs to Swords. "
"APPENDIX v.— A.D. 1630.
Extracts relating to Fingal from an " Account of the Dioces of Dublin,
drawn up by Archbishop Bulkeley, and presented to the Privy Council of
Ireland, June I, 1630." The MS. account is in the Library, T.C.D. There
is also a translation published in "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
1869, Vol V., p. 145, &c., from which these extracts are taken. Lancelot
Bulkeley, D.U., was Archbishop from A.D. 1619 to A.D. 1650. He
endeavoured to restrain the seditious harangues which, during his time,
were abundantly delivered by the Jesuits and Friars of Dublin. He died,
"being spent with grief for the calamities of the times." (Cotton's "Fasti.")
XI Swordes. The church, by neglect of the gentlemen of that
parish, who are recusants, is lately fallen flat to the ground, and no
part standing only some part of the bare walls. There is one Doyle, a
mass-priest, who keeps school in the town of Swordes, to whom
many gentleman's sons do resort. This priest commonly says mass in the
house of
Mr. Taylour, of Swordes, gent., whereunto there is great
concourse of people on Sundays and holidays. There
useth to come to church there about threescore to hear Divine Service
and sermon. Mr. Christopher Huetson
is vicar there, whose means there are worth £40 per annum. "
"APPENDIX VII.— A.D. 1887.
The Parishes and Churches of Fingal previously referred to are now
grouped in the following Unions : —
"XI. (a) Swords, with it; chapels, and including (b) Lispobel, (c)
Kinsaley, (d) Killossery, (e) Killeek, (f)
Kilsallaghan, (g) Chapelmidway, (i) Glasmore.
(a) Swords, Sord Choluim-Chille (sord, i. e., pure). It would be
impossible, within the limits assigned to these sketches to give
an adequate description of the interesting ecclesiastical buildings of
Swords. The present parochial church, dedicated, like its predecessors,
to St. Columba, was completed in 1818. It stands on the site of its
predecessors. It is a handsome oblong quadrangular building of hewn
stone, in the early English pointed style. It is 84 feet long by 32 feet
wide. The walls on each side are supported by a series of seven massive
buttresses, surmounted by graceful pinnacles. To the N.W. stands
distinct from the church the massive square belfry of the ancient abbey.
It is about 68 feet high, 27 feet wide on the S. face, by 30 on the W.
face. In an illustration in Grose's Antiquities (i 791) the ruins of the
abbey are represented as attached to the S. of this belfry. To the N. of
this belfry, and also distinct from it, is the interesting round tower
75 feet high, of which a description is given at p. 60.
The
extensive ruins of the ancient country palace of the Archbishops of
Dublin stand at the N. end of the town of Swords. The embattled walls
surrounding it are still very perfect. The palace was built in troublous
times, and was meant to be used as a place of defence as well as of
residence. It was built about the year 1200, but was only used for about
a century and a quarter. In 1324 Archbishop de Bicknor built another
country palace at Tallaght, which continued to be the country seat of
the archbishops until 1821. An inquisition on Swords was held in Dublin
in 1326, when its palace was beginning to fall into decay. A report is
preserved among the diocesan records. From this we can form an accurate
idea of what buildings these old walls included. "
There is in this
place a hall and a chamber for the archbishop adjoining the said hall,
the walls of which are of stone crenellated after the manner of a castle
covered with shingles. Further, there is in the same place a kitchen
with a larder, the walls of which are of stone, roofed
with shingles, and there is in the same place a chapel, the walls of
which are of stone roofed with shingles. And there was in the same place
a chamber for friars, with a cloister, which have lately fallen. And
there is in the same place a chamber for the constable beside the gates,
and four chambers for soldiers or wardens, roofed with shingles, under
which is a stable and a bakehouse. And there was in the same place a
house for a dairy and a workshop, which have lately fallen. And there
are in the same place, in the haggard, a shed made with planks and
thatched with straw, and a granary made of wood and roofed with boards,
and a cow-house for housing farm horses and bullocks. . . . The premises
need thorough repair. " Many of the details here mentioned can still be
recognised. The famous well which gave its name to Swords is still used.
A relic of Swords once highly venerated has disappeared, called the
"Pardon Crosse." It stood near the old palace.
(h) Glasmore. About a mile N. W. of Swords, in a field S. of the road
from Swords to Rollestown, stand the ruins
which were left on the night when the Danes from Malahide destroyed the
abbey and killed its inmates. These ruins have the appearance of having
been long subsequently repaired or utilized for a dwelling or office. A
very large apartment, 36 feet square, remains, surrounded by massive
walls. Some wide low windows are at two sides. The corner stones of the
walls are very large. As the abbey was built at the most flourishing
period of the Fingal Celtic Church, special interest attaches to these
ruins, which can scarcely represent a revived abbey, as none such is
mentioned in diocesan records."
Andrew J. Kettle was born in September 1833 near Swords at
Drynam, (more correctly called Drinan which derives from droighneán, the
Irish word for blackthorn). He was deeply involved in the setting up of
the Land League, which fought to obtain for farmers, the three Fs-Fixity
of Tenure, Fair Rent and Free Sale. He worked very closely with Isaac
Butt and Charles Parnell. In 1879, he presided at the meeting in Dublin,
which established the Land League on a formal basis. He was appointed as
its first treasurer. During the Land League campaign, he was imprisoned
in Kilmainham for six months, and in 1881, he was one of the signatories
of the “No rent” manifesto. His epitaph (written by his son, Tom) was,
“None served Ireland better, few served her as well”. He died on the
22nd of September 1916 shortly after hearing the death of his son Tom.
He is buried in St Colmcille’s RC Cemetery, Swords. For more information see:
http://www.malahideheritage.com/Thomas%20Kettle.htm
Kettle Monument St Colmcille’s RC Cemetery, Swords. (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Andrew Kettle (1833-1916)
Life [otherwise A. J. Kettle;] b. Swords, Co. Dublin; ed. locally;
farmer, involved with Tenant League; supported Michael Davitt; presided
at first meting of national Land League, Oct. 1879; nominated by Parnell
but defeated by clerical opposition in elections of April 1880; proposed
that ‘the whole Irish party should rise and leave the House, and cross
to Ireland and carry on a No-Rent campaign’, 1881;
he was imprisoned in Naas and Mountjoy; added his name to those of
Parnell, Michael Davitt, Thomas Sexton, and Patrick Egan on the No Rent
Manifesto (18 Oct. 1881); released through ill-health, 1881; retired
from politics after Kilmainham Treaty; supported Parnell in the Split;
wrote an autobiography published as The Memoirs of Andrew J. Kettle
(1958); he was the father of Thomas Kettle. (DIH)
Notes The story of his chairing a political meeting on a wagonette which
gave way, throwing the chairman off, is narrated in Sir Dunbar Plunket
Barton, Timothy Healy: Memories and Anecdotes (Dublin: Talbot
Press; London: Faber & Faber [1933]), p.39-40. It includes a heckler's
remark, ‘Go down, Kettle, your spout is broken’, and Tim Healy's ironic
vote of thanks to to him for his ‘dignified conduct in the chair’.
THE KETTLE FAMILY - 'A HOUSEHOLD NAME'
By Austin Crombie
The Kettle Family come from North County Dublin with origins going
back to the 14th Century. They owned lands from Artane St Margaret’s,
Swords to Kinsealy where they lived. Andrew Kettle (1833-1916) was a
founder member of the Land League and a farming pioneer and one of the
best informed and most progressive farmers in Ireland. He was always the
first to try out new machinery which he imported from Germany. A tillage
farmer he grew barley for brewers and distillers and raised bullocks and
did some horse breeding.
In 1880 he helped to found the Land League and was a major supporter of
Charles Stewart Parnell. Often referred to as Parnell’s ‘Right Hand Man’
they had a shrewd respect for each other. In a moment of good humour the
great leader said, on introducing him to a group of electors, “Here’s a
man whose name is a household word.”
Andrew Kettle became something of a patriarch. He was a pillar of cloud
by day, his son told a friend and a pillar of fire by night to the
farmers of County Dublin. His arrest under the Coercion Act and
imprisonment in Naas Jail provoked his supporters and greatly upset his
family.
After he retired from public life his health deteriorated and for the
last seven years of his life he was disabled by rheumatism.
When the news came through that his favourite son Tom was killed in the
battlefield he was devastated. He remarked “Tom is dead, life is over
for me.” Four weeks later he was dead.
Swords
Sord Cholmcille A
Visual History
Pictures of Swords, County Dublin from the 1790s to today.
1900s CE
Dublin, 1913—Strike and Lockout [thanks to Joe Curtis]
Throughout the United Kingdom, the divisions between the labour
movement and employers had deepened greatly in the early years of the
twentieth century. Strikes had occurred frequently in many places, but
it seemed that industrial relations were becoming more settled in the
beginning of the second decade of the century. For the most part, Dublin
had escaped labour unrest. In 1900 the Dublin Chamber of Commerce
confidently declared: ‘We are pleased to note the growing disposition of
all classes to unite in promoting the best interests of our country’.
This harmony did not last and in 1913, the Labour movement in Dublin
became involved in a serious conflict with the employers, known as the
Lockout.
8 October. [1913] Serious riots occurred in Swords, Co. Dublin
when striking workers tried to prevent farmers bringing cattle to
market. Police and civilians were injured.
Christopher Lee, author of a previous article on Finglas in the
Lockout, looks at the great strike of 1913 in the County Dublin village
of Swords
Windows up and down the darkened street are smashed by the rioters,
a hail of stones and bottles shattering every window in the police
barracks. A line of police advance into a barrage of bottles and stones,
some felled by the projectiles as they move on the crowd; suddenly the
police surge forward, batons raised, swinging as they wade into the
milling, surging crowd of men…
These scenes were not played out in the streets of Dublin but in the
rural village of Swords on the night of October 9th, 1913.It is
not widely appreciated the violence associated with the Dublin Lockout
was not confined solely to Dublin City. Striking farm labourers from the
Swords district also took part in the violence in Dublin,
travelling into the city to take part in demonstrations. Throughout late
1913 the village of Swords and surrounds witnessed scenes of
rioting, intimidation, vandalism and violence and hosted perhaps the
largest police contingent outside Dublin.
During the farm labourers’ strike and Dublin Lockout, Swords was
a stronghold of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union (ITGWU) in
rural County Dublin. The village was described in contemporary
newspapers as “…the principal rallying-ground for the Larkinites” and
the “…centre of the trouble”. [1], [2] Frank Moss was the union
organiser for the Swords district for the duration of the farm
labourers’ dispute and Dublin Lockout and was instrumental in making the
farm labourers of the area the most heavily unionised and militant in
County Dublin.
Roots of the Dispute in North County Dublin
The farm labourers’ dispute had its roots in a campaign launched in
early 1913 by James Larkin and the ITGWU to improve the pay and
conditions of the County Dublin farm labourers. In 1913 Swords was a
rural village in North County Dublin with a population of around 900
people. The main sources of employment were dairying and agriculture,
which, before the adoption of mechanisation, required a substantial
labour force.
Throughout June 1913, mass meetings in Swords, Clondalkin, Lucan,
Howth and Blanchardstown enrolled large numbers of farm labourers and
transport workers into the ITGWU. The Swords branch of the ITGWU
established its headquarters in a house in the main street of the
village. The strikers christened the house “Liberty Hall” in emulation
of the ITGWU building in Dublin. Frank Moss would frequently address
gatherings of strikers in the street from an upstairs window of the
house.[3][4]
"Just before the lockout the ITGWU had established itself among farm
labourers in North County Dublin and forced several concessions from the
farmers there."
The County Dublin Farmers Association opposed the industrial campaign as
every farmer and landholder set their own wages and conditions for their
workers meaning labourers in different areas could be paid different
wages for the same work. The demands of the ITGWU and farm labourers
were for higher wages and uniform pay and conditions while retaining all
of the workers’ existing perquisites, or ‘perks’.
In response to opposition from the County Dublin Farmers’ Association,
by the end of July around 1,000 labourers were on strike with about 600
in the Swords district alone.[5] By August, even though the situation in
Swords remained peaceable, the large and enthusiastic
demonstrations conducted by the strikers prompted the authorities to
station fifty Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) policemen in the town. [6]
A report stated that “Beyond cessation of work no trouble has been
caused”.”[7] and “…a police constable stated that peaceful picketing was
going forward.”[8]
On 16th August 1913, the County Dublin Farmers’ Association, rather than
see their crops rot in the fields, capitulated to the demands of the
ITGWU. The conditions the farm labourers had won were a six-day week, a
12 hour day with two hours for meal breaks and a half day on Saturday.
Their wages were set at 17s per week plus the usual perquisites, 4s per
day for casual labourers and 1s 6d a day, or 9s a week, for women.
Despite this victory the farm labourers were about to become embroiled
in the escalating strike in Dublin City. Many farm labourers would soon
find themselves on strike again and unable to benefit from the higher
wages they had just won.
Swords and the Lockout
In Dublin, William Murphy, President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce
and Chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company, refused to allow any
of his employees to remain members of the ITGWU. After issuing an
ultimatum to his staff he dismissed any who refused to resign their
union membership. In response, on 26th August, James Larkin, perhaps
emboldened by his victory over the County Dublin Farmers’ Association,
called on the ITGWU membership to strike.
The events of 29th and 30th August, which culminated in “Bloody Sunday”,
hardened the attitudes of both strikers and employers. The
indiscriminate police violence left at least two people dead and
hundreds of strikers and innocent bystanders injured.
William Murphy increased the pressure on Larkin and the ITGWU by
employing non-union labour to replace the strikers and on 3rd September
organised 400 of Dublin’s largest employers to dismiss or ‘lock out’ any
employee who was a union member.
On 12th September, the County Dublin Farmers Association, at the urging
of William Murphy, decided to join the ‘lockout’, going back on their
16th August agreement with the farm labourers. The farmers threatened to
dismiss any farm labourer who refused to resign their union membership.
"In September 1913 the farmers threatened to dismiss any farm labourer
who refused to resign their union membership"
As a result, farm labourers across County Dublin walked off the farms
and went on strike. Over the following weeks the Swords farm
labourers, about 300 of whom were on strike, spent“…their time in going
through the district on their bicycles, making things…unpleasant…for
those members of the union who are still at work.”[9]
The strikers in the Swords district began stopping carts of
produce driven by non-union or ‘scab’ workers on their way to the Dublin
markets. As well as blocking ‘scab’ labour, this was a form of economic
warfare against the farmers, denying them the opportunity to sell their
produce and harming their incomes. This, combined with the withdrawal of
labour, led to shortages of fresh milk, potatoes and vegetables in
Dublin and drove up the price of what was available.
"The unintended consequence of the action against the farmers was to
increase the hardship for those on strike in Dublin by forcing up food
prices."
By mid-September the price of “..carrots, lettuce, and other
descriptions of garden produce had advanced fully 50 percent.”[10] The
unintended consequence of the action against the farmers was to increase
the hardship for those on strike in Dublin. The workers on strike in
Dublin were unable to pay the rising prices; “To the poor, potatoes are
now at a price beyond their reach. This fact combined with the dearness
of coal necessitates the use of bread and tea alone as the general food
of the families of the unemployed and very poor.”[11]
‘Rowdyism’ – the first clashes in Swords
On Monday, 15th September, a gathering of striking farm labourers in
Swords very nearly turned violent. Around 300 men, half of whom had
reportedly been drinking heavily, paraded around the village until late
in the evening, singing and shouting.
The crowd was very hostile to the police and the eight or nine police
present were “…mobbed and shuffled off the footway.” The officer in
charge ordered the police back to barracks “…amid the jeers and insults
of the mob…” as he was concerned, if the situation escalated and the
crowd “…persisted in their provocative conduct…firearms or batons would
have to be produced…”.[12]
The crowd sought another outlet for its anger and marched to Kinsealy to
attack the cottage of a farm worker who had not gone on strike. The
cottage was guarded by two police who were powerless to stop the large
crowd from stoning the cottage and smashing all the windows. The crowd
remained there for half an hour, shouting and dancing to the music of a
“…ragtime pipe and drum band…” which had accompanied the
demonstration.[13]
"On September the 15th there were tense confrontations between police
and strikers in Swords, and the following week many Swords workers were
involved in rioting in Dublin city"
The next night, 17th September, strong police reinforcements in
Swords “…prevented a repetition of the previous night’s rowdyism.”
The strikers instead marched out to attack the same cottage in Kinsealy
but were met there by twenty police armed with revolvers. The strikers
“…discreetly retreated back to Swords.”[14]
The 17th September was the same night a riot took place in Finglas.
Striking farm labourers began picketing a pub where a ‘scab’ worker had
been served a drink. Later that night the pub and police were pelted
with stones resulting in accidental shooting by the police of Patrick
Daly, a 17-year-old local boy who had been a member of the crowd.[15]
There were only two policemen on duty in Finglas that evening rather
than the usual three or four. It is possible the others had been sent to
reinforce Swords, leaving the remaining police in a precarious
position when trouble started in Finglas.
On 18th September, 300 strikers, accompanied by the Swords pipe
and drum band, marched into Dublin to take part in labour
demonstrations.[16] The Swords strikers would have been present
to hear James Larkin’s speech at Liberty Hall advising those present to
be peaceable and quiet:
“The police were already responsible for the murder of their comrades,
Byrne and Nolan, and only a few hours ago they shot down young Daly, at
Finglas, like a dog. The people should not give any chance to the police
who are thirsting to continue their murderous assaults.”[17]
However, the Swords farm labourers were far from peaceable and quiet.
Prior to the riot in Swords the farm labourers gave a clear
indication of their willingness to engage the police in battle.
On 21st September the Swords strikers were involved in a serious
riot in Dublin. Over 200 farm labourers marched into Dublin to
participate in demonstrations at Croydon Park, the pro-employer Irish
Independent commented, “The contingents were from the Coolock and Swords
districts and their demeanour was generally aggressive.” [18]
At around 5pm, returning from the rally, strikers attacked trams of the
Dublin United Tramway Company, which were driven by ‘scabs’. The farm
labourers, other strikers, and “Girls, many of them of a low type…”
attacked trams on North Strand Road, subjecting them to a “…fierce
fusillade of stones, bottles and sticks.”[19]
As the police moved to make arrests they were pelted with bottles and
stones. While parts of the large crowd of strikers coming from Croydon
Park battled the police in Lombard Street and Townsend Street, in North
Clarence Street the farm labourers bombarded the police with bricks from
the ruins of two demolished houses.[20]
The police conducted a number of baton charges but the strikers would
disperse and regroup in the side streets, attacking the police from all
sides until they retreated. One policeman commented to the newspapers,
“The remarkable thing about it, said this officer, was that the rioters
seemed determined to fight. They stood their ground for a while, and
used such ammunition as was ready to their hand. Stones, half bricks,
bottles, iron nuts were sent whizzing through the air, and many persons
were injured.”
Eventually the strikers were dispersed by repeated police charges,
leaving many injured on both sides. Despite being beaten back, the
Swords farm labourers had clearly demonstrated they were not afraid
to take on the police.
The Swords strikers complained that the Dublin newspapers had
misrepresented them. They refuted claims that, “…pandemonium prevails at
Swords by night, and that “terrorism” is regularly practiced both at
Swords and Kinsealy.” The strikers countered “…the police
authorities agree with them – that they have never done anything worse
than march through the town with the local fife and drum band; that in
every speech made by a labour man in the district the policy of
non-interference was advocated above all things…” They also claimed the
farmers’ insistence on police protection for workers and carts was part
of a campaign to “…discredit the strikers in the eyes of the public.[21]
September 1913 – The farmers fight back
In late September the farmers began to organise themselves to get their
harvests in despite the farm labourers strike. One of the first such
efforts was made on the farm of Charles Kettle, Kilmore Cottage, Artane.
Around twenty farmers, including several Justices of the Peace and
gentlemen, gathered in around sixteen acres of corn. Despite being
“…unused to bearing the heat and burden of the day, they all gave a
marvellously good account of themselves…”.[22] The newspaper
patronisingly suggested the gentlemen labourers “…actually taught
lessons in sustained effort to the groups of strikers who picketed the
place during the progress of operations.”[23] A plan by the Swords
strikers to march out to picket in strength the next day fell apart when
they were denied use of the drum of the Swords band.[24]
"The farmers cooperated in bringing in ‘scab’ workers to get in the
harvest in North County Dublin in late September 1913 – a tactic which
upped the violence of the dispute there."
It was also in late September the striking labourers in County Dublin
received some strike pay. The amount paid was small and varied across
locations, depending it was said, upon the strength of the local union
branch. Illustrating this very point, union members in Swords
received around double the strike pay, 4s to 3s 6d, of those in Finglas,
while those in Santry received only food aid.[25] In a seemingly
desperate move, a group of strikers in Swords who had received no strike
pay visited a number of shops, demanding money from the owners.[26]
Throughout late September and early October the strikers, led by Frank
Moss, began to take a harder line with ‘scabs’ and non-union members and
there were a number of incidents of violence and intimidation. Several
incidents occurred when it became known pubs in Swords were
serving drink to ‘scabs’.
On Saturday night, 27th September a group of strikers forced a ‘scab’ to
leave a pub in the main street of Swords. Once outside the group
attacked the man, who was rescued by the police, his attackers managing
to escape.[27] In other cases Frank Moss avoided violent confrontation
by ordering all union members to boycott an offending pub. Despite the
hardening attitude, when union members attempted to drag a ‘scab’ out of
a pub, Frank Moss stepped in to prevent violence, ordering them to leave
him alone.[28]
On 1st October, the day of the monthly Swords fair, Frank Moss
and the striking farm labourers intended to hold a demonstration in the
main street. Moss intended to have the demonstration accompanied by the
local band. However, the band instruments were owned by the local branch
of the United Irish League – the grassroots organisation of the Irish
Parliamentary Party – which in turn was controlled by the farmers.[29]
After some difficulty gaining access to the bandroom, the strikers were
preparing to start their demonstration when a large body of police
descended upon them. District Inspector Dowling informed the strikers
“…if they brought the band on to the street he would be obliged to treat
them as an illegal assembly, and disperse them by force, because their
presence in the fair would inevitably provoke a conflict with the
farmers.”[30] Finding themselves surrounded by the police and prevented
from holding the planned demonstration, the strikers held their rally in
the bandroom hall.[31]
Despite Moss’ previous statements of non-interference, rumours began to
circulate that livestock being driven to market in Dublin by ‘scabs’
would be turned back by the strikers around Swords.[32] Patrols
of police began escorting the cattle drives to Dublin. While groups of
strikers were encountered, perhaps due to the police presence, they
didn’t attempt to interfere with the herds.[33] However, this state of
affairs would not last.
A newspaper report from early October stated the Swords strikers’
“…attitude had become more and more threatening...”[34]
On Wednesday evening, 9th October, Frank Moss addressed a crowd of
strikers who had gathered to receive strike pay and provisions. Moss
told the crowd “….that they had been “keeping too quiet in Swords” and
that he himself had been too quiet during the strike there.”[35] True to
his word, things would change that very night.
Weekly Irish Times 18 October 1913
October 9th 1913, the Riot in Swords
At about 10pm that evening, a herd of sheep and a large herd of cattle
were being driven through Swords with a police escort.[36] As
they arrived at the turnpike at the southern end of the main street of
the village, a group of strikers drove the animals back up the main
street in confusion, chasing and scattering them in the darkness.
"On October 9th, serious rioting erupted in Swords when police arrested
a striker who had helped drive off a herd of farmers’ cattle."
The men driving the herds alerted the police and District Inspector
Dowling accompanied by five or six police helped gather the scattered
stock. The herds were again driven back through the village only to be
met once more by the strikers who scattered them again. The police and
drovers were pelted with stones and bottles and in the noise, darkness
and confusion of men, cattle and sheep running in all directions, the
handful of police could not control the situation.[37]
With the help of a strong light mounted on a police bicycle, the police
managed to identify and arrest one man, Christopher McKittrick.[38]
Leaving two constables to manage McKittrick, a sergeant cycled to the
police barracks for reinforcements. As the police escorted McKittrick
back to their barracks at the other end of the main street, they
encountered a crowd of about 100 strikers near “Liberty Hall”.
Seeing McKittrick in the hands of the police the crowd blocked
them“…forming four deep across the street at “Liberty Hall”.”[39] John
Dardis, Michael Dempsey and Timothy White rushed forward, took hold of
McKittrick and refused to let him go, Dardis stating he was “…a picket
of the Transport Union and would not let the prisoner pass until they
knew what he was arrested for.”[40] Patrick Rourke, who was “…in a
fighting attitude, and very excited, shouted: “Lads, rush them!”[41]
"Three hundred strikers chased the police out of the village for a time
but were eventually dispersed by two baton charges."
At this point the sergeant returned with five police officers and as the
other police assisted in dragging McKittrick from the crowd, he arrested
Rourke. As the police retreated towards their barracks with the two
prisoners they were showered with bottles and stones, all the while
accompanied by shouting and booing.
The striking farm labourers were now left in control of the main street
of the village and, following the retreating police, attacked the
barracks. The barrack windows were smashed by a hail of stones and
bottles after which the strikers attacked the shops of those owners
known to be sympathetic to the farmers and police.[42] During these
wild, chaotic scenes even a window in “Liberty Hall” was smashed. It was
during this wave of attacks on shops that Frank Moss was alleged to have
smashed the window of McGonagle’s sweet shop, opposite “Liberty Hall”
In the meantime the police had gathered reinforcements and District
Inspector Dowling, with around thirty police officers, moved in to break
up the riot. As the police approached the strikers gathered outside
“Liberty Hall” they were subjected to an intense barrage of bottles and
stones, severely injuring several of them. At this point, District
Inspector Dowling “…finding that all peaceable means of dispersing the
mob were of no avail…” ordered a baton charge, scattering the crowd and
injuring many of the strikers. A short time later the crowd reassembled
but was dispersed by another baton charge.[43]
The police remained on the streets for the rest of the night to prevent
any further outbreak of violence and to ensure herds of cattle made it
through the village safely. The local doctor and nurse were busy until
late in the night tending the injured strikers.[44]
The following evening saw a tense calm descend over Swords. There
were rumours that the strikers were going to take revenge upon the
police. A statement was made during the day by a union official,
presumably Frank Moss, “…that the peaceful attitude by the men
heretofore could no longer be adhered to…”.[45] Police reinforcements
had arrived in the village, bringing the total up to seventy officers.
Instead of sending them on their usual patrols, District Inspector
Dowling kept them in the barracks, ready to deal with trouble at a
moment’s notice.
As night fell groups of strikers were seen carrying fresh-cut
sticks.[46] However, by 10pm, Swords remained quiet, leaving the police
perplexed as to the whereabouts and intentions of the strikers.[47] It
is possible many of the strikers, injured in the previous night’s baton
charges, were in no condition or mood to take to the streets again.
Also, it could be said, the strikers were sensible enough not to face a
sizeable body of police who were clearly expecting and prepared for
trouble.
The following day additional police reinforcements arrived in Swords
bringing the total available to around eighty officers, a substantial
police presence and possibly the largest police contingent stationed
outside of Dublin during the lockout. This police presence is a
testament to how seriously the authorities took the Swords strikers who
by this stage numbered about three hundred in total.
Trial and punishment
The morning after the riot, at a special sitting of the magistrate’s
court, Christopher McKittrick and Patrick Rourke were charged with
rioting and assaulting the police. While both were found guilty, Rourke
was remanded in custody but McKittrick was bound to keep the peace on a
surety of £5, roughly six weeks wages for a farm labourer.[48]
At 4am on 16th October, the police moved to arrest John Dardis, Michael
Dempsey, Timothy White and John Connor. Having been taken from their
beds, they faced the Swords Magistrates Court that morning.
Patrick Rourke, who had been in custody since 9th October, joined them
in the dock. Despite the prisoners having no defence representation the
hearing went ahead. They were charged with having:
“…unlawfully, tumultuously and riotously, with other persons to the
number of about 100 assemble to the disturbance of the public peace, and
while so assembled did unlawfully attempt to forcibly rescue one
Christopher McKittrick from legal custody and arrest, and unlawfully
obstruct certain constables of the RIC while in the execution of their
duty.”[49]
Dardis, Dempsey, White and Rourke were refused bail and remanded in
custody to face trial at the County Commission, a special court
established to hear cases arising from the Dublin Lockout. Connor was
released, but obliged to pay a good behaviour bond of £5. At the County
Commission trial in late October, the court found John Dardis “…was the
originator of the whole business.” and sentenced him to six months in
prison. Patrick Dempsey was sentenced to four months, Patrick Rourke to
three months, while Timothy White was found not guilty and released.[50]
Frank Moss faced trial in late October, charged with three separate acts
of intimidation and with smashing the window of McGonagle’s sweet shop
during the riot. At the start of the trial, Moss’ defence suggested any
of the magistrates who had a personal interest in the progress of the
farm labourers’ strike, should stand aside and take no part in the
hearing. However, despite many of them being farmers and land owners,
none of the magistrates stood aside and the defence council could only
lodge a formal protest.
One of the charges against Moss was he intimidated a union member, James
Lawless, by spilling the man’s drink. Lawless had been drinking in a pub
when Moss demanded all union members leave because ‘scabs’ were being
served there. When Lawless told Moss he would leave when he finished his
drink, Moss took the drink from him and spilled it, both men leaving
together. Even though Lawless told the court he had no problem with Moss
spilling his drink, Moss was found guilty of intimidating him. Moss was
also found guilty on the other two charges of intimidation and sentenced
to three months imprisonment, with hard labour.[51]
While in Mountjoy Prison, Moss went on hunger strike and in response the
prison authorities force-fed him.[52] Upon completing his sentence he
was then tried on the charge of smashing McGonagle’s window, found
guilty and sentenced to a further fourteen days in prison.[53] Despite
his solicitor having lodged an appeal following his conviction on 24th
October 1913, due to a supposed administrative error, Moss’ appeal was
not heard until June 1914, when all charges were dismissed.[54] This was
a meaningless gesture on the part of the authorities, as Moss had
already spent four months in prison.
Weekly Irish Times 25 October 1913
The defeat of the Swords strike
Throughout late 1913, the farmers took steps to break the power of the
strikers by turning to the use of “free labour”, non-union labourers,
some brought in from other counties. The introduction of “free labour”
into County Dublin is attributed to Mr Andrew Kettle Sr. of St.
Margaret’s. Despite their having to live and work under police
protection, the use of non-union labour by farmers spread quickly.[55]
Adding to the pressure on the strikers, many in the Swords
district, including the occupants of “Liberty Hall” and John Dardis,
were evicted from their houses by their farmer landlords.[56] By early
October, faced literally with starvation, eviction and the approach of
winter, strikers began to return to work.[57]
"By the end of 1913, the strikers in North County Dublin had been forced
back to work by starvation. Some union members were never taken back by
their employers."
However, some farmers refused to take their former employees back,
despite the labourers offering to do so on the farmer’s terms and asking
for reinstatement “…under any circumstances…”.[58] As a result, the
wives, mothers and daughters of the strikers in the Swords
district, in an effort to put food on their tables, worked picking
harvested potatoes from the fields.[59] The women were paid 2s a day,
which, while it was less than the 4s paid to casual men, was still more
than the 1s 6d which had been agreed for women under the 16thAugust
agreement with the County Dublin Farmers Association.[60]
By February 1914, there were still around 230 unemployed members of the
ITGWU in Swords unable to return to work as “…their positions
have mostly been filled by “free” labour.”[61]
In desperation, many unemployed farm labourers took the jobs of Dublin
workers who were on strike, becoming the ‘scabs’ they had previously
despised.[62] Officials of the ITGWU used the strongest language to
condemn the labourers who sought work in Dublin:
“The labourer who would come in to take a striker’s job was worse than
Judas, for whereas Judas got thirty pieces of silver for his dirty job,
they would only get twenty shillings. Judas as they all knew, afterwards
hanged himself, and there would not be enough rope in the whole County
Dublin to hang the labourers who attempted to act Judas on their fellow
workers in the city.”[63]
Like the riot in neighbouring Finglas a month earlier, the riot at
Swords did not affect the overall course of the strike. With the
introduction of non-union labour into County Dublin the striking farm
workers faced starvation, eviction and permanent unemployment. By late
1913 the strike had virtually collapsed and many of the striking farm
labourers involved in the Swords riot had been arrested,
imprisoned or evicted from their homes.
The defeat of the farm labourers and the strike in Dublin left many men
unemployed, homeless and destitute. However, during the second half of
1913, the Swords farm labourers, under the direction of Frank
Moss, were among the most militant and belligerent of James Larkin’s
followers in County Dublin, making Swords “the principal
rallying-ground for the Larkinites”.
[4] The location of the Swords “Liberty Hall” was on the eastern side of
the Main Street, roughly half way down, opposite the site of McGonagle’s
sweet shop.
[5]“Larkinism and the 1913 County Dublin Farm Labourer’s Dispute”,
Eugene A. Coyle, Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Autumn,
2005), pp. 176-190
Gilbert Keith Chesterton poem Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29th of
May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere "rollicking journalist,"
he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area of
literature. A man of strong opinions and enormously talented at
defending them, his exuberant personality nevertheless allowed him to
maintain warm friendships with people--such as George Bernard Shaw and
H. G. Wells--with whom he vehemently disagreed.
The Chesterton Review Volume 29, Issue 1/2, Spring/Summer 2003
Chesterton’s Ireland Then and Now
G. K. Chesterton
Pages 15-16
A Song of Swords
This poem was written in 1913 during the years of the Marconi
political scandal, a time when Chesterton was becoming increasingly
disturbed by the deepening economic and political crisis in both England
and Ireland. The poem was included in the 1915 and 1927 editions of
Chesterton's poems, and in the 1994 Collected Poetry Part I (volume X)
of the Ignatius Press Collected Works of Chesterton. For this
latter edition, Aidan Mackey provided the following note: “In this poem
G. K. C. took the placename at its face value in English, but the Irish
name is Sord Colaim Chille, from a pure well said to have been blessed
by St. Columcille. The occasion was the seizure, by locked-out and
starving Dublin workers, of a herd of cattle - a swordlike stroke for
liberty."
"A drove of cattle came into a village called Swords; and was
stopped by the rioters."--Daily Paper.
In the place called Swords on the Irish road
It is told for a new renown
How we held the horns of the cattle, and how
We will hold the horns of the devils now
Ere the lord of hell with the horn on his brow
Is crowned in Dublin town.
Light in the East and light in the West,
And light on the cruel lords,
On the souls that suddenly all men knew,
And the green flag flew and the red flag flew,
And many a wheel of the world stopped, too,
When the cattle were stopped at Swords.
Be they sinners or less than saints
That smite in the street for rage,
We know where the shame shines bright; we know
You that they smite at, you their foe,
Lords of the lawless wage and low,
This is your lawful wage.
You pinched a child to a torture price
That you dared not name in words;
So black a jest was the silver bit
That your own speech shook for the shame of it,
And the coward was plain as a cow they hit
When the cattle have strayed at Swords.
The wheel of the torrent of wives went round
To break men's brotherhood;
You gave the good Irish blood to grease
The clubs of your country's enemies;
you saw the brave man beat to the knees:
And you saw that it was good.
The rope of the rich is long and long--
The longest of hangmen's cords;
But the kings and crowds are holding their breath,
In a giant shadow o'er all beneath
Where God stands holding the scales of Death
Between the cattle and Swords.
Haply the lords that hire and lend
The lowest of all men's lords,
Who sell their kind like kine at a fair,
Will find no head of their cattle there;
But faces of men where cattle were:
Faces of men--and Swords.
Richard Coleman was born in 1890. He was from a family of eleven, all of
which were active in the Gaelic League. His father was a teacher in the
Swords New Borough Male School on Seatown Road, which Richard attended.
Richard later attended O'Connell's CBS on North Richmond Street, Dublin.
He later became a Christian Brother but left after four years and ended
up working in Swords for the Prudential Insurance Company.
When Thomas MacDonagh came to Swords in April 1914 to recruit for the
recently-formed Irish Volunteers, Richard was among the first to join.
When John Redmond forced a split in the Volunteers later that year, the
remaining Volunteers elected Richard as their captain.
On Easter Sunday 1916, Richard mobilised the Fingal Battalion at Saucers
Town and prepared them for the following day. On Easter Monday they,
along with other Volunteers from surrounding areas, came under the
direction of Thomas Ashe, whose instructions were to prevent British
reinforcements from reaching Dublin.
On Tuesday, Thomas Ashe was asked by James Connolly to send 40 men to
Dublin city. Ashe decided to send 20 and the remainder fought at the
Battle of Ashbourne under the command of Frank Lawless.
Coleman went with the GPO contingent. On reaching the GPO, the group was
split into two. Six men became the tunnelling unit around the GPO — 'the
engineering corps' — while the others under Richard were instructed to
reinforce the garrison under Seán Heuston in the Mendicity Institute.
Connolly's parting words to them did not augur well for their mission:
"I don't think you will all get there, but get as far as you can.''
They got as far as the Mendicity Institute unscathed.The Mendicity garrison, under intensive fire, surrendered on Thursday.
Richard and his comrades were marched to the Rotunda Hospital for
identification purposes. Richard was court marshalled and sentenced to
death, but this was commuted to three years penal servitude. He was sent
to Dartmoor and then to Lewis Prison. He was released under the general
amnesty of 1917.
Like many released prisoners Richard campaigned for Eamon de Valera in
the Clare by-election in 1918, and was imprisoned in Mountjoy. He went
on hunger strike, and after the death of Thomas Ashe, was transferred to
Cork Jail and then to Dundalk. He began another hunger strike in Dundalk,
and was released shortly afterwards.
He was soon re-arrested along with others as part of the British
authorities' 'German Plot' conspiracy.
The prisoners were assembled first in Dublin Castle on 17 May 1918 and
then sent to Usk and Gloucester Jails in Britain. Conditions were harsh
in the jail and attempts were made to criminalise them with the order to
wear prison uniforms. They resisted and at the direction of the Home
Office, the prison governor, Young, capitulated. On their first night in
Usk, the internees won the right to free association, the right to
receive and send letters, to smoke and to wear their own clothes.
Despite their victory, the prison regime weakened the men and with the
onset of a severe winter, many succumbed to the influenza virus which
had reached epidemic proportions, killing hundreds outside the prison
walls. Richard was among a group of POWs struck down by the virus. They
were left in their damp and cold cells for three days after the flu
struck them down. On 1 December, a new prison doctor, Dr Morton took up
his new duties in the prison and immediately diagnosed that Richard was
suffering from pneumonia and had him transferred to hospital. He died a
few days later on 7 December 1918.
Richard Coleman's remains were released to his brother and taken to
Dublin where they lay in state for a week in St Andrew's Church,
Westland Row. Over 100,000 people filed past the coffin to pay their
last respects. Volunteers in uniform formed a guard of honour.
A public funeral procession in driving rain from Westland Row to
Glasnevin was followed by over 15,000 people. Three volleys of shots
were fired over the grave at the Republican Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery. For more information see:
http://saoirse32.dreamwidth.org/1676894.html
The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
JRSAI Vol. 105 (1975)
Thomas Fanning: 'An Irish medieval tile pavement: recent excavations
at Swords Castle, County Dublin',
pages 47-82.
Documents and bibles of the St Columba's Church (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
St Columba's Church and graveyard (Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
Early Christian carved stone used in belfry construction (bottom corner
of wall)
Slater of Stoney Batter stone (and reverse of McAlister stone 1800)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
Early Christian carved stone used in belfry construction
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
Early Christian carved stone (example)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
McAlister stone 1800
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin 24/8/2023)
Fingal Historic Graveyards Project (Vol. 2)
Site Information:
Survey Ref. No. FHG 49
Date of Survey 30-Jul-08
Graveyard Name St. Columba's (CofI),
General Information: Denomination Church of Ireland
Ownership Representative Church Body
Location: X Co-ordinate 318047
Y Co-ordinate 246733
Townland Name Swords Glebe
Parish Name Swords
Address Church Street Swords County Dublin
Historic Maps: OS 6" Sheet No. 011
Rocque 1760
OS Map 1st ed 1830s
OS Map 3rd ed c1906
Setting The graveyard is located in a prominent position to the west of
Swords. Along with the tower and round tower it is located within a
significant ecclesiastical site. The site is bounded by a large
enclosure indicated by the curving alignment of the Brackenstown Road,
Church Road and Rathbeale Road.
Historical Context The church in Swords is dedicated to St. Columba, who died in 597
and is believed to have been its founder (Bradley and King 1988, 306;
Walsh 1888, 13). He appointed Fionan Lobhar as first abbot (Bradley
1988, 306). The site was attacked and burned on many occasions during
the 11th and 12th centuries. The church is thought to have been a
temporary resting place for Brian Buru's body after he was killed in
battle in 1014 (Walsh 1888, 45). Nothing now remains of the early
monastery except the round tower which was probably erected in the 9th
or 10th century (Fanning 1975, 47) and an early medieval grave slab
fragment built into the base of the later medieval tower to the
northwest of the modern church.
The eastern and southern boundary of Swords Glebe and the curving
alignment of the Brackenstown Road, Church Road and Rathbeale Road
indicate the original extent the early monastic foundation. Surviving
elements of the medieval parish church include the residential west
tower to the north of the modern church. The round tower is topped by an
undecorated Latin cross dating to the late 17th century (Barrow 1979,
86). A sheela-na-gig was once located near St. Columba’s Church, but has
been in the National Museum since 1945 (NMI 1945:18).
Some distance from the graveyard just off Well Road is an enclosed
spring well which has been traditionally associated with St. Columcille.
Local tradition records that when the saint was building a church near
the round tower when suddenly he took a large step towards the main
street of Swords. Where his foot landed a well sprang up out of the
ground. He blessed the well and it was called St. Columcille’s well. The
well is said to have the cure for sore eyes. The water from the well was
also used to treat lepers at the Spiddal hospital (Ó Danachair 1958, 81;
Schools Manuscript Collection vol. 789, p. 150, 152, 154, 155). In this
graveyard at Swords there was a special place called "the strangers
bank" where unbaptised babies and strangers were buried (Schools
Manuscript Collection vol. 788).
Bibliographic References Bradley, 1988. Urban Archaeological Survey of Dublin; Brewer 1825.
Beauties of Ireland Vol I, p. 246;
Fanning. T., 1975. An Irish Medieval Tiled Pavement, Co. Dublin in JRSAI,
Vol. 105, p. 47; Fingal Heritage Group. In Fond Remembrance: Headstone
inscriptions from St. Columba's Graveyard, No. 2; Ó Danachair, C. 1958.
Repertorium novum, p. 81; Simington, R. (ed.) 1931-61 Civil Survey AD
1654-56, Dublin; Walsh, R. 1888. Fingal and its Churches; Irish Folklore
Commission Schools Manuscript Collection vol. 789, p. 150, 152, 154,
155; vol. 788.
Archaeological and Architectural Features The graveyard (DU011-03403) contains a church built c.1818 to the
designs of Francis Johnston. It is
constructed of ashlar limestone and has a six-bay nave with battlements
and stepped buttresses. The church has pointed arched openings. The
tower of the medieval church (DU011-03404) is located to the northwest.
It is constructed of coursed limestone with large quoins. There are
pointed arched openings in the south wall.
General Description Sub-rectangular graveyard bounded by snecked limestone wall. The
site is located in a prominent position to the west of the village. The
ground level is considerable higher within the graveyard.
The graveyard contains a mixture of 18th, 19th and 20th grave markers.
They consist of headstones, free-standing crosses and some individual table tombs and sarcophagi. There
are a number of re-used architectural fragments including a section of
window moulding visible in the graveyard. There is an early medieval
grave slab in the graveyard which is inscribed and has been set into the
base of the south wall of the tower. Many of the earlier headstones are
decorated with IHS motifs. Many of the markers to the north of the
church are dedicated to merchants from the city of Dublin. There are a
number of significant early memorials in the interior of the church.
Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Sord Cholm Cille, Co. Bhaile Átha Cliath,
Éire
Folio of Pen and Ink Drawings by Caoimhghin Ó
Croidheáin / Kevin Cryan (gaelart.net)
Contents:
6 loose A5 prints on Conqueror white card
in 2 colour
Conqueror cream cover.
Cover contains
illustrations and history of local heritage.
For more information
email
caoimhghin@yahoo.com
Folio
for sale - 15 Euro p+p
Poster of Swords /
Sord Cholm Cille (in English and Irish)
by
Caoimhghin Ó
Croidheáin / Kevin Cryan
(gaelart.net)
Society in Fingal,1603-60 (Maynooth Historical Studies)
[Hardcover] Maighread Ni Mhurchadha
This tightly written study examines all aspects of Fingal (north Dublin)
in a period that saw its transformation in every sphere - the beliefs,
values and norms of the community, religion, marriage and the family,
education, literature, the legal profession, work, crime, and leisure
pursuits. The result is a fascinating case study of the social and
cultural realities of early modern Ireland.
Tower, Belfry and Church
(2013)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Glasmore Abbey front (1980s) Lioscian, off St. Cronan’s
Avenue, Brackenstown Road, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (See:
http://gaelart.net/swordshistory.html for map)
Glasmore Abbey front (2013) Lioscian, off St. Cronan’s
Avenue, Brackenstown Road, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (See:
http://gaelart.net/swordshistory.html for map)
Glasmore Abbey back (1980s) Lioscian, off St. Cronan’s
Avenue, Brackenstown Road, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (See:
http://gaelart.net/swordshistory.html for map)
Glasmore Abbey back (2013) Lioscian, off St. Cronan’s
Avenue, Brackenstown Road, Swords
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin) (See:
http://gaelart.net/swordshistory.html for map)
Cottage facing castle (demolished) (1980s)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Health Centre (2013)
(Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin)
Aerial view of Swords from 1970s photograph (1987)
Drawing by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin
1990s
Swords In The Movies
Swords
Castle is transformed into an 11th century setting for 'The Legend of
Cambria', which was shot there recently
Dublin
based production company, Pull the Trigger, took over the castle to
shoot The Legend of Cambria. The fantasy film, which can be best
described as a mixture of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Willow is
set in a magical mythical kingdom, with Swords Castle setting the
backdrop for the ensuing adventures of swashbuckling heroes and
villains, dragons and treachery.
http://www.northcountyleader.ie/2015/11/24/swords-castle-in-the-movies/
Swords Castle was built as the residence for the
Archbishops of Dublin in the thirteenth century. It is the best
surviving medieval episcopal manor in Ireland, representing at least 500
years of development, and is a National Monument. A Swords Castle
Conservation Plan has been published to address a range of concerns
regarding the preservation and protection of the castle, in order to
enable the castle to be reinvigorated and presented to the public so
that its significance becomes more widely recognised. The Conservation
Plan was published on 9th September 2014.
