Clondalkin History Society’s May lecture is on Monday 27th May at 8pm in Arás Chronáin Irish Cultural Centre on Watery Lane, Clondalkin.
Emer Ging will give a talk on Clondalkin’s Viking Connections
All Welcome!
History Events in South Dublin Libraries in May 2013
There are lots of history lectures and events coming up in South Dublin Libraries during the month of May. As usual all events are free and all are welcome! The only event that requires booking is the Selina Guinness reading at Whitechurch Library, which you can book by calling 01 4930199.
Ballyroan Library
Thursday 23rd May, 7:30 pm
Dublin in the Early 20th Century
Exploring the 1911 Census with Caitriona Crowe, Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland
County Library Tallaght
Tuesday 14th May, 7:00 pm
Tallaght Historical Society Lecture – The Irish at Gallipoli, 1915, a talk by Michael Whelan
Tuesday 21st May, 7:00 pm
Electing the Popes, how and why the process came about with Miriam Moffit, Department of History, NUI Maynooth
Tuesday 28th May, 7:00 pm
The Building of the Dublin Suburbs: an exploration of houses and furniture using newspaper advertisements.
with Dr. Miriam Moffit, Department of History, NUI Maynooth
Whitechurch Library
Thursday 23rd May, 2:00 pm
A Crocodile by the Door: Selina Guinness of Tibradden reads from her award winning memoir. Booking essential.
The Massys of Killakee
by Frank Tracy
The Massy family lineage can be traced to Normandy where they were landowners in the ninth century. In 1066 members of the family, led by Hamon de Masci, were among the Normans who invaded England with William the Conquerer. Hamon de Masci was created a Baron by William and he and his relatives were granted extensive landholdings in Cheshire. Over time, the family surname was anglicised to Massey. Baron Massey established his seat at Dunham Massey near Altringham and thirteen successors, each named Hamon, resided there. Dunham Massey is now in the ownership of the English National Trust and is a major visitor attraction.
In 1649, Hugh Massy, a cavalry commander from Cheshire, was among the Cromwellian forces that landed in Ireland. From the time of his arrival in Ireland, his surname is recorded as ‘Massy’. It is this form of the surname that is used by his descendants. Following the Cromwellian campaign in Ireland, Hugh Massy was granted extensive landholdings in Co. Limerick and built a large mansion at Duntrileague, near Galbally.
In 1776 his great grandson, also Hugh Massy, was created Baron Massy of Duntrileague. Over the years the family extended their landholdings in Co. Limerick and in 1807 they moved their seat to Hermitage, a large estate at Castleconnell on the banks of the Shannon.
Killakee House
In 1826, Hugh Hamon 4th Baron Massy, married Matilda White, a daughter of Luke White, who was said to be the richest man in Ireland. Luke white had extensive landholdings throughout Ireland including an estate of 2,900 acres at Killakee, in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains where he built a magnificent mansion, Killakee house, which he gave to his son Samuel. Samuel White died without issue and the house and estate passed to his widowed sister, Baroness Matilda Massy and through to her son, John Thomas 6th Baron Massy.
John Thomas Massy inherited three large mansions, a shooting lodge, and 34,000 acres of land at various locations throughout Ireland. He lived an extravagant lifestyle throughout his long life and he retained his mansions (and his lifestyle) even after most of his landholdings were sold to tenants under various land acts. By the time of his death, aged eighty, in 1915 his estate was heavily indebted. After his death the family derived income for some years from selling off the contents of the various great houses, but eventually ran out of money. In 1924 the 6th Baron’s grandson, Hugh Hamon 8th Baron Massy, was evicted from Killakee House. Having declared himself ill and taken to his bed, he refused to vacate the house and was carried by the bailiffs from the house and deposited on the public roadway at the nearest estate gateway (now the entrance to Timbertrove on the Killakee Road). Killakee House was taken over by a bank in lieu of debts and, unable to find a purchaser, it was sold for its scrappage value and demolished in 1941.
Beehive Cottage where the 8th Baron Massy lived for his last 34 years
Following the eviction, the bank reluctantly permitted the family to take possession of a nearby vacant three roomed gate lodge, Beehive Cottage. Hugh Hamon, 8th Baron Massy and his wife, lived in this cottage for 34 years until his death in 1958. His son Hugh Hamon (Hughie), joined the British Army in 1941 and saw action in WWII. He married an Irish woman and set up home in England where they raised a family of four sons and a daughter. The family of Lord Massy of Duntrileague are now ordinary people living ordinary lives at various locations in England where they have finally achieved that level of anonymity that we all know as normality.
Frank Tracy is the author of the history of the Massy family, If Those Trees Could Speak: the Story of an Ascendancy Family in Ireland, available from branches of South Dublin Libraries or to download from Source. You can listen to Frank speaking about the Massy family here. In association with Timbertrove Café, Frank is available to give free guided walks of Massy’s Woods to interested groups. You can contact him by email at frank.j.tracy@gmail.com
Bohernabreena Waterworks, then and now
Bohernabreena Waterworks circa 1900
The reservoirs at Bohernabreena were constructed between 1883 and 1887 for the dual purpose of supplying Rathmines with drinking water and of ensuring a constant supply of water to the many mills along the River Dodder. There were, at the time, forty-five mills served by the Dodder, of which fifteen were flour mills. The rest consisted of paper, paint, cardboard, cotton, saw, glue and dye mills, as well as distilleries, breweries, malt houses, foundries, tanneries and a bacon curing factory.
The waterworks consisted of two impounding reservoirs, the upper or clear water reservoir and the lower or mill owners’ compensatory reservoir. The gathering ground consisted partly of bog land which comprised the mountainous area around Castlekelly and stony land free from peat which lay on both sides of the glen. It was from the latter area that clear water was collected into the upper reservoir for drinking purposes. The peaty water off the bogs bypassed the upper reservoir in an artificially constructed channel. At the upper end of the mill owners’ reservoir there was a guage which allowed 1500 cubic feet of water per minute to pass into a pipeline through which it was conveyed into the natural river channel below the dam. The surplus water was diverted into the lower lake where it could be held until it was needed.
Bohernabreena Waterworks 2012
Today, Bohernabreena Waterworks is still vital to Dublin’s water supply. Water is pumped from here to Ballyboden Treatment Works and it supplies millions of litres to the city every day. The Waterworks are also a popular spot for walkers and are the start of the Dublin Mountains Way. The shores of the reservoirs are clothed in a mixture of trees and shrubs and bird species present in the area include gulls, kingfisher, dipper, grey wagtail, heron and moorhen.
For further information see http://source.southdublinlibraries.ie and http://www.dublinmountains.ie
Photograph of 1950s Hurling Team Provokes Excellent Response
We received an excellent response to the photograph of unidentified hurlers in Croke Park published on the Rewind page in The Echo on Thursday 21st February, which resulted in a number of readers phoning in to identify the entire team.
The first to respond was Denis Donovan in the front row of the photo. He confirmed that the event was the Primary Schools Hurling Finals in Croke Park in 1958. Once this was communicated to Mark Reynolds, an archivist in Croke Park, he quickly located an article from the Sunday Independent dated 1st June 1958. The paper carried a report of Rathfarnham (11-5) beating Edmondstown (3-1) in Croke Park on Saturday 31st May 1958 in the Fianna Fail Cup Final.
The article reported this game as “the best of three games which brought the Dublin Primary Schools hurling season to a close”. Though “the losers gave as good as they got up to the interval”, the Sunday Independent also reported that “the easiest win was recorded by Rathfarnham who ran riot in the second half against Edmonstown to capture the Harry Conlon cup” for the very first time.
Names identified from left to right are: Front Row: Martin Keane, Tom Hopkins, Jim Cummins, Mick Hensey, Denis Donovan, Tom Glennon, Ronan Douglas, Des Johns and Joe Bryan. Back Row: Ronald Perry, Frank Mc Lean, Peter Mc Lean, Donal Duffy, John Kernan, James Callaghan, Charlie Byrne, Thomas Walsh and Pat Sweeney.
The later achievements of some young hurlers were also mentioned by callers. Denis Donovan played football for Dublin in the 1960’s, Pat Sweeney was a foreman in South Dublin County Council until his retirement, Jim Cummins who later played as goalkeeper for Shamrock Rovers subsequently emigrated to Australia and Joe Bryan became a celebrated golfer who played in the finals of an Irish golf championship.
Thanks to everyone who got in touch!
Dublin City Bookfair – Easter Monday
Dublin City Bookfair
at
Tara Towers Hotel
Merrion Road, Dublin 4
Easter Monday
April 1st, 11.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.
Free Valuations
Info: Eddie Murphy – lyonshillbooks@eircom.net
The Knocklyon Murder of 1883
An old man named Patrick Quinn, aged 70, was murdered on Sunday evening, 27th October 1883 outside his home on Beech Park Avenue – also known as Walsh’s Road – off Knocklyon Road. This avenue has long since disappeared and the Dargle Wood estate now occupies the ground.
Area in which the murder took place.
The main suspect, Peter Wade, was arrested early on Sunday morning, 28th, at his home in Tymon North where, it was reported, he had blood stains on his clothing, abrasions to his face and had shaved off his moustache. The Irish Times also reported that he was ‘well known to the police’ and had recently been released from prison, having served twelve months hard labour.
Also on Sunday morning, 28th, a post mortem examination was held at nearby Knocklyon Cottage. To the best of our knowledge, this still exists as a large cttage attached to the former Knocklyon House – now known as the Rutland Centre. The inquest jury (all local people) found that the old man had died a violent death and the police initiated a murder inquiry. The widow of Mr. Quinn identified the suspect from a line up of three, adding that he had shaved off his moustache and was not wearing the muffler he had on him the evening before when he called to her house.
Knocklyon House, now known as The Rutland Centre. Photo courtesy of the NIAH.
Later on that same afternoon, at a Special Court sitting in Rathfarnham Barracks. Mrs. Quinn and various police officers were cross examined and the prisoner was remanded in custody.
Patrick Quinn was buired in St. Nathy’s cemetery in Dundrum on Tuesday 30th October 1883. His grave in now unmarked – as are many of the graves from this period.
The Irish Times went on to cover another seven sittings of the Rathfarnham Petty Sessions Court regarding this case. This included a review of the inquest, additional information regarding witness statements, statements from new witnesses regarding the movements and corroborated sightings of Peter Wade on the afternoon, evening and night of the murder. Throughout this trial, the prisoner was not legally represented and there was no jury. The local JPs, a mixture of local legal professionals, local landowners and business people, made the decisions here.
As the trial progressed in Rathfarnham, it would appear that several witnesses changed their statements or, perhaps, the newspaper changed its interpretation of what was said. At a time when you lost your home when you lost your job, and your business could suffer badly from being associated with a convicted criminal, it was clear that many of the witnesses were distancing themselves from the accused. RIC officers from stations at Rathfarnham, Rockbrook and Tallaght were also involved in the proceedings. The verdict was that the prisoner be tried at the next Dublin Winter Assizes, at Green Street Court in Dublin, on the capital charge, ie. murder.
The RIC Barracks in Tallaght
The Irish Times also covered the two day trial at Green Street. Many of the same witnesses were called and the trial had a twist insofar as Peter Wade tried to seek leniency by implicating others in the murder. He named three men and said there was up to eight others involved in the murder. He said they had walked across footpaths through the fields from Clifton’s public house to Quinn’s house. He accused two of the murder, while he and another waited for them to return. He calimed he feared for his life and his family’s life if he did not accompany them.
The police refuted his allegations, stating that he had got one of the men’s names wrong and that no one had seen him with these men in the week preceding the murder. The judge refused to discuss it further, stating that these men were not suspects at the time of the murder and that there was no evidence of their involvement. He went on to state that Wade had been sighted at Quinn’s house, he had blood on his clothing (shirt, handkerchief and coat), he had scratches to his face and hands, part of his whiskers appeared to be torn off, he had mysteriously shaved his moustache on that particular night (something he had never done before), and his coat and boots were covered in mud – all consistent with a violent struggle. His known movements placed him at the scene of the murder and there seemed to be only one person involved in the fatal assault on Mr. Quinn.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty but some were against capital punishment. The judge stated that this was out of his hands, donned the black cap and sentenced Wade to be hanged at Kilmainham Gaol on January 16th 1884.
Mary Ann Quinn was outside Kilmainham when Peter Wade was executed – by 1884 public executions had ceased. During the trial she said she had “no landlord or landlady” and that she was “under the protection of the police”. By the time of the execution, she was homeless “a wandering maniac upon the world”. She had lost her husband, she had lost her home – she would die anonymously and there is no record of her burial. This was the way of Victorian Ireland.
The scandal greatly affected the locality and two key witnesses in the trial and three of the wealthy neighbours moved out of the area that year. Mr. Malone quit his farm, Mr. Byrne quit Templeogue Mills and three of the big houses were vacant in 1884 – apparently no tenants could be found for them. The avenue where the murder took place fell into neglect and disappeared under grass.
By James O’Brien. A summary of the lecture given to Tallaght Historical Society on 11th September 2012.
