HISTORY OF CLONAKILTY

HISTORY OF CLONAKILTY AND SURROUNDING DISTRICTS

Clonakilty is situated in one of the tuatha or tribe lands of the Corca Luighe. This was a pre-Milesian race and the name Luighe was common among their early chiefs.

One of those, Lughaidh Mac Con was Monarch of Ireland. He is supposed to have been interred in Corran-hill in the parish of Desertserges from which a magnificent view embraces the southern coast from the Old Head of Kinsale westward. A cairn which marked the spot was opened in the early part of the last century and the urn contained in it is now in a Belfast museum.

According to the Book of Ballymote, Corca Luighe extended from Beann Finn westward to Tragumina and Lough Ine and from Beal Atha Buidhe to Tragh Claen at the rock.

It is very unsafe to dogmatise on Irish place-names but it is likely that Beann Finn stands for Mounteen Hill near Ballinascarthy on the summit of which there is a tumulus called Suidhe Finn. Another name may represent the fort of Ballyboy on the Bandon river and Tragh Claen may be where Cleena's rock is situated near the Galley Head.

Each tuath of Corca Luighe was governed by a taoiseach and beneath him were the hereditary leaders. Tuatha O Fitcheallaigh and O Dunghalaigh merged in Clonakilty.

O'Fehilly and O'Dunlea were the taoiseacha. Oglaigh or Leaders are represented by names which still survive, i.e. Duggan, Keady, Eady, Anglin, Kennedy, Cagney, Hennessy, Leary, Dineen, Cronin, Hayes or O'Hea, Murray, Dulea, Coffey, Cowhig, Cullinane, Downey, Lahiffe, Shinnick, Deady and Muintir Oh Illigh or Hill. The O'Driscolls were the ruling race.

These races had been gradually pushed south of the Bandon river by the Eoghanachta of which the ruling families were the O'Mahony's and the O'Donoghues. Other names have descended in the form of Spillane, O'Neill, Long, Flynn, Keating, Ring, Canty, Mehigan, Dillon, Healy, Slattery, Coghlan, Cahalane, Canniffe, Heenigan, Flahive, Hurley, Wholey, Kearney, etc.

Buaig and Munig of the Corca Luighe with Aghna and Feichin of the Eoghanachta survive only as leas-ainmeacha or affixes to other names. It is likely that both races had merged before the Anglo-Norman Invasion.

The many "lioses" and raths which stud the district are survivals of this period. The great fort at Tawnies near Clonakilty being an outstanding example. The little ruined church of Templebrian (not far distant) dates from an early Christian period. It is surrounded by a circular caiseal and nearby is a "stone circle". Many early churches such as Teampul Fachtna near Rosscarbery were built near pre-Christian places of veneration. So were Templeomalus, Templequinlan, TempleVentrie, etc.

The place-names Tullymurrihy, Ballymodan, Dundeady, Dunworley, Ballyvireen all take their names from Corca Luighe Chiefs while the barony of Ibaune represents the Ui Badhamhna.

Now came the Anglo-Normans. The Arundels erected a castle near Ring and for many centuries Lords Arundel of the Strand drew revenue from lands and fishing rights. The Barry's erected a castle within an ancient rath and styled it Rathbarry. The Hodnetts erected a mansion and from one of their lords who became gaelicised named it Courtmacsherry. The red-haired Barrys conquered Lislee and named it Barryroe. The De Courceys having conquered Kinsale district crossed the Bandon river westward as far as Ballincoursey.

The Anglo-Normans also drove the O'Sullivans out of Tipperary and the O'Donovans, Collinses and Connollys out of West Limerick, and they retreating southward further circumscribed the Corca Luighe. The McCarthys had arrived from Cashel a century previously and aided by the O'Connors of Connacht had dominated the Cork district. They too retreated westward into Kerry where they rallied after a few generations. In 1232, Donal Got McCarthy led an army into the Bandon river district, near Dunmanway, and defeated the Corca Luighe represented by the Coffeys and the Eoghanachta as represented by the O'Mahonys. His son Fineen defeated an Anglo-Irish army at Callan near Kenmare in 1261 but was slain later while besieging the De Courcey Castle of Ringrone. Intermittent conflicts continued. John De Courcey and his brother Patrick were slain at Inchidoney by an army led by Donal Maol McCarthy in 1295. Through the ensuing centuries the De Courceys were swept eastward to the Old Head district and eventually their castle at Kilbrittain became the chief stronghold of the McCarthy Reaghs. The Anglo-Norman settlers Arundels, Barrys, Hodnetts, Roches existed as best they could as their English kinsmen were unable to assist them. They intermarried with O'Mahonys, McCarthys, O'Heas, Hurleys, Crowleys, etc. and so became partly gaelicised.

From Enniskeane to Arundel harbour was a long strip of McCarthy territory which served as a wedge separating the Red Barry's country from their kinsmen of the Rath. It was called Tuath na Coillte and included Knockskagh, Fourcuil, Grancore, Skartagh, Tawnies, Templebryan, Kilgarriffe, Miles, Lisbarnane and Youghals.

It is likely that the name represented "the country of the woods" as some of the townland names have to do with woods or shrubberies. Fineen McOwen McDermody McCarthy, the ruling chief, was slain in 1598. David Lord Barry obtained an enquiry which found that Fineen was slain as a rebel and his lands were forfeited. David was granted a lease of these lands and later exchanged them with Richard first earl of Cork and the latter became possessed of Tuath na Coillte.

At a place where the little Feale river meets the tide there must have existed a river crossing. The word Cloghan may have been applied to the stepping stones at the ford or to buildings which stood there which were of a better type than the Cloichini at the other side of the river. However this may be, when the Earl of Cork sought a charter for the new town, he named the place Cloghnakilty. Other forms used were Cloghannakiltee and Cloghnagoilty. In 1613 the charter was granted. The town was to extend one mile outward from an old chapel and the liberties to embrace lands within a three mile limit. The government of the town comprised a sovereign or provost, burgesses and commonalty with the Earl of Cork as patron. Justice was administered by a Recorder appointed by the earl and the burgesses were entitled to send two members to the Irish Parliament.

In 1642 the great Insurrection which had broken out in Ulster extended to West Cork. The alien element in Clonakilty either sought refuge in Bandon or remained as prisoners in the Market House guarded by the Irish who now occupied the town. Others went to Rathbarry Castle which they put into a state of defence. They were attacked by O'Donovans, Hurleys, Hartes, O'Heas, Collinses and Barrys. They were relieved in October 1642 by an English force under Lord Forbes which had landed at Kinsale, aided by the Bandon garrison. On going and returning, they were attacked along the country between Clonakilty and Rathbarry. They are said to have driven the Irish to Inchidoney Island where many were drowned.

During the ensuing seven years the country to the west of Bandon was in Irish hands but when Cromwell came in 1649 the scene changed. Then claims for compensation for war-damage poured in, and the lands of those who had not shown constant good affection to the English were declared forfeited.

They included Hartes of Carrigroe, O'Heas of Ahamilla, Arundels of Ring, O'Cullanes of Darrara, Roches of Kilgarriffe, Crowleys of Kilnagross, O'Donovans of Reenroe, Hurleys of Kilbree, etc. all described as Irish Papists. The second Earl of Cork obtained a great deal of this land to compensate him for his father's losses. So did Sir William Penn, Major Allen, Francis Beamish, John Freke, Lieut. Col. Honner and many others. They in turn divided their newly acquired estates amongst reputable middle-men such as Jermyns, Beechers, Hungerfords, Townsends, etc., and a new aristocracy arose around Clonakilty who set about reviving the town.

They were proceeding happily until that unaccountable people, the Irish, rose again. In theory they were supporting their lawful king James the Second, but they stood for the Irish and not the English interest. In 1688 the Earl of Tyrconnell Lord Lieutenant, revoked the Earl of Cork's charter and substituted another under which Catholics were allowed to participate in the government of the town. Daniel McCarthy Reagh became Provost and in the Patriot Parliament of 1689 the borough of Cloghnakilty was represented by Daniel Fionn McCarthy and Owen McCarthy.

The battle of Aughrim and the capture of Cork and Limerick by those who stood for the English interest put an end to this interlude. The old charter was resumed and Frekes, Beechers, Hungerfords, Townsends, Gookins, Jermyns, etc. ruled the town for another century and a half under the patronage of the Earls of Shannon (descended from the first Earl of Cork). They ruled it well from their point of view and did their utmost to encourage its industrial development.

If they had used their power over land and life, ruthlessly, the native Irish could not have survived. But they were tolerant and the balmy air of the South softened their original harshness so the descendants of the Corca Luighe and Eoghanacht have survived and after the lapse of close on eight centuries are no longer a subject race in Clonakilty district.

CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

A press reporter, writing in the "Freeman's Journal", dated 26th July, 1880, speaks of Clonakilty as a "thriving little town on the south western seaboard of County Cork". "A thriving little town" - strange description indeed not easily understood by those of us, who have so often heard it referred to as "Clonakilty! God help us". Stranger still that description for those of us who live in this modern age, and have so recently read the dismal pen picture, painting Clonakilty as one of the almost deserted or should we say "ghost towns" of the south western seaboard. However the object of this article is not to discuss the economic changes that have taken place since 1880, but to write of something which has not changed, the symbol of something for us immutable, no matter how much economics may change. For on the 25th July, 1880, the present Church in Clonakilty was dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, honouring in its name her Holy and Immaculate Conception, and on the previous days the altars within the Church had been consecrated. Previous to this the faithful flock of Clonakilty had worshipped firstly, as soon as persecution permitted it, in an old post-Penal church, which formerly stood in a site off what in now known as "Old Chapel Lane". How many of the local residents of this district, I wonder, realise or appreciate that fact when to-day they speak of "Old Chapel Lane". Later this site was abandoned and another church was built on the site of the present National School in Western Road. Here in this little church, which has been described as a poor little cruciform chapel, with an earthen floor and not much ornamentation, the faithful worshipped, prayed and learned the truths of their religion. For this simple church was the home of true piety and sincere attachment to that religion which brought the faith through the trying famine years. Thus up to 1880, when the present church was opened, the Catholics of Clonakilty, were baptised, worshipped, and prayed in this little Church in the Western Road.

As far as we can gather the building of the present Clonakilty Church was undertaken by the Rev. Matthew O'Donovan, then Parish Priest of Clonakilty. In passing I would like to mention that the said Fr. O'Donovan, was an uncle of the late Senator T.J. O'Donovan of Inchydoney. The foundation stone was laid in 1870 by the Most Rev. Dr. O'Hea, the Bishop of Ross. Though he had commenced this noble work, Fr. O'Donovan did not live to see it completed, for he died in 1875 and was succeeded by the Rev. P. Madden. Throwing himself wholeheartedly into the work, and showing unbounded energy which never flagged, he overcame many difficulties to finish the work so well begun by his predecessor. He was no doubt encouraged and ably assisted by the Most Rev. Dr. Fitzgerald who had succeeded Dr. O'Hea. But well we know that the encouragement and endeavour would have been in vain, were it not for the zeal and self-sacrifice of a generous people, who had, even though suffering from want, contributed generously to the appeal of the Parish Priest. Thus on the 25th day of July, 1880, the faithful of Clonakilty who had knelt on the earthen floor of the old chapel, changed over to honour and worship in what the daily press described as "a temple of gorgeous proportions, a proud and beautiful building, in its turn a type of our religious progress, in the altered condition of our country".

For those who may be interested in the more matter of fact details with regard to the Church building itself, the Church was designed by a Mr. S. C. Ashlin of Dublin, according - as we are told - to a plan suggested to him by Fr. O'Donovan. It is said to be one of the most successful examples of Mr. Ashlin's skill as a Church architect. It is of pure Gothic of the early French style, and consists of a nave, aisles, transepts, two chapels and a baptistery. The nave is 158 feet long by 32½ feet wide, the transpets 33½ feet by 32 feet, the aisles 72 feet by 16 feet. The total length of the nave is over 162 feet, the breadth across the transepts is 109 feet. The height to the ridge of the roof is about eighty feet and the thickness of the walls is five feet. I wonder in how many cases of Churches built at the present time would you find walls of that thickness. In the gables of the nave and transepts are three large wheel windows, while the apse-shaped sanctuary has stained glass lighting which represents the Nativity, the Visitation and the Assumption of Our Lady. The nave is separated from the aisles by an arcade, which is carried across the transept, by which means the large piers that would be necessary at the angles of the transept are avoided, and thus a clear view of the High Altar is open from the aisles and the transepts. The tympanum of the east arch which on either side divides the chancel from the side chapels, is filled with stone tracing, resting on Sicilian marble columns. The columns of the nave arcade have capitals and sub-bases of granite, bases of limestone, and shafts of Aberdeen polished granite. The roofs of both the naves and the aisles have arched principals, the spaces between them filled with wood grouting, having carved bosses at the intersection of the ribs. The whole section of the ceiling between the ribs is boarded in yellow pine, three inches in width, the dressings of the windows, doors, etc., are Ballyknockane granite. The altar of the Sacred Heart, the gift of a lady and gentleman in Clonakilty was erected by Mr. Pearse of Dublin at a cost of £350. The altar of the Blessed Virgin was the gift of Mrs. O'Brien, Main Street, Clonakilty, and erected by Mr. P. J. Scannell, Cork at a cost of £250. Over this was a window presented by Mr. McCarthy, Main Street, Clonakilty, and the Stations of the Cross, the gift of a Clonakilty lady cost £245. The High Altar, the product of cultured taste, is executed in a style of most refined art. It is largely composed of pure white marble, relieved with some coloured marbles. At the time of its erection, it stood almost unrivalled in its beauty by any altar in the South. Messrs. Eardley & Powell, Camden Street, Dublin, were contractors for this work, and it cost then over £675. A touching thought is that the cost of this Altar was defrayed by the collection of the children of the parish, through the medium of subscription cards. The altar rail is 110 feet long of wrought iron, and was made by Mr. Cullinane, a local blacksmith, whose family still carry on the family tradition and trade in the town. It was presented to the Church by Mr. Canty of Clonakilty. The approximate cost at the time for the erection of the Church was £36,000.

A vivid description of the greatness of the occasion, attached to the dedication of the Church on the 25th July, 1880, was given in the "Freeman's Journal" of the following day, and from which I now beg your leave to quote. The quotation will contain also, a part of the sermon preached by the famous Dr. Croke, who graced the occasion with his presence. The description is as follows:

"Clonakilty, a thriving little town on the South Western Sea-board of County Cork, has according to reliable historians, been three times invaded by hostile armies - namely in 1641, in 1691 and 1798. Today it suffered a fourth invasion of a very different character, produced by the consecration of the new Church, dedicated to Mary Immaculate, an event which will leave an indelible mark on the history of the town. I have spoken of an invasion - it is the only word with which to describe the incursion of strangers which taxed the hospitality of the people of Clonakilty. A great many visitors came from Cork on Saturday and on that evening there was not a spare bed in town. This morning there seemed to be a grand uprising in the surrounding districts. Long lines of decently dressed country people trooped into the town, car loads of their better circumstanced neighbours passed under triumphal arches, and festoons of evergreens and flags and decorations, in which the joyous feeling of the people found vent, and lastly wagonettes and brakes brought their scores to swell the already overcrowded streets. There, were life, movement and colour, sunshine, flags and decorations in every thoroughfare, all speaking of the unusual occasion of jubilation - the Consecration of the new Church. The work commenced by Fr. O'Donovan and carried on so faithfully by Fr. Madden is now done, and Fr. Madden resting after his labours, can look with pleasure on the result".

The Church of course was crowded. High Mass the crowning act of the dedication ceremony, grouped together all the beautiful accessories with which the Catholic Church surrounds her religious ceremonies. There was an altar dazzling in its whiteness, encased in a magnificent church; within the sanctuary were the Prelates in their purple robes; the celebrating ministers in vestments of cloth of gold, and ranks of white-robed clergy, with here and there a regular with his black or brown habit. A dark mass - the congregation - thronged the body of the Church relieved by a patch of colour in one spot, where a number of young girls in white and blue veils were gathered together. In addition to this there were lights, the perfume of incense, and the music of one of the best choirs in the South of Ireland.....The music was supplied from the new organ gallery by the Choir of St. Mary's, Cork, under leadership of Mr. T.J. O'Sullivan. In continuing the "Freeman's Journal" gives in detail the sermon preached by Archbishop Croke. Suffice it for us here to quote the part of his sermon which refers most intimately to the subject of the present article.

"How does it come to pass that in a poor countryside like this, the work of Charity is carried on without ceasing? Parochial churches, cathedrals, colleges, schools, hospitals, convents and all manner of religious institutions are springing up daily around us as if by magic. Whence come the needful funds for this most striking of modern transformations, this marvellous and multiform ecclesiastical revival? They come from the hearts as well as from the hands of good and grateful people, and amidst this universal activity, 'this wonderful uprising of our fallen shrines and temples,' the ancient and the historic town of Clonakilty has been strikingly conspicuous. It has literally done wonders. I can never think of all that I know to have been achieved here within a comparatively brief period, without being lost in amazement at the magnitude of your undertakings and the signal success with which your efforts have been crowned. When I tell persons in other parts of the island, as I frequently do, that in this remote and not exceptionally favoured parish as regards wealth and population, a spacious convent with ample schools and orphanage attached has been built and paid for within twenty years - that with a space of time not far exceeding half that period, a stately church has moreover risen beside the ruins of the old church over the way - a church large and lofty, exquisitely designed and executed as to every minutest detail in the highest style that modern art is acquainted with, that the church so erected cost close on £30,000 - and that of that prodigious sum, two-thirds or thereabouts has been subscribed by the priests and people of Clonakilty - I am often met with the smile of incredulity, and doubts are expressed as to the correctness of the information I have received. But facts are stubborn things; and it is an undoubted fact that the statement just made by me is exact in every substantial particular. Knowing such to be the case, ought I not be ashamed to ascend this pulpit and ask the noble minded people who have already done so much to do still more today. But first and foremost I am never ashamed to ask an Irish congregation to make any amount of sacrifice, either for the old church or for the old country; and secondly it is not to the parishioners of Clonakilty that I wish to direct this appeal. They have done more than their duty. It is to strangers both lay and clerical who have kindly come here to grace this ceremonial with their presence and to witness the triumph of a good pastor and a faithful flock that I desire to address myself. Brethren from without, a debt of fully six thousand pounds hangs as a dead weight on this glorious temple. Let us strive to lessen it. 'Tis a sad thing to be in debt. Think of the haunted man we used to read of in our younger days, whom an ugly spectre followed and frowned upon day and night, and you can form some idea of how the pastor of this church must feel, while he owes such a heap of money and has no means of paying it? No means did I say of paying it? He has, thank God the means of paying it, and to the very last farthing, for it is the privilege of his office, that he can draw upon a bank in which the bill of a faithful pastor has never yet been dishonoured in Ireland, a bank of unlimited resources, that has flourishing branches in every town and hamlet around him - the bank of popular sympathy and Catholic interest in the house of God. He has you brethren, at his back, he has the Bishop, priests and people of the ancient and heroic diocese of Ross at his back. The country at large is with him. What Clonakilty has done in this matter is to my knowledge known and spoken of with admiration throughout the length and breadth of the island. Let us then in the name of God one and all make a supreme effort here today and do something worthy of a great cause, a good priest and a faithful people. I bless you anyhow beforehand for what I anticipate from you, and I earnestly pray that your charity now and always, may be a source of much happiness and prosperity to you here and of endless glory hereafter."

At the time this great Ceremony took place the Church was not fully completed. At the north-western end of the building the foundation of a tower had been built. The continuation of the work was carried on by succeeding pastors, but the greater part of it was done by the late Mons. O'Leary. He supervised the preparation of the stones for the tower and spire with infinite care, and a man who still lives in the town and who worked with the late Monsignor O'Leary, tells of the pastor's periodical visits to Cork, to supervise the preparation of the stones and to sanction each section of the work. The stones of the spire are dowelled into one another, and actually each section was built and erected at ground level in Cork, before it was removed to Clonakilty, by the then contractors, Sisk & Sons. Thus shortly after 1898, this magnificent soaring Gothic spire became an actual fact, and the glorious building which had been envisaged by its first founder, approximately twenty years before, became a factual reality. The final touches it may be said were put to it by Monsignor O'Leary. Of him Fr. Holland writing in his "History of West Cork and the Diocese of Ross", says the following -

Fr. O'Leary was a man of surpassing ability, of sound judgement, and architectural taste. So long as the spire of the beautiful Church of Clonakilty points upwards to the skies, the name of Monsignor O'Leary will be connected with it".

In 1897, the Monsignor commissioned the bell for the tower, from the "Fountain Head Bell Foundry, Mary St., Dublin", but this bell was not installed until the beginning of the next century. Daniel Coakley from Western road was the first Clonakilty man to ring the bell, and helped in raising it by winch, into the place where it hangs today.

And today as this same bell rings out at morning, noon and evening, calling the faithful to honour once again the Holy Mother of God to whom the Church is dedicated, or calling the faithful, to the sacrifice of Calvary renewed upon our altars, let us not forget in our prayers, the faithful people and the good pastors, who left to us such a glorious memorial, a worthy dwelling where God's own Son remains always in our midst - in Clonakilty.

In later years and after the death of Mon. O'Leary, further work was done by his successor Monsignor Hill, in the interior decoration of the Church. To mention but a few points there are the interior decoration of the Sanctuary, the statues erected within the Church, the installation the some stained glass windows and the installation of an electric organ in more recent years. The Church of Clonakilty is admitted to be one of the most beautiful of its kind in the South of Ireland.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN O'BRIEN

A short run by car takes the Clonakilty visitor to the Mountain Parish of Ardfield, where on a summer's day a glorious panorama of sea and cliff and golden strands presents itself - a region wild too beyond imagination when murky storms blow. Facing the Galley Head on the hillside is an ancient graveyard. If the visitor pause awhile he will find there a handsome stone erected to the memory of the parents of one of the most indomitable, fiery and colourful Irishmen of his day - Rocky Mountain O'Brien. It is in Irish with an English translation. It was erected to the order of the absent son by his friend, Charlie Doran, the Cobh patriot. In that winter of 1868 the baseness and perfidy of Irish Landlordism was then in the zenith of its evil work - everywhere demolished homes, old people thrown helplessly on the roadside, their few goods seized, their cattle impounded. Young Pat O'Brien, a stalwart lad of 17, with tears in his eyes and hatred in his heart, witnessed the lamentable plight of his neighbours. A cow, the only prop of an old man with seven to support, was seized. The lad headed a band of the "boys", rescued the cow and soundly belaboured the officers of the Crown. So was born the famous patriot. His freedom forfeited, he took refuge aboard a merchant vessel at Bantry, landing in Rio de Janeiro. After six months he went to New York and later to Oregon. A few years there, he travelled extensively through California and in the Republics of Mexico and Central America. He was known as a big game hunter in the Rockies. It was when he settled in the mining camps of the West that he lost the name of "Patrick" and acquired "Rocky Mountain", the name by which he was ever after known. It was while in the West that word came of the intended uprising against England and the plan to strike the blow by entering Canada. He came East, offered his services, was sent to Malone, N.Y., and there met Mosby, nephew and co-partner of the famous Confederate raider. The subsequent happenings are now part of history. O'Brien with Captain Den Short, advanced on Pigeon Hill and captured that town for the Fenians single-handed. In the years Rocky Mountain had become a man of powerful physique of distinguished and handsome presence. He toured many countries lecturing and delivering public addresses. His fiery oratory drew crowds. His burning enthusiasm, his advocacy of physical force, his scathing attacks on Irishmen at home and abroad, his love of country, and hatred of her oppressor, convinced everybody of his absolute sincerity. "Talk, talk, talk," he would shout, "when action alone is needed. Irish freedom must be won at home by fire and sword not in the talking shop of Westminster". In 1901, Rocky Mountain visited West Cork. He had previously crossed the ocean several times. This time he was feted and banqueted in the different towns. The writer remembers him speaking from the Town Hall, calling for cheers for John McBride and the Irish Brigade then fighting in South Africa with the Boers. During the visit Scotland Yard men followed him everywhere.

"In the Town Hall that evening,
Bob Saunders took the chair,
And told the people one and all
That now they must prepare
To deal John Bull a deadly blow
Just like the valiant Boer,
And drive the Peelers far away,
From poor old Erin's shore.

I spoke to them that evening and told them what to do:
To place no trust in Parliament or any hireling crew,
I told them they should win their rights
And that with shining steel,
Like the immortal Washington,
And brave Owen Roe O'Neill".

Rocky Mountain was dealt a sad blow by the death of his wife on January 8th 1899. She was aged 38, the daughter of John O'Sullivan, who was born in Rosscarbery. O'Donovan Rossa was one of the pall-bearers at her funeral. At Mrs. Rossa's death on August 18th, 1916, the pall-bearers included: John Devoy, Seamus McManus and Rocky Mountain O'Brien.

THE LITTLE TOWN BESIDE THE SEA

(Written in exile (by Eugene Davis) about his native town, Clonakilty, in September 1873)

'Tis the twilight hour, and I long to dream
On the days long past, and the scenes of yore;
For memory's beacons on me beam,
Lighting my path to the past's dim shore.
O, past unfold thy ponderous theme;
In thy pages let me once more see
The friends of yore in my Irish home;
In that little town beside the sea.

The brook that played through the good old town,
I see on those pages well profiled,
The long sea-coast, where the steep cliffs frown
On the childish play of the beakers mild.
The skiffs that skip on the chafing foam;
The well-built quays - all seem to me
Stereotyped scenes of my Irish home
In that little town beside the sea.

But, oh, far dearer than these scenes, throng
Thro' my fevered mind and my throbbing brain,
As I weave tonight this simple song,
'Tis a hope that once again,
Ere I sit me down no more to roam,
To feast mine eyes on the dear to me -
My olden friends in my Irish home
In that little town beside the sea.

EVICTION AT CASTLEVIEW

Landlords, Crowbar Brigades and evictions are to the present generation nothing more than a phase in Irish history. To our forefathers they were a very live issue. A landlord class, descendants of, and successors to, the Elizabethan and Cromwellian planters exacted from the Irish farmers the last possible penny in rent. Failure to pay on the appointed day meant starvation on the roadside or the emigrants ship to America. The sean-fhocal "cíos don tiarna nó bia don leanbh" (rent for the landlord or food for the child) demonstrates clearly what, in the opinion of the Irish mother, were the most pressing needs.

Landlordism reached the peak of its infamy around 1880. Donegal had its Lord Leitrim; Tipperary its Woodcock Carden, while the tenant-farmers of Clonakilty district had to deal with Bence Jones of Lisselane: Francis Bennet, Magistrate and Miss Hungerford of the Island. Rents were high; prices were low. Evictions were the order of the day. One stout defence of a homestead against the bailiffs and peelers inspired those who may have been faint-hearted and nowhere was a greater stand made than by Tim Hurley of Castleview - the homestead now occupied by the O'Learys. Then, as in all periods of danger, the priests strove for the people. Rev. Fr. Lucey, P.P. and Fr. O'Leary, played an active part in the Land War, acting as mediators on all possible occasions and when mediation failed, supporting the farmers in their fight against tyranny.

Briefly, the story of the siege of Tim Hurley;s Mill at Castleview is as follows:

Hurley, whose valuation was £42 had to pay a yearly rent of £110. He offered the landlord £40 - all he could spare for the half year - and Fr. Lucey asked him (Bennett) to accept double the valuation as a fair rent. To all entreaties the reply was: "Devil a penny"

The evicting force came in the early forenoon to find the house locked and barricaded against them, while the yards and adjoining fields were crowded with sympathetic neighbours and townspeople who had been summoned by the ringing of Church bells and blowing of horns.

To a demand of possession, Tim Hurley replied that if they wanted possession they'd have to fight for it. When the bailiffs rushed with a battering ram against the shuttered parlour window they were met with showers of scalding water from the upstairs windows. The eviction failed

That night Head Constable Brooks and members of the R.I.C., returned to Castleview, where they found Tim Hurley, with a carpenter and seven men cutting and removing trees from Tim's farm. All were arrested and charged with larceny of timber. They were released on bail with the exception of Tim Hurley who was lodged in Cork Jail, charged with possession of gelignite.

The gallant defence of Castleview created nation-wide interest. "United Ireland", a newspaper of the period, sent a special reporter to Clonakilty, and devoted almost a whole page to the event.

Reporter: "How did the police act (at the eviction)?"
Mrs. Hurley: "Well, Mr. Carr got his men ready to fire when the bailiffs could not succeed in getting up to the men above on account of all the mortar and stuff that was thrown down on them, but my husband said he was ready to die for his house and to fire away."

The following extract from "United Ireland", gives an idea of conditions prevailing in the Clonakilty district in 1886.

"Every man of intelligence I have seen has told me that if the rent could be worked out of Castleview by constant industry and economical tact. Tim Hurley and his wife were the people to do it. The other mills of the district had long since gone to ruins, yet by hard work and pluck Tim Hurley managed to aide the plough by the mill-wheel, and but a short time ago put in a fine set of carding-machines, the price of which he was striving to pay off when his landlord attacked him. In full knowledge of all this, Bennetts's answer to all appeals was "Devil a penny, Devil a penny". He elucidated his meaning a little more on one occasion, however, when he declared to the Catholic Curate then stationed here, that if there were seven years of famine and the people were dying by the ditches, he would not grant one penny reduction.

"Bennett stands by no means alone in inflexibility and deafness to the demands of reason and justice. A lady named Hungerford, also holds the sceptre with rigid grasp and sways in manly style over a dominion called the Island. There were at one time 16 families living among the 500 acres that comprise the area of this isle, but needless to say, they are vanished from the homes that sheltered them. A few tenants remain, much against the grain of Miss Hungerford. One of these, Pat McCarthy, holds 31 acres for which he pays £54 5s., his valuation being £25 16s. It was well-known how this poor fellow was oppressed and several appeals were made to his task-mistress, but without avail. To one, from Fr. Lucey, she replied that she had as much right to her rent as Pat McCarthy had to his coat - a right which she asserted by processing him on the 29th March for the rent due on the 25th, and pursuing the matter further by seizing his stock and driving them to the pound. McCarthy got Fr. Lucey to go to the bank with him to raise the money to meet Miss Hungerford's demand. The priest went to the pound and released the cattle, the boys decorated them with rosettes and green ribbons, the populace turned out and escorted them to the Island."

In the 1880's the principal cash crop in the district was barley which was purchased in its entirety by Deasy's Brewery. 1886 was wet, yield was low and quality very poor - so poor that the brewery couldn't use it for brewing. Farmers had to cart their produce to Bandon and there sell it for distilling at a sacrifice price.

Comparative figures were:-
1885: Barley, 12 barrels per acre @ 11/6..... ..... ..... .....£6 18s 0d.
1886: Barley, 8 barrels per acre @ 8/-..... ..... ..... .....£3 4s 0d.

"By the brewery books I saw where thousands of barrels had been purchased last year, up to this date (30/10/1886), eighty barrels have not yet been entered for 1886. Oats, which last year brought 5/- per cwt., fetches 3/3d. at present besides falling away in quality. Yet these facts are lost upon the local landlords. In one instance Fr. Lucey P.P., went bail that he himself would pay a certain tenant's rent if the latter failed to do so, as soon as he would sell his crop, and was smartly told by Miss Hungerford that she needed no interference from the clergy."

C.O'RUAIRC

Used with the kind permission of Mrs. Ann Dorgan.