Parish of Mountmellick

Source: Rev. M.Comerford "Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin" (1883)

MOUNTMELLICK which was formed into a distinct Parish in 1770 includes portions of Rosenallis, Castlebrack and Coolbanagher. The town of Mountmellick, - the name of which is derived from Mointaghe-Meelick, i.e., "the Bogs of the Marsh," though not as prosperous as heretofore, is yet the most considerable town in the Queen's County, though Maryborough takes rank as the capital. It is not a place of much antiquity, as is shown by its not appearing on the old Map of Leix and Offaley, made circa 1563, or on the Down survey. The name occurs in some Inquisitions of the middle of the 17th century, and it appears to have been a town of note somewhat later on. When the Irish Parliament of King James II., transferred the Ely estate to the Duke of Tyrconnell-(see page 230) the portion of it situate' about Mountmellick went with the rest. We find reference to it in the correspondence between DAN. DORAN, the factotum of his grace at Dublin Castle, and Mr. Wm. FitzGerald, of Narraghmore, who had been appointed steward or agent to the Duke. A letter addressed "to Wm. FitzGerald, Esq., att his house in Narraghmore, near Kilcullen bridge," and dated "Dublin Castle ye 25th febr, 89," is to the following effect :-

" Dr. Sr._ I had yr lettr just now & am persuaded yr sickness only can hinder yu to give all regulascons necessary to my Ld. Duke's concerns in yr charge, & I will acquaint his Grace wth yr care in preserving his right agst false pretenders - yu may count upon ye Iron yu have already deliver'd & I believe I shall find yu chapmen for ye rest yt will pay yu at Mountmellick 201b p. tun, but remember we are to pay Iron for ye sow-iron yu made use off & I will send yu an acct. to what it has been appraised. Neither Greenhill nor any other land in yr charge shall be sett wthout yr privity & approbation. But as to charge me wth ye receipt of ye rents of Mountmellick, sure yu would not be so unreasonable, knowing I have otherwise more to do than I can goe through. Therefore pray doe not expect, for certainly I will not medle in it. It's even for yr sake I have recd already one summe here upon ye acct of Easter rent wch I will putt into yr hands as soon yu com up to town. I write now to Patrick Dowling to this purpos yt ye tents may be compelled out of hand to acct wth yu & pay their arrears, wherein yu will be pleased to observe yt I have got yu all that ye army owed them, and to allow nothing but ye summe aforesaid mentioned in ye acquittances dated here in 9ber and Xber last. I'll let yu know further by ye next my Ld's opinion upon ye particulars of yr letter, & remaine yr most affectiont humble servt.

Dan. Doran."

Another letter from the same to the same, is dated "Dublin, ye 25th April, '90," and runs thus :-

"Sir - I spoke to my Ld Duke that yu should sell by ye tunn some of our Iron in Mountmellick, to the merchts of Mountmellick at ye King's rate that they may sell by retaill there in their shops for ye conveniency of ye country& ye army who complaine much yt. at this time of need we keep our Iron loct up & will not sell it but at our own leisure & rates, and his Grace commanded me to direct yu to doe as I proposed, and as it will be of very ill example we should exact more than ye King's rate, soe it will be necessary yu will keep a check over those merchts at Mountmellick yt they sell ye Iron they will buy from yu at a moderate rate by retail proportionably yu are also desired to deliver to ye ordr of the Lord Dongan any quantity of Iron not exceeding half a tunn, those his Lordship sent to receive ye same payeing for it to yr. ordr. I am, Dr. Sr. yr most affectionat humble servant, Dan. Doran. I hope to be wth yu Monday or Tuesday night. My Lord desires to know what rent may be fit to reserve upon ye farms of Greenhill, Corbally and Ballymag."
(These Documents are from the Davidstow Collection).

From a Parliamentary Return made 25th April, 1766, by Peter Westerna, Protestant Curate, (see Vol. I., p. 271,) of the number of Catholics in the town and liberties of Mountmellick, it appears that there were at that date, 508 Catholics; the names of heads of families as given in the Return, are the following, - those with an asterisk prefixed had Protestants belonging to their households:

"Return of the town and liberties of Mountmellick, being part of the Parish of Oregan.

NAMES OF PAPISTS

One Popish Priest whose family is mentioned in the above list. Returned, April 25th, 1766, by Peter Westerna, Curate of Mountmellick."

Previous to the building of the present Parish Church, the place of worship for the Catholics of Mountmellick was at Graigue, in the outskirts of the town; where the old chapel still stands, being now used as a schoolhouse. Father Thady Duane, the first Parish Priest of Mountmellick, lies interred in the adjoining graveyard; a headstone marks his grave, bearing the following inscription:-

"Sacerdos O'Duane in pace requiescat.
Gregis quoque sui Deus miserescat. -
God grant the priest O'Duane eternal peace,
God grant his flock the same celestial grace. Amen, Amen.

Jocobus Dei et Apostolicae sedis gratiâ, Episcopus Kildariensis et Leighliniensis, universis has literas inspecturis salutem in Dno. sempiternam. "Notum facimus quod, anno Domini milesimo septingentesimo quinquagesimo septimo, diebus vero vigesima prima, vigesima tertia, et vigesima quarta mensis Septembris, scilicet feria quarta et sextâ, ac Sabbato quatuor temporum, missam in Pontificalibus celebrantes, dilectum nostrum magistrum Thadeum Duan, Diocœsis nostrae Kildariensis alumnum idoneum et capacem repertum, ad primam Tonsuram et quatuor minores Ordines, et pariter ad sacros Subdiaconatñs, Diaconatûs et Presbyteratûs Ordines, in vim Indulti Apostolici nostratibus concessi juxta ritum et consuetudinem S. Romanae Ecclesiae, promovendum duximus et promovimus. In cujus rei fidem hisce subscripsimus et Secretarii nostri signum ac sigillum apponi fecimus.

"Datum in loco nostri refugii hac die vigesima quarta mensis Septembris, Anno Domini, milesimo, septingentesimo, quinquagesimo septimo. "JACOBUS, Epus. Kildars. et Leighlins.
"D. Dni. mei. Jacobus Dillyn, Secrs. (Seal.)"

In a Return of 1766, Father Duane - Tim Dowan, as he is styled - is found named as coadjutor to Dean Gernon, in the (then) united parishes of Carlow and Killeshin. Subsequently he was transferred to Kilcock, as curate to Dr. MacKenna, and remained there till 1770, when he was appointed Pastor of the newly -formed parish of Mountmellick. The following, from the Bishop, addressed - " Mr. Duane, at Kilcock," relates to this appointment: - " Tullow, March the 1, 1770. Dr. Sir, - I return you my most hearty Thanks for your ready compliance with my Request. If I live to it, it shall not be forgot. I wou'd have wrote sooner, but your Letter was conceal'd from me for 8 or ten Days in the Post office…..The sooner you go to Mt. melick the better. Mr. Phelan (the V. G., P.P. of Portarlington) will either go himself, or depute another to give you Possession. This scrawl shall serve for your warrant until I have Time to draw up one in Form. May all happiness attend you and your Flock. I had a Letter by last Post from Dr. MacKenna but have not Time to answer him at present. You'l please to give him my kind service, and let him know that I readily agree to, and fully approve of, everything he proposed to me. Please to desire as many of our Brethren as you see, not to begin their Easter Confessions untill the Jubilee is publish'd to them. It is arrived in Dublin, but has not yet been forwarded to me. I shall lose no Time in sending the necessary Instructions to everyone when once I get it. I am most sincerely, Dr. Sir, your most obedt. humble servant, JAS. KEEFFE.

"I almost made up the breach between Mr. Gernon and Mr. Brenan. (A John Brenan is returned in 1766 as P.P. of Ballyadams; probably the one referred to.) He was somewhat displeased at your setting what price you pleased on his Hay ; not that he ever intended to overhaul you for the surplus; but where he meant a Favour he wou'd have it acknowledged."

Father Duane died, as we find from the inscription on his tomb, in 1807, the poetical portion of which was, doubtless, his own composition. We find further evidence of his addiction to poetry in a letter from Dr. Delany, announcing his appointment as coadjutor bishop of Kildare, dated 17th August, 1783, already referred to (Vol. I., p. 85, note.)

"The verses (of congratulation on his promotion), I am told by a connoisseur in these matters, have great poetical merit. Pity! such elegantly turned compliments were not more just in their application. But, had real excellencies been the object of the muse's labours, perhaps the success were not so great, as they say it is characteristic of the true sons of Apollo to excel most in Fiction."

Within the (quondam) church, are tablets bearing the following epitaphs to the memory of Dr. Anthony Duane and Rev. Andrew Healy: -

" To the memory of the Very Rev. Anthony Duane, who, born on the 4th of May, 1780, fulfilled the office of Parish Priest in Mountmellick for 27 years, and that of Vicar-General for 10 years, in the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. He died, the 16th of January, 1833, aged 53 years. His zeal, piety, and disinterestedness were eminent. His talents of the highest class, his acquirements, especially in the knowledge of Holy Scriptures, and the several departments of ecclesiastical learning, such as are rarely attained. His illness was tedious, but only served to purify his virtues, which shone resplendent in his departure from this world. R.I.P."
"In memory of Father Andrew Healy, the meek, humble, pious, and universally-beloved Parish Priest of Mountmellick. He was born in November, 1792, ordained in June, 1818, appointed to the parish in January, 1833, and closed a most edifying life in a holy death, on the 12th of May, 1864. May he rest in peace. Amen."

The Sisters of the Presentation Order were introduced into the parish in 1854.

The beautiful new parish Church was erected during the pastorate, and mainly through the exertions of the late Very Rev. Thomas Murphy, V.F. It is dedicated under the invocation of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church.

CASTLEBRACK

Beside the remains of the Castle, from which the place takes its name, are the remains of the old parochial Church. It measured about 80 feet long by 30 broad; only a small portion of the south wall is now standing. This church was dedicated to the B. Virgin; in Dr. MacGeoghegan's list the parochial Church of St. Mary's of Castlebrack, is included; and in a Patent Roll, dated Oct. 27th, 1550 (apud Morrin), is found the Presentation of Rory O'Doyne to the vicarage of St. Mary of Castlebrack of Regan, with its chapels in the diocese of Kildare, in the gift of the Crown, pleno jure. A head-stone marks the grave of a priest:- " The Rev. P. Reynolds; died, December 9th, 1821, aged 29 years." Some of the chief families of the district have their graves in the adjoining churchyard; the inscriptions date from 1721. In the protracted lawsuit relating to the claim to the property and title of the Earldom of Rathcoole, the Tracey peerage trial, as it was called, - some tombstones from this graveyard were actually produced before the Committee of the House of Lords in proof of the validity of the claim set up by one of the litigants. The inscriptions in question, however, were supposed to have been tampered with. The ruins of the old castle are still to be seen, the small portions remaining being sufficient to show that it was a place of considerable strength. It was built by Leyney O'Doyne, chief of Iregan, towards the close of the 15th, or beginning of the 16th century. To defray the expenses attending the erection of it, he imposed unusual tribute on the territory, which his successors continued to extort down to the reign of James I. Among the Inquisitions of the Queen's County, we find one taken at Castlebrack, on the 21st October, 1612; by another, taken at Maryborough, 17th May, 1638, it appears that Teige, or Thady O'Doyne, late of Castlebrack, was seized of the town and lands of Castlebrack, alias Ballycasslanbrack, and of Parkemore, Cappinlinge, Grange, Mucklone and Grangecore, all which are parcels of Castlebrack aforesaid, and contain 447 acres, etc., etc.

After the signing of the Peace, at Kilkenny, on the 12th of May, 1652, between some of the Catholics and the Parliamentary leaders, the terms of which were condemned under ecclesiastical censures by the Congregation of the Clergy, Secular and Regular, of the province of Dublin, assembled on 25th of May, 1652, at Ballydrohid, in Clanmaliere, under the presidency of Dr. O'Dempsey, Bishop of Leighlin, and Vice-Primate of Leinster, Colonel Richard Doyne seized upon some of the Catholics who were parties to this obnoxious peace, at Castlebrack. The author of the Aphorismical Discovery thus refers to the event (Part VI., c. xiii.):- "1652. Lieutenant- Colonel Richard Doyne, resident in his native country, Iregan, daily waiting on neighbouring enemy garrisons, informed of the agents' return from Kilkenny, and what there done, as many of the clergy as conferred with him did both disclaim the act and the authors thereof, whereby egged this young warrior on to work some memorable deed as was thought; having received intelligence of their lodging at Castlebrack, in Iregan aforesaid, thither taking his course, arrived at the dawning of the day, where, finding Westmeath, Sir Robert Talbot, Sir Richard Barnewall, and Thomas Tyrrell, the lawyer, on whom he laid hands, and carried them in the nature of prisoners to a place of safety, which was most grateful to all well affected, where they continued for 48 hours." He was afterwards induced by representations that were "both deceitful, forged, treacherous, and untrue, to enlarge the said agents, to the mighty prejudice of the cause, the grief of all well-affected, and the proper blemish of the Lieutenant-Colonel himself."

A townland in this district is named Kilcavan; this may have been the site of the chapel called Cuasan Coemhin, or "Kevin's Grot," included in Dr.MacGeoghegan's list. (See Vol. I., p. 258).

At about a mile's distance from Mountmellick, to the south; on the right of the Ridge-road leading to Maryborough, there is an ancient church site and burial-ground known as the Ivy-chapel. The church has completely disappeared, and of the gravestone inscriptions none dates back further than 150 years. Accregare is the name of the townland in which this graveyard is situate, a name which occurs in Inquisitions taken at Maryborough, 6th March, 1619, and 31st May, 1637; in these the McDonnells of Tinnekill appear as seized of the town and lands of Accregare, Srahard, parcel of Acregare, Derrygill, Derryclony, etc., etc. At Derryguile there is a chalybeate spring, the medicinal properties of which are deserving of attention.

PORTNAHINCH

An old church, in ruins, stands here in an extensive graveyard; portions of the four walls remain, and show it to have been very small and very ancient; it measures about 40 feet in length, by 16 in width; there is a window in the west gable, 31/2 feet in height and only 4 inches wide; another window, still smaller, appears on the Epistle side of the altar place. This is the Portnhynsy, of the MacGeoghegan list, already referred to.

KILMAINHAM

This appears to be the Capella de Kilmoynam of Dr. MacGeoghegan's list (See Vol. I., p. 259). The name signifies the church of St. Magnend, who was Abbot of Kilmagnend, now called Kilmainham, near Dublin, in A.D. 606, where his festival was celebrated on the 18th of December (AA. SS., pp. 584 and 713). The Knights Templars and Hospitallers are found to have called some of their Religious Houses throughout the country after this Saint; thus, Kilmainham Beg, and Kilmainham Wood, in the county Meath.

An Inquisition, taken in the 45th year of Elizabeth finds that the following rectories (amongst others) were appropriated to the Priory of Kilmainham, county of Dublin:-

" Oregane, commonly called Rossenollis, Ryerimore, Kilmainin, and Castlebracke, in the country of O'Doyne, and Queen's County, Coulbenker (Coolbanagher) in same County, . . . with the advowsons and nominations of Ballynekylle, alias Ballytemple, in Offalie, in the King's County, all of which were demised, by letters patent, for a term of years, to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Fitz-Gerald of Lackagh, in the County of Kildare, Knight. (Chief Remembrancer.) Considerable portions of the ruins of a church are still in existence at Kilmainham; these consist of a part of the northern side wall, about 20 feet in length, by from 2 to 10 feet in height; the eastern gable, in which is a lancet window with limestone jambs, measuring 4 feet in height, by 7 inches in width on the outside. The building appears to have been cruciform; length, about 63 feet, width of nave, 161/2 feet. The southern aisle consisted chiefly of a tower or keep; external dimensions, 20 feet by 16; the height of remaining portion varies from 8 to 12 feet, measuring from the present surface, which appears to be raised some 3 feet above the former level. This lower portion has a groined roof of masonry, still perfect; on the eastern side there was access to a winding staircase which passed upwards through the wall. Old people in the locality state that there remained here about 70 years ago the foundations of a circular tower; a well, accounted blessed, - that customary adjunct to our primitive religious foundations, - is found here; and it is also stated that a causeway ran across the bog and connected Kilmainham with the ruin now known as the Ivy-chapel, a distance of about a mile. There is, moreover, a distinct local tradition that a community of monks resided here before the period of the English invasion, and that they were all massacred by the Danes in one of their marauding incursions."

SUCCESSION OF PASTORS

REV. THADY DUANE, appointed first P.P. of Mountmellick, 1st of March, 1770; died, 7th April, 1807.
VERY REV. ANTHONY DUANE, V.G., succeeded; died, 16th January, 1833.
REV. ANDREW HEALY, appointed in succession to Dr. Anthony Duane; died 12th May, 1864.
The VERY REV. THOMAS MURPHY, V.F., was the next Parish Priest; he died, January 27th, 1882, and lies interred in the grounds attached to the Presentation Convent at the east end of the new parochial church.
The present respected Pastor, the REV. JOHN J. DOYLE, succeeded.

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