Introduction

The timing of this project, recording the
grave inscriptions in Kilraghtis Graveyard, was very opportune as a number
of burials in the interior of the church go back to the 18th century and
are now becoming very difficult to read. We transcribed and recorded all
the burials and noted the location of unmarked stones of an indeterminate
age. Graveyards often contain unmarked memorials that indicate the location
of burials by those who could not afford the costs of an inscribed memorial
and should not be removed from the surface of the graveyard. We came across
an interesting collection of tombs and headstones dedicated to a wide
range of people including clergy and representing family names still numerous
in the parish today.
To add flesh to the bones of the inscriptions,
we have provided some background information on the big houses and reports
and obituaries from journals of the period associated with some of the
families buried in Kilraghtis. We hope that our recordings will be interest
and assistance to the local community and to genealogists. We have endeavoured
to be as accurate as possible and it should be noted that we did not make
assumptions when transcribing incomplete or much worn inscriptions and
noted only what was readable; in some instances we came across fragments
of the inscription e.g. Rou, Ro, etc.

The Parish of Kilraghtis
O’Donovan & Curry’s Ordnance
Survey letters (1839) state that Kilraghtis or Kilraughtish parish
is located in the north east portion of the County of Clare, in the Barony
of Bunratty Upper, bounded on the north by the Parish of Inchicronan,
south by the Parish of Doora, east by Inchicronan and Doora, east by Inchicronan
and Clooney and west by Templemaley. The parish name translates as Cill
Reachtais, the Church of Reachtas. A more recent translation of the name
Kilraghtis provides the interesting interpretation ‘Church of the
legislation’ (Flanagan 1994). O’Donovan and Curry deliberate
whether Reachtas is the name of a saint or the place. The Letters say
that St. Finghein of Quin was worshipped in Kilraghtis but all memory
of the Patron Day is lost, that is if there was one to begin with. A 1601
reference to the place in the Annals of the Four Masters is also noted
in the Letters.
The sons of John Bourke and Teige O’Brien…sent
forth marauding parties on both parts of the River Fergus into the lower
part of the Territory of O’Fearmaic and the upper part of Clann
Cuilein. Some of these advanced to Baile-Ui-Aille and to Clonroade and
they returned that night with spoils to Cill Reachtais…
O’Donovan and Curry also note that
Kilraghtis was the birth place of Teige and Maoilin Mac Brody. The name
Brody and the alternative spelling Brodie are recorded in the transcriptions
and members of this family continue to live in the parish today.

Burial No. 2 Hogan Tomb
The focus of the old parish centred on the
now defunct and roofless, but relatively well preserved, Kilraghtis church.
O’Donovan and Curry note in 1839 that the walls of the church ‘remain
perfect’. “It measures sixty three feet four inches in length
and seventeen feet nine inches in breath. There is a semicircular doorway
in the south side and a semicircular window with the little arch rudely
scooped out of a rough flag stone, the whole built up of common field
stone. The east window is circular at top divided into two arrow-head
divisions in front by a mullion”.
In ‘The
History and Topography of County Clare’ (1893), Frost refers
the ‘raths and forts of the parish are unworthy of description’.
Frost also mentions Maoilin Mac Brody, who he says resided in Ballyogan
and makes reference to Donogh Neylon, who was ‘parish priest of
Kilraghtis for many years’ in the post medieval period. Frost (1906)
translates Ballymaconna as Baile Mac Conad, ‘O’Conna’s
Home’.
Westropp
dates Kilraghtis church to the later 15th century. He refers to its well
built and perfect state, noting in particular the double-lighted trefoil-headed
east window and slightly pointed south door. In a paper, dating to 1902,
Westropp refers to the Kilraghtis area as ‘diversified and interesting,
formed by a group of low rounded hills with a curious fortress-like outcrop
of stratified rock at Dromgloon.’ He mentions that the church was
called Kilrathusa in the Papal taxation of 1302. Westropp provides a detailed
description of the possible wedge tomb in Ballymaconna and notes that
the ‘Dermot and Grania’s Bed’ designation had no resonance
locally, the monument being referred to simply as the ‘Lobba’.
Mention is also made of Maoilin MacBrody, who dwelled in Ballyogan between
1640 and 1668, father to the ‘well known monastic historian, Anthony
Bruodinus’. In a later paper, dating to 1917, Westropp again refers
to the church and the wedge tombs in Ballymaconna and Ballyogan and remarks
that the ‘…forts are featureless and of little interest’.
Houses associated with the burials
in Kilraghtis
Cappagh House
Weir (1999) states that Cappagh House house was a plain, gable-ended two
story Georgian structure facing south, with a yard and utility buildings
to the rear. The one-storey, three bay, brick-built gate lodge was erected
across the road from the gates, which had tall cut stone gate piers incorporating
scrolls. The house is now demolished.
History
The families associated with the house are listed as Kirwin, Curtin, Gregg
and Hickey. Richard Gregg lived at Cappa (sic) in 1814. By 1855 John Curtin
was in possession of this house and its one hundred and thirty five acre
estate, according to Griffith's Valuation, but the Greggs are recorded
as having been of “Cappagh” in the nineteenth century, and
as having intermarried with the Vesey Fitzgeralds of Ashgrove and other
leading families (Weir, 1999). Thomas Cullinan, Esq., resided at Cappa
House in the 1870s; he is acknowledged in the Clare Journal (1871) with
a list of donors who contributed £1 towards the building of the
new Catholic Church in Barefield. (Kearns, 2009)


The Gregg Family (Ref.
Richard Gregg Esq & Barbara Fitzgerald)
Richard Gregg resided at Cappa in the 1700s and was married to Elizabeth
Robinett, they had four children. Their son Richard born 1747 married
Barbara Fitzgerald born about 1760, daughter of William Vesey Fitzgerald
Esq of Ashgrove House in 1780. They had ten children the most famous being
Bishop John Gregg (1798–1878). There were two John Gregg’s,
one having died shortly before Bishop John Gregg was born (1790–1798).
While he died at Cappa there is no mention of his burial in Kilraghtis.
Richard Gregg died the 24th February 1808 in Dublin and his burial place
is not given. A notice in the Ennis Chronicle of Feb 27 1808 reads as
follows: Death, Richard Gregg of Cappa a serious misfortune to the indigent
of his neighbourhood, who daily participated in his bounty. His wife Barbara
died 1 September 1836 and is buried in Kilraghtis graveyard. The gravestone
has no dates and includes her two sons Richard and William Gregg. Richard
(1781–1842) married Margaret Cusack in Cappa, Ennis, 1820, she died
12 September 1877 in Adelaide, South Australia and is buried in West Terrace
Cemetery, Adelaide. William Gregg (1785–1860) married Eleanor Blood.
One other member of this family is recorded as being buried in Kilraghtis,
Frances Gregg born Cappa Ennis 1796, died 27th Mar 1816 Ennis, Clare.
(No record of this burial in Kilraghtis).
“From the Memorials of the life of Bishop John Gregg, D.D”
(Gregg, 2008) we get information on the Gregg family at Cappa. It was
a small property and when Richard Gregg died of fever in Dublin in 1808
without making a will the family property then passed to the eldest son,
Richard in whose hands it did not prosper. It appears that Richard Gregg
had not intended that the property descend to Richard Jnr. as the mode
of living was displeasing to him. John Gregg (who later became bishop),
continued to live with his mother, to whom he was deeply attached. He
attended the private school in Ennis kept by a Mr. O'Halloran and later
attended Trinity College. Barbara Gregg was at this time a member of the
Roman Catholic Church, although before her death the life and teaching
of her son led her to “embrace a purer faith” and become a
Protestant. The Gregg family had a large number of Church of Ireland clergy
within its ranks; the grandson of Bishop John Gregg was John Allen Fitzgerald
Gregg CH DD (1873–1961) who was Archbishop of Armagh from 1939 –
1959. In St. Coloumba's Church of Ireland one of the stained glass windows
is dedicated to John Gregg D.D., Bishop of Cork and this was presented
by his son Robert S. Gregg, Archbishop of Armagh.
Ashgrove House

Ashgrove House (courtesy of the Marlborough family)
Ashgrove House in the townland of Ballyogan
was associated with the Fitzgerald, Comyn and McMahon families and in
1855 Ashgrove and its sixty-nine acre farm were in the hands of Francis
Marlborough. The Marlborough family continue this association today (Weir,
1999). (Barbara Fitzgerald who married Richard Gregg aforementioned was
born here).
Features
The house is an eighteenth-century, one-story, seven bay house (originally
one-and-a-half storeys) facing east over a garden towards a small lake.
A long avenue approaches from the south. The original yard buildings to
the north east are now completely modernised. A cairn stands to the south
of the property (Weir, 1999).
Durra House and Durra Cottage
Durra House in the townland of Kilvoydan North was associated with Butler,
Roche, MacNamara, O'Brien, O'Donoghue, and Flanagan. Today it is the residence
of the Glynn family (Weir, 1999).
All that remained of Durra House was the walls before the Glynn family
carried out restoration. Durra Cottage the main house on the property,
before Durra House was built still stands to the north-west of the big
house (Weir, 1999). It is now the residence of Christy McNamara who has
restored it.
Features
Weir, 1999 gives the following description: Durra House was a large, late
nineteenth-century, two-storey, three bay, brick and stone built, hip-roofed
house, facing north-east, with a late nineteenth-century porch protecting
the central fan and side lit front door. There is a two-story, three bay
wing to the south-east, with a three-story tower linking it with the main
house. At the rear of the house are two large, square, stone-faced tripartite
windows overlooking a terrace. A large walled garden and pleasure ground
adjoins the house to the rear, and there is a courtyard adjoining the
wings to the east. The house is approached by a long winding drive through
parkland from the west.
History
Durra was in the hands of the Roche family, members of which are buried
in Ennis Abbey in late seventeenth century, and early eighteenth century.
They were a transplanted Roman Catholic family from Castletownroche, County
Cork. In 1775, the McNamara’s were in residence, by 1855, Frances
O'Brien lived in the old house, from which he farmed the two hundred and
seventeen acre farm. In 1887, the property was in the hands of Pierce
O'Brien, Justice of the Peace for Clare (Weir, 1999).
Pierce was born about 1829 and he died about February 1902 (Waldron, 2012).
Pierce married Eliza Borough daughter of William Borough and Katherine
Comyn on the 12 March 1855 in Tulloh, Clare (Waldron, 2012). His first
wife Eliza died before 1878 and he married Sophia Hickman of Fenloe, Co
Clare on the 14 November 1878 in the Parish of St. Stephen, Dublin (CO).Witness
for Pierce was R. Whitty and for Sophia, Luke Brady (Waldron, 2012). His
daughter, Catherine Amelia O'Brien (born 1881) an accomplished mosaic
artist, was a co-founder of An Tur Gloine (the Tower of Glass) with Ethel
Rynd, Edward Martyn, Sara Purser and others (O'Connell, 1981). Examples
of her work are to be seen at St. Columba's Church of Ireland, Ennis,
Loughrea Cathedral and other churches in Dublin and Cavan (O’Connell,
1981). In the sanctuary of St. Columba's the arcaded reredos has twenty
four biblical figures in ceramic tiling with mosaic finishing completed
in the 1930s by Catherine Amelia O'Brien (O’Connell, 1981). A memorial
to her parents Pierce O’Brien and his wife Sophia Angel is incorporated
in this reredos which depicts St. Patrick and St. Brigid and reads: “Pierce
O'Brien and Sophia Angel his wife”; Two small windows in the north
porch representing Mary and Martha are dedicated to her three sisters
with the following inscription: “to the Glory of God and in loving
memory of my three dear sisters Henrietta, Norah and Betrice sometime
of Durra House. They were baptised, confirmed and received their first
Holy Communion in this church” (O’Connell, 1981).
Cahereiny House
Cahereiny House in the townland of Ballyogan was associated with the Blake,
Brody, Butler, Coffey, Garvey and Hogan families (Weir, 1999). To-day
it is occupied by the Galvin family.
It was originally a one-and-a-half story, bay house with dormer windows,
facing south, but with no doors on the south side. A yard and utility
buildings adjoin the north, there is a garden to the front, and an orchard
beside the house to the south east. The outhouses were originally roofed
with Liscannor flags. A twentieth-century, one-storey, one bay kitchen
was added to the south and there was a walled garden to the north (Weir,
1999).
History
In 1814, this was the probable residence of Mr. Cons. Brody. In 1855,
Henry Butler leased the house and its one hundred and six acre farm to
John Hogan. It was valued a fifty pounds for rateable purposes (Weir,
1999).

Newspapers/Journals
Current and historical local newspapers
and journals are invaluable sources of information regarding the lives
of prominent members of society and often contain references to the causes
of death, funerals and burial places of individuals. The following notices
regarding those buried in Kilraghtis were found.

John Curtin (Burial No. 21) (John Curtin was linked to
Cappagh House in 1855).
The Clare Journal, Monday, August 8 1859.
On Saturday morning at his house in Jail Street, deeply regretted by all
who know him, John Curtin, Esq., aged 65 years. Mr Curtin was well known
for a number of years as an extensive trader in Kilrush and was highly
respected for the integrity and uprightness which always characterised
his dealings.
He had obviously left Cappagh House and his epitaph late of Cappagh confirms
this. His extensive trade in Kilrush is listed in Slater’s Directory
of 1846 for Kilrush: Grocers and Spirit Dealers, John Curtin, 78 Moore
Street. In 1856 John Curtin was an agent for British Commercial Fire Assurance
in Jail Street. (Spellissy, 1996)
Rev. John Coffee (Burial No. 45)
The Clare journal and Ennis Advertiser Oct 10 1836.
Yesterday morning at the house of the Rev. Dean O'Shaughnessy, in Jail-street,
of fever, the Rev. J. Coffee. It is only a few days since we noticed the
appointment of this gentleman to the Curacy of New-market. His piety and
mildness of his disposition gained him the esteem of those who knew him,
by whom he is greatly regretted, and to his sorrowing parents and relations
his premature death is a source of great affliction.
Ennis Chronicle 1810
Frances McMahon, Esq. On Thursday last, in Mill Street,
in the meridian of life, Francis McMahon, Esq. His remains were taken
this day for interment in his burial place in Kilraghtis, attended by
the Ennis Corps of Cavalry and Infantry (of the former of which he was
a sergeant) and, being a mason, by his brethren of Lodges No. 51 and 60,
of this town, and that of Leitrim Militia in their proper costume the
whole of which formed a procession solemn and impressive. He had been
frequently appointed Vice-Provost of this borough, the duties of which
office he discharged with general satisfaction; he possessed a good-natured
sincere disposition, and was much esteemed by all who knew him.
Burial No. 84 is a McMahon burial and more
than likely the one associated with Francis McMahon. The inscription is
much worn, but the dates tie in, and while it is difficult to fully make
out the Christian name it appears to be Fran/Flan. We note from the journal
that Francis McMahon’s death was recorded Sat 2nd of June 1810 and
that he died the Thursday before confirming the date as 31st May as stated
on gravestone.
Perry (Burial No. 87) Captain
Andrew Perry is credited with erecting the tomb to his brother and this
entry in the Ennis Chronicle may possibly be linked to him:
The Ennis Chronicle Jan 17 1810
To be let 21 acres of land at Killula now in the possession of Mr. Andrew
Perry… half mile from Newmarket-on-Fergus… Proposals to Charles
Mahon, Ennis or Andrew Perry, Atterbury.

No. 82 O’Briens of Durra Tomb
Carmody Family – Josephine
Carmody (Burial No. 93a)
On the 15th of January 1958 the upper floor of Carmody's Hotel collapsed
during an auction and eight people were killed including Josephine Carmody.
Comyn (Burial No. 81) Ennis
Chronicle & Clare Advertiser Saturday January 27th 1810 – Last
Thursday, deservedly lamented, George Comyn, of Ashgrove Esq; - AN HONEST
MAN.

Burial No. 20 (Interior of church) Thos. Roche P.P.
Thos. Roche P.P. (Burial No. 20),
this gravestone dates from the 1700s and is an example of how erosion
has almost completely obliterated the writing. Through research we learned
that the burial is of a parish priest which was an interesting discovery
as P.P. and the end of Thos. Roche is now but a blur and would not have
given us any indication of the significance of the burial.
Mangan, n.d., noted the burial and inscription: Here lyes the body of
Thos. Roche p.p. of Doury and Kilraghtis for 50 Yrs., died 2nd July, 1766.
(We could not fully decipher this date). Murphy, 1991, writes that the
figure 58 years recorded in Doora Parish Notes is misleading and most
likely for 38 years.
Murphy provides further information on Thomas Roche: parish priest of
the church of St Catherine, canon, rural dean, and apostolic notary; after
the death of Bishop Patrick MacDonagh in February 1752 a group of nine
priests met in Ennis and Roche's name was among those forwarded to James
III. He was parish priest of Doora & Kilraghtis at this time. When
the various recommendations for the vacant see of Killaloe eventually
made their way to Propaganda where a document was drawn up listing the
candidates, Roche was mentioned with two others, as having no interest
abroad and as this was very much to the point, they were listed without
comment making it evident that they were non-starters for the vacant see
of Killaloe.
“Although no inscribed monument was
found recording this internment the following reports record the following”:
Clare Champion – (Banner in Bygone Days – July 1st 2011,
125 years ago) (1886)
Funeral of a Nationalist.
The funeral of the ill-fated young man, Meere, whose tragic death is fully
reported in another column, took place on Thursday. The Tulla and Crusheen
bands were present and with muffled instruments played the 'Dead March'.
Upwards of 800 members of the National League marched in the procession,
all wearing emblems of mourning. The remains were interred in Kilraghtis.
A large force of police was present in the vicinity of Spancilhill. Everything
passed off quietly and without the slightest semblance of any disturbance.
The Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser
(1886) – Full report from the column referred to above.
Horrible Murder near Spancilhill.
To-Day we have to publish the details of a horrible outrage which occurred
on Tuesday night within a short distance of Ennis, the victim being a
young man of 23 years of age, named Michael Meere. At about half past
nine o’clock he left Barefield and proceeded towards his home in
the neighbourhood of Spancilhill. When within 200 yards of his own door
he was attacked by the assassin. He received three pellet wounds and one
bullet wound, which might not have been fatal, but he was knocked down
and his head battered in such a frightful manner as to render identification
difficult. The unfortunate man’s cries were distinctly heard by
those in the vicinity, but they evidently considered discretion the better
part of valour and did not venture outsider their doors. The body was
found before ten o’clock by a man named Hogan. Meere’s mother
immediately sent for the police, who were soon on the spot, but did not
succeed in taking or tracking the malefactor. Such outrages as those which
have lately been committed in Clare are sufficient to make people stand
aghast with terror, and we trust the arm of the law will be long enough
to reach the villain who committed this act of callous cruelty. The Rev.
Mr. Hogan, C C, was in attendance almost immediately after the discovery
of the body, but his services were unavailing, life being already extinct.
There seems to be no reason to suppose that the murder was an agrarian
one, the little farm on which Meere lived being in the possession of his
mother.
Further report from the Clare Journal
(1886) – Another Diabolical Murder in Clare.
Another most cold blooded and diabolical murder was committed at Bonnard,
about half a mile from Spancilhill, on the road to Barefield on Tuesday
night about 10 o’clock, and there can scarcely be a doubt as to
its having being inspired by private revenge. The young man was a young
man named Michael Meere about 25 years, second son of the widow Meere
of Tullyvohan; and the particulars of the crime show that it was premeditated,
cold blooded and brutal in every respect. It appeared that Meere had spent
the day in Ennis, and did not leave till late in the evening; he remained
some time at Hassett’s public house, Barefield, and after leaving
it, there was no person in company with him; he was walking home alone
and within two hundred yards of his own house when shots were fired at
him; he was hit on the left thigh, and one of the bullets penetrated the
abdomen; he shouted “murder and help;” his cries were heard
by his servant boy who was sitting on a stile at the gate; he hurried
to the spot and found deceased lying on the road quite dead. The assassins
made sure of his death, for beside him was a large stick which had been
used to stop a gap, and with that heavy weapon they battered his skull
to pieces. It is clear from what took place, that his death must have
been planned long before, and that the assassins had been lying in wait
for him, and how determined they were he should not escape was seen in
the manner in which they completed their bloody work within view of his
own house, and with two police protection posts, one at Drumloon [Drumgloon]
and another at Spancilhill within half a mile at either side. It will
be remembered that a small farmer named John MacMahon, who had been living
within a couple hundred yards of Spancilhill, was shot dead on the road
to Roslevan about eight o’clock the evening of the 15th August,
1884, (Lady Day) as he was proceeding home from Ennis. He had a large
helpless family, and when his widow made a claim for £500 compensation
under the Crimes Act, it was refused by the Lord Lieutenant on the ground
that the murder was not agrarian, or did not arise out of an illegal conspiracy.
There was something about the crime that suggested motives different from
these often actuating parties in agrarian disputes. One conclusion all
parties came to was, that a faction feud was at the bottom of MacMahon’s
murder, and when a brother of the deceased man, Meere, went to attend
the funeral, he was ordered off by the MacMahon party. Up to the present
there has been no arrest, nor is there the slightest clue to the perpetrators
of the horrible crime. Deceased was an extreme Nationalist, and his brother
is secretary to the Barefield branch of the National League.
An inquest was held yesterday afternoon
by Mr. Coroner Frost. The officials present were – Mr. F W Purcell,
R M, County Inspector Whelan, Inspector Joyce, Criminal Investigation
Department; District Inspector Rogers, and District Inspector Siddall.
After the post mortem examination, and the Jury had viewed the body, the
following evidence was taken:--
Patrick Meere was the first witness, and
in reply to District Inspector Rogers, said—I live at Tullyvohan
with my mother; I remember last night in or about 10 o’clock my
brother, Michael Meere was murdered; the body now lying dead in the cut-house
is that of my brother.
Patrick Hogan, Ballylunna, deposed—I
remember last night coming home last night from Clooney; it was after
nine o’clock; I saw a man lying on the road; I came off the car
and turned him on his side and found he was dead; there was blood on his
face; I sent my brother and sister to Mrs Moylan’s close by, to
call them up; James Moylan came out; I then sent my brother and sister
to tell the Meere’s; the body was lying on the hill on the road
at Bennard; I met James O’Connor coming from Meere’s.Dr. William
Cullinan deposed—I made a post mortem examination of the deceased
with Dr. Hynes; he had over his right loin two holes, caused by one bullet,
two on his left thigh caused by pellets, and three on outside of left
thigh; none of them would have been sufficient to cause death; he has
a wound in the stomach at the right of the navel penetrating into the
abdomen; it would not kill him in a hurry, it might kill him eventually;
the whole left side of his head is broken in peaces behind his left ear,
you could hear it rattle like shells in a bag, it was caused by some heavy
weapon like a bludgeon, some heavy instrument; it was the direct result
of his death; his brain was exposed.
Dr. Wm Hynes deposed—that he made
a post mortem examination of the deceased with Dr. Cullinan, and agreed
with him in the evidence he gave.
James O’Connors deposed—I am a workman living with Mrs Meere;
About 10’clock last night I heard shouts for police or relief; I
heard shots at the same time; I could not recognise the voice I heard;
I met a boy and girl on the road, they said Michael Meere was lying on
the road; when I got to the hill I found him lying on the middle of the
road; I did not know he was dead; saw blood on his face and blood on the
ground; I ran for a priest and I came back with his brother and Father
Hogan, he was dead; I put the body on James Moylan’s car and brought
it here.
This closed the evidence.
The Coroner, addressing the jury, said—Upon
the evidence you have heard you will be able to decide what caused this
man’s death. There is no evidence to show at whose hands the dreadful
deed was perpetrated that brought this young to an untimely end. We won’t
be able to get any direct evidence to enable you to find a verdict that
may implicate any party. Still you will be able to discharge certain functions
and arrive at a conclusion that he was feloniously and wickedly murdered
by some person or other. Abler men will then follow up the investigation,
and the authorities will leave nothing undone to hunt up the perpetrators
of this foul murder. With the state of this unfortunate country you have
nothing to do. We must all deeply deplore such crimes, but you duty is
simply to find a verdict according to the evidence you have heard.
The jury then found that the deceased, Michael
Meere, was wilfully and feloniously murdered at the Bonnard, on Tuesday
29th June, 1886, by some person or persons unknown.
Clare Champion – Banner in Bygone
Days – November 18, 2011 (1886)
Moonlight Raid
On Tuesday night six men armed with revolvers and without any disguise,
came to the house of Pat Woods, Durra, herdsman to Mr. Peirce O'Brien,
JP, put him on his knees and made him swear he would not bring his master's
cattle to the fair in Clarecastle today; when they were leaving the house
Woods said something, and one of the party turned back and gave him a
punch of a revolver in the eye, which cut him slightly. The reason assigned
for the outrage is that Mr. O'Brien, who has been very popular up to this,
was obliged to obtain decrees at the last Quarter Sessions against some
tenants on the property of his son-in-law, Mr. FW Hickman, JP, Kilmore,
for whom he was agent.
The Woods family who came as herdsmen to
Durra estate were given a land divide and Durra cottage through the Land
Commission (McNamara, 2012).
Ennis Chronicle Jan 18, 1817
Last Tuesday night, at so early a period as between nine and ten o'clock
a numerous cavalcade appeared at Cappa, the seat of Richard Gregg, Esq.
They may be said to consist of between forty and fifty at the least; two
mounted on each horse. A party of the ruffians entered the Gate-keepers’
Lodge to search for arms. They were equally mischievous as insolent and
injured every article in their way, until they discovered a fouling piece
which they took with them. We learn they traversed a very considerable
part of the county making their course by every species of outrage and
licentious indulgence... (Crusheen and Port were mentioned in their escapades).
Richard Gregg, Esq., with commendable zeal
and manly spirit, pursued the course which he understood the above banditti
had taken and having with him two or three resolute men, it is much to
be lamented that he had not been able to fall in with them. Had Mr. Gregg
been timely advised of the circumstance they would not have escaped, but
the trepidation of the gate-keeper prevented him from venturing out, more
timely, to apprise his master of the outrage and plunder which had been
committed by these unpleasant visitors.
Tamplin -Burial Nos. 167 and 145.
The Rev. Edward Tamplin of Ennis was a signatory to a letter published
in the Clare Freeman’s Journal of 7 May 1841. The letter was sent
by members of the Catholic clergy of the county expressing their wish
to be enrolled in the National Repeal Association [a group seeking the
Repeal of the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland 1801).
According to Griffith’s Valuation
of 1855 the Rev. Edward Tamplin was living in Drumgloon townland in the
parish of Kilraghtis. Members of the Tamplin family still resided in Drumgloon
in 1901 and 1911 according to the national census. In 1901 Susan Tamplin,
a widow, lived here with her son John. In 1911, Susan and Thomas were
still resident in Drumgloon, along with Thomas Bertram Brodie who is recorded
as Susan’s grandson.
The Tamplins have lived in Drumgloon and
in the vincinity of Kilraghtis since at least the early 19th century.
According to the County Clare Tithe Applotment Books John Tamplin and
Joseph Tamplin held separate holdings in Drumgloon, and the Doora-Barefield
Marriage Register Index records the marriage in 1823 of Eliza Tamplin
to a Mr. John James.
Clare Journal 1871 had a notice
acknowledging contributions towards the completion of the church in Barefield.
Some of the names listed are associated with those found in Kilraghtis
see table 1, page 13.
Irish Times 29/12/2012- Burial (No.
24 inside church)
Robbie McMahon, who has died aged 86, was a songwriter and singer whose
rendition of Spancil Hill is widely regarded as the definitive version.
He reckoned he sang it more than 10,000 times since he learned it as a
teenager.
The ballad is named after a crossroads between
Ennis and Tulla in east Clare, the site of a centuries-old horse fair
held every June. In 1870 a young man from the locality, Michael Considine,
bade farewell to his sweetheart Mary McNamara and left for the US. He
hoped to earn sufficient money to enable her to join him.
However, he died in California in 1873.
Before his death he wrote a poem dedicated to Mary which he posted to
his six-year-old nephew, John, back home.
Seventy years later McMahon was given the
words at a house party. His singing of the ballad was warmly received
by those in attendance, who included the author’s nephew, then an
elderly man.
Table 1: Contributions
towards the completion of the church in Barefield

Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks are offered to:
Peter Beirne and Brian Doyle of the Local Studies Centre, Ennis for their
help.
Margaret McNamara for the historical information on Kilraghtis Parish.
Transcriptions: Edel Greene and Mary Kearns.
Graveyard Map: Alan Sexton and Jimmy Kearns.
Layout: Fiona Kearns.
Sponsors: The Clare Archaeological and Historical Society.
Sources
Flanagan, D & Flanagan L, 1994, Irish Placenames, Gill and
Macmillan, Dublin, 228.
Frost, J, 1893, The
History and Topography of County Clare, Mercier Press, Dublin.
Frost, J, 1906, County
of Clare Irish Local Names Explained, McKern & Sons Ltd.,
Limerick.
O’Donovan, J and Curry, E, 2003, The
Antiquities of County Clare, Ordnance Survey Letters 1839, CLASP,
Ennis, 175-176.
Westropp, T. J. 1900, The
Churches of County Clare, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy,
6, 100-176.
Weir, Hugh, Houses of Clare, 1999,
Ballinakella Press, (Cappagh House).
Kearns, M, The Church of the Immaculate
Conception Barefield, The Stained Glass Windows, The People of Barefield
and Friends Abroad. The Other Clare (vol. 33), 23.
Richard
Gregg Esq & Barbara Fitzgerald
“Memorials
of the life of Bishop John Gregg, D.D” (2008)
Waldron, P, Descendants of Pierce O'Brien
– 42754.
O'Connell, G, Catherine Amelia O'Brien
(1881-1963), The Other Clare, 1981, vol. 5, 14, 15.
Slater's National
Commercial Directory of Ireland, 1846 (Kilrush).
Spellissy, S, The Merchants of Ennis,
1996, 54.
Mangan, Bro. Peter, OFM, Notes on the
Parish of Doora, Founded by St. Breckan, 450 A.D. n.d. Chapter III,
Priests who Ministered in the Parish.
Murphy, I, The Diocese of Killaloe
in the Eighteenth Century, 1991, 84, 86, 87. Appendix 13: Wills,
Obituaries, Inscriptions, 20.
McNamara, C, E-mail in connection with
Durra Cottage, July 12, 2012.
Newspapers/Journals
The Clare Champion (Banner in Bygone Days)
The Clare Journal
Ennis Chronicle
Ennis Advertiser
Clare Freeman’s Journal
|