Parnells of Queen's County
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No ascendancy family was more consistently identified with the public, literary and religious life in this county than the Parnell Family, the only member of which, Charles Stewart, the uncrowned king of Ireland, appears to be regarded as meriting any mention today. Initially they were not interested in the injustices perpetrated on the downtrodden masses in Ireland, but progressively and ultimately they became so interested. The Family is of particular interest to Laois people as will be apparent from the following outline of their history.
Thomas Parnell, member of a wealthy business family in Congleton Cheshire was an ardent supporter of Cromwell during the Civil War in England. Accordingly fearing repercussions following the restoration of the monarchy he moved to Ireland. On arrival he purchased lands in the Queen's County (Laois) and settled in Rathleague, Maryboro (now Portlaoise) where he became a prosperous landowner. He had two sons, Thomas, born in 1679 and John born a couple of years later.
Thomas, educated in Trinity College, was ordained an Anglican clergyman in 1703 and was appointed Archdeacon of Clogher at the age of 26. Like many Irish clergymen of the period he absented himself from his religious duties in rural Ulster for lengthy periods. During such periods he frequented a literary club in London of which he, Pope Arbuthnot, Swift, Gay and Jarvas were also members. His closest friend there was Pope, who he assisted with his translation of Homer. In return Pope published an edition of Parnell's works after his death. The principal work from his pen was the Life of Zoilas but he also shared in a number of other works. In addition he contributed articles to The Spectator and The Guardian and a number of his poems were published. Just as he was reaching the apex of his career tragedy struck - his two young sons died and his wife soon followed them to the grave in 1712. Shattered by these misfortunes a melancholia, the. curse of the family, descended on him and plagued him for his few remaining years.
Dean Swift, secured a preband or income from Cathedral funds for him in 1713 and in 1716 a vicarage in Finglas but he died in the following year at Chester on his way to Ireland.
Amongst admirers of his writings were Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson and of course Dean Swift to name but a One of his most noted poems is The Hermit which it is believed was inspired by the story of St. Aongus (Ceile De) who had his cell in the Dysart Hills which overlooks Rathleague the townland of his youth. The first verse of this poem is as follows:
Far in wild unknown to public view, From youth to age a revered hermit grew, The moss his bed, the cave his humbele cell, His food the fruits, his drink the crystal well, Remote from man with god he passed his days, Prayer all his business all his pleasure praise.
Following the death of Thomas Parnell his property in Laois passed into the possession of his brother John who by this time had become a judge and occupied a seat in the Irish House of Commons. On his death in 1727 his property passed on to his son John who also held a seat in the Irish House of Commons and was created a baronet in 1766. He married a Miss Ward of Castle Ward Co. Down. Their son, the second Sir John was born on Christmas Day 1744 and was the first of the family to reach front ranks in politics. He was appointed Chancelor of the Exchequer in 1785 and a Privy Councillor in 1786. He continued to hold the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer up to 1799 during which period he reformed Irish governmental Finance on the English model. Prior to this Si John commanded a corps of the Irish Volunteers which force was largely responsible for wresting the constitution of 1782 from the British. A further development during Sir John's period in office was the grant of the vote to Irish catholics in 1793 but the right to sit in Parliament had not been ceded to Catholics when the Irish Parliament was abolished in 1800. Sir John was distinctly conservative in his views and was an opponent of Catholic emancipation declaring it was dangerous to do away at once with the principle of a century.
As a result of intrigues, bribes and inducements of various kinds the Irish Parliament was influenced into voting itself out of existence in 1800. However, Sir John Parnell together with his son Henry (about whom more anon) who was a newly elected member of Parliament came out strongly against the Union. As a result Sir John was disfussed from office but in compensation received a payment of £7,500 which softened the blow for him to some extent. He was in failing health at this time and he died in 1801.
Sir John was married to Letitia C. Brooke of Fermanagh and had six children by the marriage. His eldest son John, was a deaf mute and was exercised for his own safety in a garden surrounded by a wall ten feet high which was specially built and indeed is still extant to this day. The second son Henry inherited the estates in the Queen's County (Laois). Following his education in Eton and Cambridge he entered the Irish Parliament in 1797. He was elected to the British House of Commons for a short period in 1 802 and was subsequently returned for the Queen's County to that Parliament in 1806 where he served until the 1830's. From the outset he advocated Catholic emancipation which had been contained in the proposals for the Union measure. However Pitt did not implement this measure in the face of the veto of King George III. Henry interested himself in many topics and wrote authoritively on current affairs. In 1808 he published a History of the Penal Laws and he wrote extensively on such matters as the Corn Laws, Banking, Taxation and Financial Reform. His views on the latter subject resulted in many fiscal innovations implemented subsequently by Peel and Gladstone.
He attained the office of Secretary for War in 1830 but because of disagreement with his cabinet colleagues on several issues he was dismissed in 1832. He was appointed Paymaster-General of the Forces in 1835 and was raised to the peerage as Baron Congleton in 1841. Soon afterwards his health failed and a melancholia set in (the family weakness once again manifesting itself) and he died in the following year.
William born in 1777, was the third son of Sir John Parnell and Charles (the uncrowned king of Ireland) was his grandson.
He was the first member of the family to reside at Avon-dale, which was bequeathed to Sir John (his father) by Samuel Hayes K.C. However, because of poor health he never took up residence there and bestowed the property on his son William. The latter represented Wicklow in the British House of Commons but did not make the same impact there as his brother Henry. He, however, published two pamphlets dealing with the causes of discontent generally in Ireland and the problems of Irish Catholics. These pamphlets could be regarded as forming the basis of the policy of his grandson, Charles Stewart, in the l880s. While resident in Avondale he became most friendly with the poet Thomas Moore, who while staying there wrote the immortal words of The Vale of Avoca and The Meeting of the Waters.
William maintained very good relations with his tenants and was held in the highest esteem in the area. He was connected with the Earls of Wicklow by marriage and had most friendly relations with the then Lord Powerscourt and the Carysfort family. He was the father of two children Catherine and John Henry, the father, of Charles Stewart. William died in 1821 at the early age of 44 years.
The fourth son Thomas was a religious eccentric who spent many years, and his fortune (sic) in the promotion of his own "brand" of Protestantism from an office in Sackville Street (now O'Connell St.) Dublin.
Arthur the fifth son does not appear to have figured in public life and little is known of him.
Henry was the last member of the family to live in Rathleague and he appears to have pulled up his roots from there in the 1830s.
For a landlord family who were members of the reformed church it was most extraordinary that their interests and sympathies should have swung over to champion the causes of the downtrodden peasants in the country.
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