1893, Vol II (2)

Kilnasoola, or Killnasoolagh Church
On a tablet on the north wall is:—

“HERE LIES THE BODYS OF HENRY COLPOYS *| WHO DYED THE 29 DY OF APRILL & CATHE - | - RINE HIS WIFE DYED THE 23 OF | NOVEMBER 1690. HERE LIES | LIKEWISE THE BODY OF CATHERINE | COLPOYS THEIR DAUGHTER WHO DYED | THE 17 DAY OF JANUARY 1684.”

* Of Rapollane, near Dromoland.

Sir Donat O’Brien’s Monument
Overhead is his figure, in the full dress of the age; a child standing near points upwards:—

“Siste gradum ac intuere. Sub hoc marmore conditur quod mortale fuit DONATI O’BRIEN BARONETTI, qui patrum stemmate nobilium erat, virtute propria longe nobilior. Homo, vere ad humanitatem factus, totus ad amicitiam gratam natus, statura corporis procerus fuit ac decorus. In aspectu dignitas in sermone majestas, in incessu gravitas in moribus simplicitas, prudentiam, æquinimitatem, authoritatem indicabant. Si patrem inspicias, nemo indulgentior. Si Avum, nemo benevolentior, Si Amicum, nemo candidior; Non sibi suisque solum vixit sed aliis sed Patriæ. Pauperes sublevadit citra spem gloriæ. Sine partium studio æri publico invigilavit. Omnibus favorem, consilium, mensam impertivit nulli [ubi opus erat] reprehensionem denegavit. Comitatus Clare patronum ubiq. ostendat, in consensu pacis per 30 annos. primus tenebat. Animo semper fortis, justitiâ integerrimus Viæ publicæ ac pontes commercii favorem prædicant. Ecclesiæ paroachialis ornamenta vere fllium loquuntur. Pastores orthodoxi ab impiis perduellibus agitati, beneficio ejecti, et per vim sceleratam grege orbati, in ædibus suis [quoties pro iniquitate temporum fas erat] sibi vicinisque non sine periculo dato patrocinium charitatem in fratres, pro religione zelum demonstrat. His meritis, sua præmia accumulavit fortuna opibus et honoribus tam eximia virtutes ornabantur. Privatis regni consiliis sub Anna Regina interfuit Patrimonium, prope et insigniter auctum liberis legavit, sui desiderium bonis omnibus reliquit. Obiit 18 die Novembris 1717, Anno ætatis suæ 76. Hoc monumentum, in perpetuam vere et sinceræ ?ietatis memoriam posuit Henricus filius natu secundus solusque superstes sumptibus suis.”

[Kidwell, fecit.]

1894, Vol. II (3)

Kilnasoolagh Church.—Modern Tombs.
Received from Thomas J. Westropp Esq.
(Omitted by me in former paper.)

North wall (given in abstract):—

1. “HUGH PALLISER HICKMAN, D.L., of Fenloe, died 6^th Oct., aged 78, and his 3^rd daughter CAROLINE, died 27 Jan., 1882, aged 27.”

2. “Lieut.-Genl. SIR AUGUSTIN FITZGERALD, 4th Bart., died 3^rd Dec., 1834, aged 67.”

3. “His only daughter ADA, drowned at Miltown Malbay, 19^th March, 1878, aged 20. Put up by tenantry.

4. Arms—A saltire.
“His brother, COL. CHARLES FITZGERALD, C.B., 6^th Bengal Cavalry, died in London 18^th Ap., 1859, aged 72, distinguished himself at Seetabulde, 27 Nov., 1817.”

5. “BESSIE, wife of COL., C.V. CREAGH, died 23^rd May, 1854.”

6. “CHARLES FITZGERALD STUDDERT, of Newmarket House, 4^th son of late THOS. STUDDERT, of Bunratty Castle, died 27^th Nov., 1851, aged 65.”

[In graveyard.]
7. “FITZGERALD BLOOD, of Ballykilty, died 25^th May, 1864, aged 46, and his son FRANCIS, died 13^th May, 1865 aged 11.”

1895, Vol. III (1)
From T.J. Westropp, Esq.

Kilnasulagh.
Church Plate.
The stoup and paten have identical inscriptions in capitals as follows:—

“Ex dono DONATI O’BRIEN, Baronetti in vsvm ecclesiæ (sic) Killanasvlalach in Comitatv Clare.”

There is not any date on them; the hall-marks are much worn, but seem to be A G, a harp and crown, and a third mark unintelligible. The donor is said to have been the first baronet, 1660-1719.
See Dwyer’s “Killaloe,” page 487.—[ED.]

1896, Vol. III (2).

Kilnasoola Church.
Parish Registers begin in 1731.
Incumbents.

Rev. STANDISH GRADY, 1805.
Rev. ROBERT GABBETT, 1810.
Rev. THOMAS M‘CULLOCH, 1823.
Church built in 1816; cost £900.
Glebe built in 1815, cost £660.

1897, Vol. III (3)
[From T.J. Westropp, Esq.]

Kilnasoolagh Church
BLOOD—1799. JAMES, of Castlefergus. Arms—A fess gules between six martlets. Crest—A triton (Neptune) with trident and crown.
JOHN BLOOD, of Castlefergus, descended from EDMOND BLOOD, of Macknay, Derbyshire, who settled in Ireland late in the reign of Elizabeth. His son Neptune was born at sea, and took as his crest the god Neptune, so singularly and grotesquely misrepresented on this tomb.

Killnasoola Graveyard.
Arms—Arg. a fess gules between 6 martlets. Crest—A Neptune crowned and with trident.

“Here rests in hope of a blessed resurrection JOHN BLOOD Esqre, of Castlefergus who departed this life Jan. 16^th 1799 aged 78 yrs. This tomb is inscribed by his daughter Mrs. ALICE YOUNG as a testimony of gratitude and affection to his memory.”

1906, Vol. VI (3)

Kilnasoolagh Churchyard.
From T. J. Westropp. M.A.

Kilnasoolagh Church, near Newmarket-on-Fergus, is first named as Killomsolech in 1302, Cilonasuibhleach in 1312, and Cil Subhalaigh in 1317, in the Papal Taxation and Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh. Little trace of the older church remains, save numerous fragments of an ornate window of the fifteenth century. The inscriptions of some of the old monuments are noted in this Journal (Vol. II, 1894, p. 51; Vol. III, 1897, p. 399 [both above]); and “The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries” (Vol. XXI, 1890, p. 76), to which we refer for the long epitaph of Sir Donat O’Brien, a photograph of whose elaborate but tasteless monument we here give.

Sir Donat O’Brien was son of Col. Conor O’Brien, of Leamaneagh, Co. Clare, and the notorious Mary Mac Mahon his wife (“Maureen Rhue”), who played a marked part in the rising of 1641. Conor fell in a skirmish with General Ludlow, and was brought nearly dead to Leamaneagh, 1652. Mary, as soon as he was dead, drove to Limerick, and made terms with the Parliamentary Generals, thus saving the property for her son. She is said to have married Cornet Cooper, a parliamentary officer, on the evening of the day of her husband’s (Conor) death. After the Restoration Donat took a prominent place in Co. Clare, and represented it in Parliament, 1695 to 1713. He was created a baronet in 1686. The gateway at Leamaneagh Castle bears the tablet of his father and mother, and his own coat-of-arms with the red hand. He died November 18th, 1717, aged 76, which shows that he was born in 1611. His will (Dublin Registry of Deeds, Book xix, p. 360) desires that “My body be decently buried in my parish church of Kileenesula, in said county, in such a manner as to my son Henry O’Brien shall seem decent and agreeable.”

John Llyod, in his “Impartial Tour in Clare, 1780,” with his usual easy inaccuracy, notes the monument and the then utterly plain old church very grandiloquently:—

“Near unto Newmarket is the magnificent church of Killenasula, where numbers from the distant quarters of this and the adjacent counties every summer go to see the sumptuous and stately monument erected at the expense of the late Sir Edward O’Brien, of patriotic memory, in honour of his grandsire, Sir Donogh O’Brien, Baronet. This superb and exquisite piece was executed by the great artisan M’Gregory.”

In fact, the monument was put up by Henry, second son of Sir Donat, and not by his grandson, and was made by Kidwell.
Sir Donat was ancestor of the subsequent baronets down to Sir Lucius O’Brien, who proved his claim to the Barony of Inchiquin in 1855 (on the death of James, 3rd Marquess of Thomond, and 7^th Earl of Inchiquin), succeeding as the 14^th Baron.
The church has recently been greatly improved by various tasteful memorial windows. The elaborate chancel-screen and new east window, and the furnishing of the chancel, have been given by the present Lord and Lady Inchiquin.
A figure of an angel pointing upwards stood near the feet of the statue of Sir Donat; but it fell, and was broken, and has not yet been replaced.

1910, Vol. VIII (1)

Kilnasoolagh Church.
From Mr. T. J. Westropp.

The monument of Sir Donat O’Brien has been recently illustrated, and the epitaph has been published inaccurately in the Journal, vol. ii. (1893), p. 281, vol. vi. (1906), p. 435 [both above], and R.S.A.I. Journal, vol. xxi. (1890), p. 76. We recopy it. The church is the Kellomsoleach of the Taxation of 1302. Only a few fragments of a well-executed fifteenth-century window, with large tracery, and the head of an ogee light, the latter now set in a cottage at the shore of Lough Gash, to the north-east of the church, remain of the older building.

John Lloyd in his “Impartial Tour in Clare” 1778, thus notes the place, but very inaccurately and bombastically:—“Near unto Newmarket is the magnificent Church of Killenasula, where numbers from the distant quarters of this and the adjacent counties restort every summer to see the sumptious [sic] and stately monument erected there at the expense of the late Sir Edward O’Brien, Baronet (of patriotic memory), in honour of his grandsire, Sir Donough O’Brien, Bart. This superb and exquisite piece was executed by the great artizan, M‘Gregory.”

It will be noted that it was not made for Sir Edward O’Brien; that it bears the words “Kidwell fecit,” and whether there be any truth in the local idea that the monument was by Roubilliac, we have no means of testing. It is a stilted and most ungraceful, and even ludicrous design. Probably a too realistic portrait, the realism carried out even to the rich lace cravat and shoes:—

Siste gradum ac intuere | sub hoc marmore conditur quod mortale fuit | Donati O Brien Baronetti | Qui patrum stemmate nobilis erat | Virtute propria longe nobilior | Homovere ad humanitatem factus | Totus ad fidem, amicitiam gratiam, natus. | Statura corporis procerus fuit et decorus | In aspectu dignitas, in sermone majestas, | in incessu gravitas, | in moribus simplicitas, | prudentiam, æquin imitatem, authoritatem indicabant. | Si patrem aspicias, nemo indulgentior | Si avem, nemo benevolentior | Si maritum, nemo amantior, | Si amicum, nemo candidior. | Non Sibi suisq. solum vixit sed aliis, sed patria. | Pauperes sublevavit citra spem gloriæ. | Sine partium studio æri publico invigilavit. | Omnibus favorem concilium mensem imperlivit. | Nulli (ubi opus erat) reprehensionem denegavit. | Comitatus de Clare patronum ubiq. ostentat. | In consessu pacis per 30 annos primas tenebat. | Animo, semper fortis; justicia, integerrimus, | viæ publicæ & pontes commercii fautorem prædicant. | Ecclesiæ parochialis ornamenta vere filium loquuntur, | pastores ortodoxi ab impiis perduellibus agitati | beneficiis ejecti & per vim sceleratam, grege orbati, | in ædibus suis (quoties pro iniquitate temporum fas erat) | sibi vicinisque, non sine periculo datum, patrocinium, | charitatem, infratrem, pro religione zelum demonstrat. | His meritis sua præmia accumulavit fortuna opibus et honoribus tam eximiæ virtutes ornabantur. | Privatis regnæ consiliis sub Anna Regina interfuit. | Patrimonium prope et insigniter auctum liberis legavit. | Suæ desiderium bonis omnibus reliquit | _______ | obiit 18^o die Novembris 1717 Anno ætatis suæ 76^o | _______ Hoc Monumentum in perpetuam vere & | sinceræ pietatis memoriam posuit Henricus | Filius natu secundus solusq. Superstes | sumptibus suis. Kidwell fecit.

Near this spot are deposited the remains of M^rs Anne Banks of Limerick widow who bequeathed property exceeding £3000 in trust for such charitable uses as to her executors should seem fit in the wide distribution of her bounty the poor of this parish (in which she long resided and the infirmary of Ennis and the principal public institutions of the city of Limerick were permanently endowed). As a tribute to her memory and to record such munificence this slab has been erected by her surviving executors the Rev W^m Lewis & Daniel Gabbett Esq under whose care the above sum nearly trebled its amount 1828.

This tablet was erected by Dame Clara Emma FitzGerald in memory of her loved & loving husband L^t Col. Sir Augustine FitzGerald 4^th Baronet of Carrigoran in this county & Trevayler Cornwall, born 12 March 1809 died 31^st Jan 1893.

Sir Augustine FitzGerald entered the army in 1823, and joined the Bengal Horse Artillery in 1825. He served with distinction under General Pollock in the Afghan Campaign in 1842, taking part in the forcing of the Khyber Pass, and in the actions of Tizoon, Hoti Kotal, and the recapture of Kabul. He served on the staff of the Horse Artillery at the battle of Maharajpoor, and commanded the Artillery in the Black Mountain affair in the Mazara Country in 1852-3. For his excellent services on these occasions he was three times mentioned in despatches, and received five medals and the Indian Clasp, having command of the 5^th troop of the 1^st brigade. He retired as Lieut.-Col. In 1853.

Here lies the Body of | Thomas Briggs architec^t | who deceased on the | sixt day of June 1782 | Aged 102 years.

West from church:—

Here Rests in hope of A Blessed | Resurrection John Blood Esq^r of | Castlefergus who departed this | Life Jan^y 16^th 1799. Aged 78 years | This Tomb is Inscribed by his | Daughter M^rs Alice Young As | Testimony of gratitude And | A Ffection [sic] to his memory.

This tomb has Arms: “Argent, a fess gules, between six martlets.” Crest, a triton with fish’s tail, and trident, supposed to be Neptune.* The arms are supported by equally grotesque misrepresentations of Mercury and Minerva, with some preposterous cherubs.

* The family legend is that one of their ancestors was born at sea, and so was named Neptune, whence the family name and crest.

North from church:—

Anthony Colpoys Esq^re | of Ballycar | in this county | Born December 1774 | Died January 1848 | For other foundation can no man lay | than that is laid who is Jesus Christ | 1 Cor. iii. 2.