Twelfth Collection of Articles on West Wicklow History

© Individual Contributors

Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 12, 2023-24

Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Declan Keenan

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 200p

When Published: 2023

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

About: This twelveth publication of this biennial journal was launched in the Coimín Centre, Blessington on 9/11/2023. It includes perhaps the most diverse set of topics yet to appear in this journal. Full contents are listed below. The most extensive article in this issue runs to 24 pages. In it, Peter W. Halligan provides an enlightening account of the castles at Oldcourt and Three Castles. 

ID number(s): 0790-1739

Contents: Foreword from the Chairman / Paul Gorry — Donal McDonnell (1945-2022) — Secretary’s Synopsis / Cora Crampton — Noel Lyons (1942-2022) — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Mapping the devolved Gaelic territories and districts of the O’Tooles / Declan Keenan — Migrant railway workers and local communities: a case study of Harristown station on the Sallins-Tullow branch line 1883-1951 / John O’Brien — Some observations on the Great famine in County Wicklow, c.1845-1850 / Gerald Cullen — Gentry, Brides and Lions / Maura Murphy Gibson — The man who wore a blue shirt in 1933: the Bass War in West Wicklow and Kildare / Declan O’Connor — A little bit of Bulgaria in Ireland: Pierce O’Mahony (1850-1930): politician and philanthropist / Brian McCabe — Dame Ninette de Valois (Edris Stannus) / Paul Tyrell — A 1792 Rental of the Lordship of Belan, Co. Kildare / Richard B. Lennon —Language Matters Revisited / Ita Roddy — Death from a Flat-Nosed Bullet in Blessington / James Scannell — A farming community: Hollywood in the early twentieth century / John Glennon — Sadhbh O’Byrne – glimpses of a Gaelic woman of sixteenth-century Ireland / Cora Crampton — The Manor of Blessington, created by Michael Boyle / Jim Corley — Revisiting the 1798 Dunlavin massacre for its 225th anniversary / Chris Lawlor — Balfe the Robber / Brendan Corrigan — A sociological interpretation of the Hillfort Capital – exploring Hughstown and Tinoran hillforts (part 1 of 3) / Mairéad Kelly — Charles Maule Drury (1848-1939) – collector of folklore / Paul Gorry — The castles of Oldcourt and Three Castles / Peter W. Halligan — ‘I say it as I think it’ : The life and controversial times of Rev. T. C. O’Connor, Rector of Donoughmore and Donard / Rosemary Raughter — Query / Peter W. Halligan.

Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with 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

Eleventh Collection of Articles on West Wicklow History

© Individual Contributors

Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 11, 2021-22

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

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 168p

When Published: 2021

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

About: This is the eleventh publication of the now biennial journal. It includes a very broad set of topics indeed. Subjects covered include: The O’Tooles in the 16^th century, Ladies’ Day in Punchestown, A Wicklow man in India, The seasonal movement of livestock in the Wicklow mountains, A murder from 1916 and A traditional recipe for oatmeal biscuits, to name but a few. The most extensive article in this issue is by Cora Crampton. Running to 26 pages it tells of John & Jennie Wyse Power, a real-life couple who featured in Joyce’s Ulysses.  

ID number(s): 0790-1739

Contents: Foreword from the Chairman / John A. O’Toole — Ramblings of the Secretary / Donal McDonnell — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Ladies’ Day at Punchestown: 150 years of Festival Fashion / Dr. Emma Lyons — The O’Tooles of Imail in the sixteenth-century / Brendan Corrigan — ‘Home Rule is throwing many a shadow now’: Wicklow women, Unionism and the Women’s Declaration of 1912 / Rosemary Raughter — ‘A Celt, A Catholic and a Peasant’- A Wicklow man in India / Andrew Keating — John and Jennie Wyse Power – the real-life couple featured in James Joyce’s Ulysses  / Cora Crampton — The Rev. Ogle Moore of Manor Kilbride / Jim Corley — The beautiful woman in the long red cloak / Ita Roddy — Winter-transhumance routes between the Wicklow Mountains and the surrounding lowlands / John Hussey — Murder Most Foul / Maura Murphy Gibson – Some aspects of County Wicklow’s railway history / James Scannell — Back to Burgage / Niamh McCabe & Brian McCabe — The Irish language influence in West Wicklow placenames / John Glennon — Oatmeal biscuits / Sarah Gillespie — Divided loyalties in Kildare: truce, treaty and drift to Civil War / Michael Murphy —Baltinglass Bridewell and Courthouse [Part Two] / Chris Lawlor.

Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs, maps, drawings and graphs.

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.

IN MEMORIAM Donal McDonnell (Hon. Secretary of WWHS and joint-editor of this journal) R.I.P

The Memories of Séamus Balfe

© John Hussey

Full title: Another world: hill farming in the Wicklow Mountains: Séamus Balfe’s memories of Lackan, Kylebeg and Ballynultagh

Creator / Author: John Hussey

Item Type / Page count: Book / 107p

When Published: 2019

Publisher / Place of Publication: The Author / [Co. Wicklow]

About: If this book came out in a hardback edition it might be known as a ‘coffee-table’ book, given its size and format (21 x 30 cm). It is a handsome presentation of the recollections of Séamus Balfe on social and farming life in the uplands of West Wicklow. The book arose out of a series of interviews that John Hussey conducted with Séamus Balfe between 2006 and 2019 and this end result perfectly preserves memories of a way of life that will disappear all too soon.

ID number(s): 9781913108182

Contents: Introduction – Life around Lackan in the early 1940’s – Shops and Traders – Escapades in Dublin — Entertainment — Hill-farming at Lackan and Kylebeg — Fairs, marts and droving – Ballynultagh: a forgotten place — Wicklow houses — Illnesses, doctors and death — Easing off and easing out.

Extra #1: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #2: Includes maps and photographs.

Extra #3: Link to John Hussey’s page on Academia.edu

Carmel O’Toole’s Glorious Glenmalure

© The Author

Full title: Glenmalure: the wild heart of the mountains: a valley and its people

Creator / Author: Carmel O’Toole

Item Type / Page count: Book / 336p

When Published: 2015

Publisher / Place of Publication: [The Author] / Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow

About: A wide-ranging and beautifully produced hardback book which relates the history of Glenmalure and stories of its people. The content of this substantial book is meticulously and widely researched and includes oral testimonies. Every aspect is brought to life with lively text which is interspersed with glorious photographs and illustrations. This book will stand as the definitive history of this lovely valley for years to come.

ID number(s): 9781873489154

Contents: Acknowledgements — Introduction – Glenmalure Timeline – Glenmalure Map – Early Inhabitants & Religious Settlements — Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne: Firebrand of the Wicklow Mountains — The Battle of Glenmalure — The Escape of the Ulster Princes (Red Hugh O’Donnell and Art O’Neill) — Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne 1580-1597 – The Twelve Graves – Glenmalure 1798-1803 — The Military Road — Glenmalure Lodge – Mining in Glenmanlure — The Last House in the Glen – The Shadow of the Glen: J.M. Synge and Glenmalure – Tragic Accidents in the Mountains near Glenmalure – Forestry Men and Timber Men — Sheep Farming in the Hills: old traditions and new methods — Glenmalure: reflections / Fr. Willie Walshe — Ballinacor Estate – Kirikee School 1881-1969 — GAA in Glenmalure — Glenmalure Today.

Appendix I – Bibliography.

Appendix II – Townlands, Placenames and Local Names of Glenmalure. Glenmalure – Conavalla and local place names in Conavalla — Ballinagoneen and local place names in Ballinagoneen – Cullentragh Park and local place names in Cullentragh Park — Ballinafunshoge and local place names in Ballinafunshoge – Ballyboy and local place names in Ballyboy – Ballybraid and local place names in Ballybraid — Carriglinneen and local place names in Carriglinneen — Kirikee and local place names in Kirikee — Ballinabarney and local place names in Ballinabarney – Ballintombay Lower and local place names in Ballintombay Lower – Camenabologue and local place names in Camenabologue — Barravore and local place names in Barravore – Ballinaskea / Bolenaskea and local place names in Ballinaskea / Bolenaskea — Clonkeen and local place names in Clonkeen — Corrasillagh and local place names in Corrasillagh — Carrawaystick and local place names in Carrawaystick — Clohernagh and local place names in Clohernagh — Drumgoff and local place names in Drumgoff — Fananierin and local place names in Fananierin — Ballinacor and local place names in Ballinacor – Banks on the road.

Appendix III – Poems & Songs of Glenmalure. Glenmalure / Anon. – Glenmalure / Jim Byrne – Feagh McHugh / Thomas D’Arcy McGee – Follow Me Up To Carlow / P.J. McCall – The Battle of Glenmalure / M.J. McCann — The Battle of Glenmalure / Anon. – The Death of Feagh McHugh O’Byrne / MacKeohoe – Gleann Maoliúra / Biddy Jenkinson – At the Mass Rock / Jim Byrne – The Outlaw’s Bridal / Anon. – Michael Dwyer / T.D. Sullivan – Michael Dwyer / Peadar Kearney – The Rebel’s Grave / Jim Byrne – Glenmalure / Dave Curtis – The Lone Hiker / Peter Cunningham-Grattan – Daughters of Wild Glenmalure / Peter Cunningham-Grattan – Croaghanmoira / Jane Clarke – The Curate of Greenane / Peter Cunningham-Grattan – Jim Connolly / Peter Cunningham-Grattan – Old Ballinacor G.A.A. Song / Christy Hughes – Kathleen / Jane Clarke – Lovely Wicklow / W..J. Duffy – Glenmalure / Jim Byrne.

Appendix IV – Leaders in Glenmalure. Michael Dwyer (1772-1825) – John Mernagh (1770-1857) – Patrick Grant (1761-1800) – Hugh Vesty Byrne (1770-1842) – Extract from the Memoirs of Miles Byrne.

Extra #1: Includes numerous photographs, maps and other illustrations.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

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

Extra #4: View the entry for ‘Glenmalure’ in the Placenames Database of Ireland.

Sixth Collection of Articles on West Wicklow History

© WWHS

Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 6, 2011

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

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 100p

When Published: 2011

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

About: The sixth publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history. This issue contains articles featuring locations as diverse as Calverstown, Co. Kildare, Glen of Imaal, High Park and Australia. The major article in this edition is ’Pastimes’ by Joseph McArdle, a fictional account of life in the Tuckmill area of Baltinglass in the late 19^th century. It is a chapter from a manuscript entitled ‘The Hillside Farm, or How We Lived in the Eighties’. Another chapter from this manuscript was published in Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 5, 2009.

ID number(s): 0790-1739

Contents: A word from the Chairman — Ramblings of the Secretary — Death in the valley [the killing of Neil ‘Plunkett’ O’Boyle] / James Durney — Blackhall Castle, Calverstown, Co. Kildare [and theories as to the possible functions of its Sheelagh na Gig] / Cora Crampton – Knockpatrick Hill legend [a dress fastener for a chieftain’s cloak] / Dorothy Leonard — Michael Dwyer and Bridget Brown of Cummock / David Ward — The role of  horses in farm life in the 1920’s / Stanley Jackson — Miscellaneous biographical notices relating to Baltinglass, appearing in newspapers, 1748-1904 / Paul Gorry – Martin Byrne, 1815-1892 / Dermot Kavanagh and Brian Kavanagh — Farewell to the 25-pounder field gun / James Scannell — Hollywood, an historic village /  John Glennon — Passage tombs in West Wicklow / Mairéad Connellan — [‘The Hillside Farm, or how we lived in the 1880s’ an extract entitled]…Pastimes / Joseph McArdle — The Westbys and High Park House / Peadar Cullen — St. Nicholas’s Holy Well, Tournant / Chris Lawlor — Christmas Day 1910 Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway timetable / James Scannell.

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.

Fifth Collection of Articles on West Wicklow History

© WWHS

Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 5, 2009

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

Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 107p

When Published: 2009

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

About: The fifth publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history. This issue covers locations from Baltyboys to Kiltegan with contributions from natives of the area.  Also featured is a major article by Chris Lawlor on Tithe, Protest and Criminality around Dunlavin during the years 1823-1845.

ID number(s): 0790-1739

Contents: Frontispiece: A map of 31 holdings in Stratford, late 18thC — A word from the Chairman — Ramblings from the Secretary — All the year round / Joseph McArdle — St. Patrick’s Missionary Society: S.P.S (The Kiltegan Fathers)  / Peadar C. Ó Cuilinn — Tithe, Protest and Criminality around Dunlavin, 1823-1845 / Chris Lawlor — Billy’s Country – a childhood memory / Kathleen Kinsella (née Keogh) — The West Wicklow Historical Society Officers 2009 — Baltinglass Cistercian Abbey / Mairéad Connellan — When Britannia’s sons with their long-range guns ran out in the Glen of Imaal / Liam Kenny — Photo from the past – John Dwyer, son of rebel leader Michael Dwyer / Eugene Byrne — West Wicklow as described in the Parliamentary Gazetteer of 1846 / compiled by Jason Lawlor — A horse tale / Dorothy Leonard — Memories of Donard [photo essay] — Elizabeth Smith comes to Baltyboys / Jim Corley — Dairy farming in West Wicklow: from the horse driven dash churn to creamery milk collection / Stanley Jackson — Methodists in Baltinglass – a juvenile obituary / Andrew Winnett — Extracts from the ‘Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers’ Directory Through Ireland’ / William Wilson — The development and present state of local Irish historiography / Chris Lawlor — A dangerous line / Janes Scannell — Endpiece: Map of Clough, Baltinglass 1722.

Extra #1: Contains black & white photographs, graphs and map reproductions.

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.

A Massive County History

© The Publisher

Full title: Wicklow: history & society – interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish county

Creator / Author: Ken Hannigan and William Nolan (editors) & contributors.

Item Type / Page count: Book / 1005p

When Published: 1994

Publisher / Place of Publication: Geography Publications / 24 Kennington Rd., Templeogue, Dublin 6W.

About: The major history of the County of Wicklow, this is the seventh volume in the Irish County History Series which eventually aims to cover all 32 counties. It brings together 25 essays written by experts in their field and covers aspects of Wicklow history and society from prehistorical to modern times.

ID number(s): 0906602300 / 9780906602300

Contents: Wicklow’s prehistoric landscape / Geraldine Stout — Kings, saints and sagas / Alfred P. Smyth — Evidence of Scandinavian settlement in Wicklow / Colmán Etchingham — The unity of Cóemgen and Ciarán: a covenant between Glendalough and Clonmacnois in the tenth to eleventh centuries / A. S. MacShamhráin — Medieval Wicklow -‘A land of war’ / J. F. Lydon — Anglo-Norman settlement in Uí Briúin Chualann, 1169-1350 / Linzi Simpson — Three settlements of Gaelic Wicklow: Rathgall, Ballinacor and Glendalough / Harry Long — Settlers’ utilisation of the natural resources / Rolf Loeber — The Byrnes of Ballymanus / Conor O’Brien — The rebellion of 1798 in County Wicklow / Ruan O’Donnell — Masters of the mountains: the insurgent careers of Joeseph Holt and Michael Dwyer, County Wicklow, 1798-1803 / Thomas Bartlett — Politics and rebellion: Wicklow in the 1790s / L. M. Cullen — The Poor Law in County Wicklow / Eva O’ Cathaoir — Vernacular rural dwellings of the Wicklow Mountains / F. H. A. Aalen — The holy wells of County Wicklow: traditions and legends / Geraldine Lynch — Land and landscape in County Wicklow / William Nolan — Synge and Wicklow / Nicholas Grene — A survey: some Wicklow maps 1500-1888 / Patrick Power — The mining community at Avoca 1780-1880 / Des Cowman — Wicklow before and after the famine / Ken Hannigan — The evolution of forestry in County Wicklow from prehistory to the present / Mary Kelly Quinn — From Grand Jury to County Council: an overview of local administration in Wicklow, 1605-1898 / Brian Donnelly — Parnell and his neighbours / R. F. Foster — A rightful place in the sun: the struggle of the farm and rural labourers in County Wicklow / Ross M. Connolly — ‘The water was the sheriff’: the land beneath the Poulaphuca reservoir / Fiachra Mac Gabhann — A select bibliography of printed books on County Wicklow / Joan Kavanagh.

WW Connection #1: Contains several essays relevant to West Wicklow history and archaeology.

Extra #1: Contains many illustrations, photographs and maps.

Extra #2: Contains a fold-out reproduction of Jacob Nevill’s 1760 map of the county.

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 Publisher’s website:  http://www.geographypublications.com/

Country Diary of a Dunlavin Lady

© The Publisher

Full title: Monica Carr’s Country Diary

Creator / Author: Monica Carr

Item Type / Page count: Book / 142p

When Published: 1997

Publisher / Place of Publication: Cork Publishing Ltd. / 19 Rutland Street, Cork

About: Monica Carr wrote a popular column in the ‘Farming Independent’ in Ireland. This book is a compilation of some of those ‘Country Diary’ columns which evoke memories of a simple and less mechanised farming culture.

ID number(s): 1860769551

Chapters:  Mean, hungry January — Sound the horn! — Boiling the bones — Walk on, walk on — Winds of change — Another age — Candlemas lore — Séan’s dilemma — Rooks build in Spring — Animal welfare — Going out like a lion — Dogs in the kitchen — Cycling in April — Polishing and superstition — Holy Week — Good Friday — Water everywhere — April hurries away — Family woes — The Spring Show — Glorious May — Summer blooming — On the treadmill — Joys of June — Sick friends — That sinking feeling — Picnic time — The scythe was king — Loneliness — A feast of colour — Home from America — Great inventions — Sunshine habits — Mushrooms — Season of fruit trees — Harvest of the binder — Accidents — Blossoming forth — A four-legged pest — Counting the pennies — Tremendous shock — Down from Dublin — A little rain — Autumn scents — Grandfather’s penknife — Salty bacon — Bulls and wrens — Martha’s passing — Plucking the turkey — Christmas Eve — December 31.

WW Connection #1: Monica Carr is the pseudonym of Mary Norton, who was born in Dunlavin in 1922.

Extra #1: includes some decorative illustrations.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

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