Barony Of Gaultier Historical Society Echo
A
Quarterly newsletter of the Barony of
Gaultier Historical Society
Issue 1 July 2014
The
society is pleased to present this newsletter.
We would like to produce a newsletter regularly during each year –
perhaps every three months depending on contributions from members and the
public. To do this we are relying on you the reader
to send in material - recollections,
photos, items of heritage or historical
interest, references etc. This is in
keeping with our mission which is to increase awareness of our local history and heritage leading to the
recording or conservation of relevant historic sites and other material. Local history is a collaborative process and
exists best where people are willing to share memories and relevant
information. We would like to dedicate
this first edition to all those who over
the decades have gathered and shared
information about our past in this very historic Barony of Gaultier.
There
are many topics that are relevant: the
story of our townlands, the historic
buildings and field monuments, the
lifeboat story, customs, the story of our Pilotss, the fishing and fishermen, people,
place names, field boundaries, etc.
Edward Phelan
Edward
Phelan was Secretary General of the International Labour Organisation in the
years following the Second World War and was a major player in saving the ILO
by moving it lock stock and barrel to Montreal from Geneva in 1941 when its
existence was threatened as war gathered round Switzerland. Edward spent some of his childhood in
Gaultier staying with his grandfather, a sea captain, in his house in the
village of Cheekpoint. His description
of the journey he made by car along the back roads of the Pyrenees seeking an
obscure crossing point into neutral Spain as Hitler ordered Gen Franco of Spain to close
the border reads every bit a spy thriller.
But
even more important for Gaultier history is his account of Cheekpoint in the
last years of the 19th century.
He tells us how he used to walk down the hill from his house as the
paddle steamer from New Ross rounded Dromdowny bound for Waterford. His account is found in the book, Edward
Phelan and the ILO which is available in the Waterford Library.
Hospice Field Day
The
Society’s Hospice Field Day takes place on Sunday July 27. Venue for the event as usual is Flynns Field
in Killea. The entrance is next to Hayes’s Pub. The exciting programme begins at 1 pm and
will continue throughout the afternoon.
Over the past 4 years the Field Day has raised for Waterford Hospice
close to €15,000 and we are asking patrons to be as generous as they have been
in the past in helping push the Hospice Fund towards its target.
Summer evening Walks
The
first of our summer programme of evening walks took place on Tuesday June 24. The
theme of the walk was the history, houses and peoole of the upper village. It was a lovely evening for the walk and close
to 40 people came out to hear the story of the village including the building
of the quay and Lighthouse, Dunmore in
the days of the Milford Packet and the
contribution of some ‘legendary’ former and present residents. The next walk is on Tuesday July 22. It starts at the Park main gate and will take
in the Lower Village and its interesting history. A good stretch of legs is involved as we climb up over Counsellors and come back
via Killea. Walks starts at 7.30 pm and
members of the Society will be on hand to share their research with us.
Evidence of Mesolithic settlement in
the area. Noel McDonagh has been walking Creadan Head
during the past few weeks and has found a substantial number of flints which possibly indicate a level of
settlement in the area which goes far beyond previous estimates. These finds will now be discussed with State
archaeologists hopefully resulting in a
clearer picture of early stone age life in Gaultier – probably dating back
earlier than 4000 BC. Congratulations
Noel.
World War 1 in Gaultier
On
the night of August 5th 1917 the German submarine U-44 under the
command of Commander Tebenjohanns, exploded and sank off Dunmore. The U-44 had
been laying mines and it is believed that it hit one of its own mines. 29 members of the crew were killed with only
its commader who was in the conning tower surviving. Three local men, two Power brothers and Jack
McGrath put to sea when they heard the explosion and eventually plucked
Tebenjoahanns from the water. Jack used
to tell the story of how Tebenjohanns apparently unconscious lay in the bottom
of the boat until they were coming up to Black Knob and then raised himself and
exclaimed ‘ we must be at Dunmore now’
This was before anyone saw the lighthouse. Jack used to tell this story to indicate how
this man was so skilled in navigation that he knew exactly where he was all the
time. The submarine was eventually
raised and it’s logbook indicated that it had sunk 28 ships since the
start of that year.
Queen’s Terrace – How Old?
The
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage dates the Queens Terrace Dunmore
East houses to c.1900. Yes there is a
persistent story of houses being built on Queens Terrace to house the families
who were involved in building the pier and lighthouse in the period 1815-1826.
There is also a reference to the Terrace being once called Kerry Terrace or
Kerry Lane. Mr William Power tells us
that there were older ‘cabins’ on Queens Terrace at one time but on the other
side of the street. Is it possible that
these were the Kerry Terrace houses built for the Pier workers, many of whom it
seems came from County Kerry. Can anyone
provide clarification and add to to the village story. Material to Ray McGrath at woodhouseduo@gmail.com. Many thanks.
Crooke and the Knights Templar
In
the late 12th century Crooke was one of the most important grain
growing areas of Ireland. The land here sloping down to Waterford
Harbour just uphill from Passage East was the property of the Knights Templar,
the controversial warrior monks whose overall mission it was to protect
pilgrims and possibly Crusaders going to the Holy Lands. Their local job was to work with their fellow
Templars across the Harbour near Templetown to monitor activities in the
Harbour. The late eminent scholar and
historian, Dr Niall Bryne in his book The Irish Crusade which is available from
Waterford Library outlines the extent of the
output of these lands of the Templars at Crooke. In one of his last lectures, part of the Society’s 2011/2012 winter series
, Dr Byrne gave a memorable talk on the Crooke Knights Templars to a packed
audience in the Ocean Hotel Dunmore East.
Read more in Dr Byrne’s book.
Brownstown Pillars
The
Brownstown Pillars date from the 1820s and were erected following the loss of
the Sea Horse in Tramore Bay as part of the beacon system to prevent further
disasters in Tramore Bay. The three
pillars on Newtown Head with the Metal Man in central commanding position
formed the other arm of this warning system.
Ships frequently mistook the opening to Tramore Bay for Waterford Harbour
and often ended up going aground or wrecked.
They were built in 1823 and designed by George Halpin who was at one time involved in the inspection of
Dunmore Lighthouse before its commissioning in 1826. It is most likely that they were whitewashed
making them even more visible from sea.
Kill St Lawrence Cemetary
Kill
St Lawrence Cemetery is in the Barony of Gaultier about three miles from the
centre of Waterford City. It is on the Southern side of the city and on the
Western side of the Airport Rd. It has the ruins of a small church within it’s
walls which is dedicated to St Lawrence and a pattern was held there every year
of the Feast of St Lawrence, August 10th until the early 1800’s. A
wall was built around the graveyard in 1878 because there were burials being
carried out during thehours of darkness. This contravened the Health Act of
1878. When the foundations were being excavated, some bones were discovered that
indicated that burials had taken place outside the present boundary.
The
graveyard was used during times of plagues such as typhus, measles and
smallpox. During the construction of the Airport Rd in 2002, evidence was discovered
of an earlier much larger enclosure which is now covered over with plastic and
lies under the present road. Radio carbon puts this earlier settlement at
between 650-780AD.
Autumn 2014 Lecture SeriesThe Autumn series of
lectures kicks off on Wednesday September 17th with Michael, Farrell
who will present a talk entitled Gaultier in 1914. Michael has been researching
the subject for the last few months and his talk is much anticipated. In
Wednesday October 15th, Damien McClelland will give a talk entitled
Walking Through History on the Road to Santiago. Damien has walked to
Compostella several times all from diferent starting points. He is currently
investigating the role of Waterford Harbour in the story of the pilgrimage. On
Weds. November 20th, Damien Tiernan will talk on the Waterford
Involvement in the First World War. Some of Damien’s research on the subject
was featured on a recent Nationwide programme with particular reference to the
memorial wall in Dungarvan. A surprising number of people from Waterfrod City
and the Gaultier area fought or died in the war and the talk will be an
opportunity to discuss their story.
Correspondence
and material to Ray McGrath at woodhouseduo@gmail.com
and Woodhouse, Cheekpoint, Co Waterford . Deadline for next issue os September
1.
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