The Biggest Thorn in the Crown

© The Publisher

Full title: From a spark to a firebrand: Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne

Creator / Author: Chris Lawlor

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 4p

Journal Information: History Ireland, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 20-23

When Published: September / October 2013

Publisher / Place of Publication: Wordwell Ltd. / Unit 9, 78 Furze Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

About: In the last quarter of the 16th century, Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne was the pre-eminent Gaelic chief in Leinster and was a constant thorn in the side of the English authorities. He was known as the ‘Firebrand of the Wicklow Mountains’ and this article explains his rise and fall.

ID number(s): 0791-8224

WW Connection #1: The O’Byrne territory ranged across the Wicklow mountains, West and East.

Extra #1: includes illustrations and map.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Read this article online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.

Extra #4: This article is an abridged version of an essay which won the Irish Chiefs’ Prize in History 2013. The full essay is entitled ‘Burning their bridges: the opposition of the Gabhal Raghnaill and Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne to the process of Anglicisation during the long sixteenth century’.

Extra #5: Link to the author’s website at https://www.chrislawlor.ie/

Clergy Are People Too

© The Publisher

Full title: Transient Beings [a novel]

Creator / Author: Patrick Semple

Item Type / Page count: Book / 212p

When Published: 2012

Publisher / Place of Publication: Code Green Publishing / 28 Charles Street, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV7 8GL, United Kingdom.

About: A novel which places a rector’s family and family life directly on a par with that of lay people. Everyone has the same problems, doubts and difficulties. Can a city-born rector’s wife handle country living without resorting to the bottle? Can the rector overcome his doubts about his religious faith? This book is printed on demand and can be ordered online or via bookshops.

ID number(s): 9781907215186

WW Connection #1: The author was one time rector of Donaghmore and Donard Parish.

Extra #1: Opening line: ”It’s all very well for you”, Jennifer would say, “I know you once worked in a bank, but you were brought up on a farm so you know the ways of these country bumpkins”….

Extra #2: Read the first Chapter of this book via the Publisher’s Website

Extra #3: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #4: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #5: Link to the Author’s website: http://www.patricksemple.ie/index.php

Tithes Payable by Liscolman Folk from 1830

Full title: Townlands in Liscolman (Wicklow)

Creator / Author: Genealogical Society of Utah in partnership with The National Archives of Ireland

Item Type: Website / Publicly Accessible

Homepage  URL: http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

When Viewed: Contents described are those showing when viewed in January 2014.

Publisher / Place of Publication: National Archives of Ireland / Bishop Street, Dublin 8.

About: Tithe Applotment Books were compiled between 1823 and 1837 in an attempt to determine how much the holders of agricultural land over 1 acre should pay in taxes or tithes to the established Church of Ireland. These books list the name of the head of each relevant household outside of urban areas. A Tithe Applotment book was compiled for each Church of Ireland parish. Some of the transcribed names of people and places are not 100% accurate, but the original entries may be viewed for clarification.

Contents: Knockeen — Liscolman — Knockloe — Rath

Extra #1: Browse the Tithe Applotment Book(s) for Liscolman Parish

Hat-Tip: To the Genealogical Society of Utah and The National Archives of Ireland who have arranged for the digitisation of these records and their free accessibility online.

Seventh Collection of Articles on West Wicklow History

© WWHS

Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 7, 2013

Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Donal McDonnell

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 120p

When Published: 2013

Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.

About: The seventh publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history. This issue contains articles featuring locations from Coolattin to Croatia. It even strays into east Wicklow with an article on Charles Stewart Parnell and his times by Mary Bergin. However, the major article runs to almost a quarter of the entire publication and is a substantial essay, by Dunlavin native Chris Lawlor, on Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne.

ID number(s): 0790-1739

Contents: Preface from the Chairman — Ramblings of the Secretary — A man of integrity? The varying roles of Robert Chaloner, Earl Fitzwilliam’s land-agent during Black ‘47 / Fidelma Byrne — Contextualising a chieftain’s career: the case of Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne / Chris Lawlor – Wicklow Farm Labourers: a facet of the 1880s Land War / Pádraig G. Lane — The RIC and the IRA in Wicklow’s War of Independence / Kevin Cullen — Constable James Stephen Cunningham and his family / Shay Cunningham — Some facts about the activities of Mark Forstall in Croatia / Luka Vukusic – Scurlock’s Graveyard / Brian McCabe — The annual inspections of the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway Company in 1912 and 1913 / James Scannell — Donard’s New Church, 1925 [from the Leinster Leader Saturday, 18^th July, 1925] — The Wicklow landlord who held sway over the British Empire: Parnell and his times / Mary Bergin — Raids, robberies and attacks: West Wicklow during the Civil War / Jason Lawlor.

Extra #1: Contains several black & white photographs and maps.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide

Extra #4: Visit the West Wicklow Historical Society website.

Steps in a Dancer’s Life

© The Publisher

Full title: Step by step: the formation of an establishment

Creator / Author: Ninette de Valois

Item Type / Page count: Book / 204p

When Published: 1977

Publisher / Place of Publication: W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd. / 44 Hill Street, London W1X 8LB.

About: A collection of published and unpublished articles, essays and other writings all of which have ballet as their theme. The author was the founder of Britain’s Royal Ballet and spent over thirty years as its director.

ID number(s): 0491015984

Contents: Prologue – Introduction – [Phase I – The 1920s and the 1930s] The traveller: a pupil and her teachers — The formation of an establishment: Life at ‘the Wells’ — Lilian Baylis — Extracts from ‘Invitation to the ballet’  — A tribute to the Mercury Theatre — [Phase II – The 1940s and the 1950s] Five architects of the ballet: Constant Lambert, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann, Margot Fonteyn, Sophie Fedorovitch — The Royal Charter: a memorandum — The English Ballet: a lecture to the Royal Society of Arts, 1957 — [Phase III – The 1960s and the 1970s] Gemini: two studies — John Cranko — Kenneth MacMillan — The stranger in our midst: a portrait of Nureyev — Choreography — Movements — [Impressions] A visit to Russia: 1957 — The Turkish State Ballet — Diaghilev — W. B. Yeats — What makes a dancer’s life — Epilogue — Index.

WW Connection #1: Ninette de Valois (née Edris Stannus) was born at Baltyboys, Blessington, Co.Wicklow in 1898. The family moved to England in 1905.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Contains thirty-two pages of photographs.

Extra #4: For information, the author was awarded the Erasmus Prize in 1974 for her contribution to European culture.

Extra #5: Browse the 1901 Census entry for Ninette de Valois (née Edris Stannus) in Boystown Lower, Co.Wicklow

The New and Eternal Dunlavin

© CKAS

Full title: Sir Richard Bulkeley and the Foundation of Dunlavin Village

Creator / Author: Chris Lawlor

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 12p

Journal Information: Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, Vol. 19, Number 2, pp. 257-268

When Published: 2003

Publisher / Place of Publication: Co. Kildare Archaeological Society / Kildare.

About:   An essay which examines how, in the second half of the seventeenth-century, a ‘new’ Dunlavin came to be established  on the site that it now occupies. In particular, the author examines the role of the Bulkeley family, especially Richard Bulkeley, Second Baronet of Dunlavin. Although it was a ‘planned town’ not all plans came to fruition, and over the subsequent centuries unforeseen developments occurred.

ID number(s): 0332-0782

Extra #1: View the entry for ‘Dunlavin’ in the Placenames Database of Ireland.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #4: This article won the Lord Walter Fitzgerald Prize Essay 2003

Extra #5: Visit the County Kildare Archaeology Society website.

Extra #6: Search and access the content of Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society free of charge, courtesy of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society and Kildare Library Services.

Extra #7: Link to the author’s website at https://www.chrislawlor.ie/

Demolition Disallowed

© Wicklow County Council

Full title: Record of Protected Structures Wicklow….

Creator / Author: Wicklow County Council

Item Type / Page count: Books / ebooks / 77-79pp each

When Published: 2010-2022

Publisher / Place of Publication: Wicklow County Council / Wicklow.

Parent Publication [book]: Wicklow County Development Plans 2010-2028

About: These comprehensive listings and brief descriptions of more than 500 protected structures are published as part of each iteration of Wicklow County Development Plans covering the period 2010 to 2028.  The listings cover all types of structures including private houses, country houses, rectories, churches, commercial buildings, bridges, schools, pubs, hotels, street furniture etc.

ID number(s): None

Contents: Each entry is arranged under Ref. No. / OS Map Ref. / Building Address / Structure / Townland / Description. Each entry is accompanied by a colour photograph.

Extra #1: View / Download the full text of the 2022-2028 publication via Wicklow.ie website.

Extra #2: View / Download the full text of the 2016-2022 publication via Wicklow.ie website.

Extra #3: View / Download the full text of the 2010-2016 publication via Wicklow.ie website.

Update note: This page last updated April 2024

Households in Rathbran Parish in middle of 19th century

Full title: Parish of Rathbran

Creator / Author: Richard Griffith

Item Type / Page count: Book Chapter / eDoc / 9p

When Published: 1854

Publisher / Place of Publication: Alexander Thom and Sons for Her Majesty’s Stationary Office / 87 Abbey Street, Dublin.

Parent Publication [book]: County of Wicklow: valuation of the several tenements comprising that portion of the Union of Baltinglass situate in the county above named / Richard Griffith, General Valuation Office / 106pp

About: The property tax system of 1850’s Ireland, otherwise known as Griffiths Valuation. It was the first major attempt at valuing property. This section lists householders in the Parish of Rathbran, part of the area covered by the Poor Law Union of Baltinglass in West Wicklow.

ID number(s): None

Contents: Ballinacrow Lower — Ballinacrow Upper — Ballyhook — Ballyhook Demesne — Ballyhook Hill — Ballynatone — Gibralter — Goldenfort — Kill — Manger — Mattymount — Raheen — Rampere — Rathbran — Saundersgrove — Saundersgrove Hill — Scurlogue — Stratford — Town of Stratford — Tuckmill Hill — Tuckmill Lower — Tuckmill Upper — Winetavern — Town of Stratford.

Extra #1: Read the entries for  Griffiths Valuation Rathbran Parish (pdf file).

Extra #2: Search Griffiths Valuation and link to contemporary maps at AskAboutIreland.ie

Extra #3: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #4: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide

Our Villages – Their History

© The Publisher

Full title: Wicklow villages: a historic guide

Creator / Author: Pat Dargan

Item Type / Page count: Book / 36p

When Published: 2013

Publisher / Place of Publication: Sara Editions / The Lodge, Cronybyrne, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow.

About: This book is listed as being No.1 in the Irish Historic Villages Series of 2013. It would seem to be an alternative edition of a similarly-titled publication first issued by Wicklow County Council in 2011. It is a full-colour A4 sized book which traces the development of villages in County Wicklow between 700 – 1900, explaining how history, the natural environment and the buildings make them what they are today.

ID number(s): None

Contents: The Wicklow Village — Monastic settlements — Estate villages — The Picturesque — Chapel villages — Legacy — Catalogue of villages.

Extra #1: Includes colour photographs on every page.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide (2011 edition).