FRIEND AND FOE 1917

 Events tickets for the maritime heritage weekend go on sale from July 1st in Dunmore East shops (Bay Cafe and Centra) and outlets in nearby villages.

Reservations to baronyofgaultierhistorical@gmail.com or text/call 

0838353673.

BARONY OF GAULTIER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PRESENTS

MARITIME HERITAGE WEEKEND

DUNMORE EAST, CO.WATERFORD.

FRIEND AND FOE 1917.

Commemorating U-Boat activity and rescue in Waterford Harbour.

SEMINAR..EXHIBITION..WALKS..CONCERT

AUGUST  04 AND 05 2017.

Two days commemorating the rescue of Kurt Tebbenjohanns, captain of the mine-laying U-Boat  UC44 by three Dunmore Men, but also remembering all those who lost their lives in WW1 activity in Dunmore East waters in 1917.

CONCERT, EXHIBITION AND SEMINAR

in St Andrew's Church, Dunmore East.

All other events at THE HARBOUR, DUNMORE EAST.

                  THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Part 1.

      The religious order of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon, or the Knights Templars was founded in 1118 by Sir Hugh de Payne and eight other knights.  The Crusades had succeeded in capturing the sacred sites of the Holy Land from the Moslems who had denied Christians access.

   St Bernard of Clairvaux drew up monastic rules for them in 1128 and by 1130 the Templars had become the standing army of the Christian States in the Holy Land.  The Princes and Knights of Medieval Europe joined the order in great numbers.  Generous presents of land and money were heaped on the Templars over the 12^th and 13^th centuries and their foundations spread all over Europe.  Henry 2^nd gave them a gift of land on both sides of Waterford Harbour as penance for his part in the murder of St Thomas A’ Beckett.

 In 1172,they established a Perceptory in Crooke and also in Kilbarry as well as in Clonaulty and Kilcloggan in Wexford.  The purpose of the Perceptories was to produce money and horses for the use of the fighting men in the Holy Land and to serve as retirement homes for old and wounded knights.

  In February 1307, Crooke consisted of a large farm of 3000 acres with 350 sheep and an amount of crops including peas.  Sales of wool and corn were the main sources of income.  They were granted the rights to have Mills for making flour.  This was a source of great wealth as they had the monopoly in and around the city of Waterford.  The Waterford merchants tried to build their own mills but were prevented when the Templars objected and Henry 2^nd issued a mandate preventing such competition.

The remains of a Templar Mill still stands on the hill over Passage and Crooke.

               

          A number of disputes arose between the Templars and the Waterford City authorities over Tax avoidance and also between the Templars and the Abbot of the Cistercians of Dunbrody Abbey.  The Cistercians claimed rights to 1500 acres in Crooke.  In the “Dunbrody Case”, which dragged on from 1288 until 1291, it seems that the Cistercians were granted some land in Crooke which overlapped that of the Templars.  Both rightly claimed the 1500 acres but in the end the Templars won as their grant came from King Henry 2^nd while Dunbrody’s was granted by a lesser noble, Gilbert of Essex.  Generally, the Templars were popular in Ireland.  This was not the case throughout Europe. 

The Templars had developed into two sections.......The fighting men of the Holy Land and the rich and powerful landowning section.  The latter would supply the knights with men and money.  By the year 1300, they owned 20,000 estates in Europe and this property attracted the notice of greedy and hard-up nobles.  They got their first attack from King Philip 4^th of France who was short of money.  

The Barony Echo

 

A Quarterly  of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society

Issue No. 10       April 2017

Society News

AGM and new Committee.  Our AGM was held in Hayes’s Bar on Monday March 6. A larger than usual number were in attendance.  The outgoing committee was thanked for its work and the new committee was elected which consists of the following:  Michael Farrell. Chairman; Martin McShea, Secretary, Margaret Brooks, Treasurer; John Burke, Vice-chair, and Committee members, Richie Roberts, Mossie  Fitzgerald, Cllr Pat Fitzgerald, Andrew Doherty,  Emer Martin Gordon,  Brendan Dunne,  Ray McGrath, Geoff Power ( Hon Life President),  Ben O’Shea, Brian Gordon.  The Barony Echo wishes the new committee every success.

Summer Evening Walks:  The following is the list of summer evening guided history/heritage walks:  Wednesday June 7, 7.30 pm.  Passage East.  Starting Point is the Community Hall.   On Wednesday July 19, 7.30 pm.  ‘The story of Dunmore’  starting from the Lighthouse, Dunmore East, 7.30 pm.  The final walk of the summer on Wednesday, August 16,  following part of Bóithrín na mBan Gorm, starts in the main car park at Woodstown at 7 pm.    

Friend and Foe 1917:  U-Boat activity and rescue in Waterford Harbour.   During the night of August 4/5, 1917 three Dunmore fishermen,  on hearing an explosion at sea,  set out through the recently laid mines in Waterford Harbour to search for survivors.   They picked up one – the only survivor of the thirty man crew of UC44.   To mark the centenary of this event and to commemorate all those lost at sea in war action in Waterford Harbour in 1917 the Society is hosting a two-day event on August 4 and 5 Friend and Foe, 1917:  U-Boat activity and rescue in Waterford Harbour.   The programme includes a memorial walk, an exhibition, a memorial concert, seminar, laying of a wreath at sea, and unveiling of a Memorial Seat and Plaque.   Details will be posted on our FACEBOOK page, on our webpage,  gaultierhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com,  and locally in shops.

Winter and Spring Talks

Brendan Dunne, in February,  gave a very well- prepared and well- received talk on the Dunmore East Lifeboat.  We all came away with a great appreciation of what a group of volunteers have achieved – crews, different coxswains, administration and the fund-raising committee.    From all those who go to sea or wait at home for news our heartfelt thanks to all involved.    In March, our speakers were Petrina McHugh ( née Walsh) and Eddie Stewart-Liberty who gave us the story of St Andrew’s Church particularly the interesting history of the building itself. Thanks to our speakers and the Church Vestry for making such an appropriate and comfortable venue available.  Liam Murphy, a Dunmore native, brought us an insight into the life and career of Dr. Thomas Hussey, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore.   Liam’s account of the bishop’s 1797 Pastoral Letter was a major contribution to our understanding of the political turmoil of the period leading up to the Rebellion of 1798.

Killea Church and St Andrews bi-centenary

This year Killea Church will be 200 years old.  We would welcome any information you have on its history.  Email to woodhouseduo@gmail.com.  St Andrew’s was also built in 1817 with funding from Board of First Fruits and we are also gathering together it’s story.  Items please.

The Battle of Ballymacaw and the War of the Roses

Who would have thought that the infamous War of the Roses in 15^th century England would have one of its scenes played out in the secluded Gaultier village of Ballymacaw.   Here’s the story.   The powerful Power family of Curraghmore had land and probably sea interests in Dunmore.  After all it was one of them that built Dunmore Castle.  They and the O’Driscolls of Baltimore formed an alliance and were in intermittent war with the City of Waterford for over 200 years.   In the year 1460 one of the contestants in the English War of the Roses, Richard, Duke of York,  came to Waterford to regroup his thoughts and forces and to plan an attack on the King in England, his Lancastrian rival, Henry V1.  Clearly, the city of Waterford supported the Yorkist cause in the person of Richard.   The Powers and O’Driscolls, never ones to turn down an opportunity to defy the mayor and good citizens of Waterford,  are thought to have prepared an ambush on Richard as he was leaving Waterford to further his cause in England.  The motive for this attempted seizure of the Duke of York, according to Randolph Jones who last year gave the 2016 Niall Byrne Memorial Lecture on the subject, was a request from the Butler family who were supporters of the Lancastrian cause and therefore of the current King, Henry VI.   Word was brought to the Mayor of Waterford that the Power’s and the O’Driscolls who had joined forces after the latter landed there were now camped at Ballymacaw.  The Mayor organised a force which attacked the camp at Ballymacaw and easily won the day taking with them to Waterford three of the O’Driscoll galleys, an action that led to the inclusion of three ships in the Waterford Coat of Arms. 

Barony Townlands

In this issue we continue our series on Gaultier townlands.   This is, as they say, a work in progress,  and we would be very grateful if you can forward to us at woodhouseduo@gmail.com any information you have on our townlands.

Ballinvella:  Situated to the west of Belle Lake, the townland comprises 251 acres and was in the old civil parish of Kilmacleague.   According to Canon Power, the name is derived from the Irish, Baile an Bhile, Townland of the Yew Tree.  The stump of the last windmill functioning in Gaultier is found near the centre of the townland.   It is possible that an old road, part of Bóthar na mBan Gorm passed through this townland.

Ballybeg:   The townland of Ballybeg is now within the Waterford city limits.  The Irish is Baile Beag which presents no translation problem – Small Town -  which suggests a distinction from a larger town, possibly Waterford.  However Canon Power, whose opinion needs to be considered, gives the Irish as Baile Bocht  - Poor Town.    He adds….’the real name was changed about a century ago (early eighteen hundreds) for reasons other than euphonic’.    The townland comprises 257 acres and was in the old civil parish of Kilbarry.

Ballycanvan:   Two sub-townlands here comprising 340 acres.  Canon Power has the Irish as Baile uí Cheannabháin – O’Canavan’s townland.   The areas, although generally fertile,  has some boggy areas and Interestingly the Irish for the lonely bog-cotton wild flower  is ceannabhán.  Ballycanavan lies just outside the city boundary on the left hand side of the Cheekpoint road between Jack Meades pub and Strongbow’s Bridge (also called Cromwell’s Bridge and Dobbyn’s Bridge)

Ballydavid:  A townland of 227 roughly between Woodstown Cross and Woodstown.   Baile Uí Dhaithí as given by Power is the Irish version.  As with many townland names when named for a family or person, there is often nothing in the archives nor in community memory to fill in the story of its naming.

Ballyglan:     Baile an Ghleanna according to Power is the Irish. The ‘glen’ is certainly there running down to Woodstown beach.     Ballyglan lies between the Fairy Bush and Woodstown and is bordered on the west by Harristown and on the north by Woodstown and Woodstown Upper.   Ballyglan House which still stands was a prominent social landmark in the story of Ballyglan and part of that story is the popular sport of The Hunt.  See item on page 4  in this edition.  Another interesting fact about Ballyglan is its boundary with Harristown – a portion of Bóithrín na mBan Gorm.  The townland counts 381 acres and lies in the old civil parish of Kill St Nicholas  

Ballygarron:  Comprising 412 acres in the vicinity of the airport, the townland’s Irish name is Baile an Gharáin, townland of the Grove according to Power.    Dineen mentions ‘ooze from limestone’… but is there any limestone in Ballygarron?    There was an eviction here on June 8, 1881 when the Morriseys were put out of their house by agents of landlord Carew.      The  Corbally Ladies Land League came to the rescue and provided a hut in the townland of Kilmacleague.  Ballygarron is also the birthplace of our Gaultier historian, Matthew Butler.

Coastal Placenames

Many of our coastal placenames are unknown to the general public and some are forgotten even by the fishing community.  The Barony Echo continues its Coastal Placenames series in this issue for the section Portally Cove to the Entrenchment just before Rathmoylan Cove.    The two main sources are Canon Power’s Placenames of the Decies,   and Stephen Whittle, retired coxswain of the Dunmore Liifeboat, whose spellings are retained here. Dineen refers to his dictionary.   The exact location of some of these names is not known to the editor.  If you can offer help in this matter it will be much appreciated. Carraig na mBhád.    Whittle.  Probably the Rock of the boats or boat.  Whittle puts it next to Portally Cove.    Poll uí Chadogáin.  Power.  Cadogan’s Pool or Hole.  We have no knowledge of Cadogan.   Poula Shagadane.  Whittle,  but   Poll a’tSéine according to Power  The Hole or Pool of the Seine Net.  Power puts this east of Portally Cove but a local fisherman, Buddy (Fancy) Power, has it just west of the Cove.  Buddy has the story of the Portally women carrying the seine net from the village to the cliff top and dropping it to the men below.    The Navel.   Whittle.   Dubh Ubh.  Whittle.  Probably Black Cave.   Uaimh is Irish for cave according to Dineen.    Faill na gCaorach.   Power.  Cliff of the Sheep.   Knock na Vhar.  Whittle.  Power has Leac na bhFearr – Ledge of the Men.   Glas Sue Mhór.  Whittle.  Exact spot uncertain but Whittle places it near Portally Cove.  The Glas in this name could have been derived from Clais, a cleft or gully.     Glas See Bheg.  Whittle.  Meaning is unclear but it could refer to a ‘clais’ meaning cleft in the cliff, a name  that occurs between Brownstown and Saleens.    Uaimh Dhubh.  Power.  Black Cave.   On Doyle’s 1737 chart of Waterford Harbour it is halfway between Portally Cove and Falskirt ( a large rock about 800 metres off Swine Head).  Power tells us it is a big cave with a height equal to that of the aisle of a church.    The Ship.  Whittle.  Possibly the clearly visible sea-stack near the cliff-face.   Named for its outline resembling that of a ship.    Port na Lanaibhe.   Whittle.  Probably Haven of the Children.  Was there a disaster here?    Poll a Brandy.  Whittle.  Hole or Pool of the Brandy.   Not too far-fetched to think of smuggling!     Uabh voon Naun.  Whittle.  Obscure apart from uabh which probably is uaimh meaning cave.    Falskirt Rock.  Whittle.  This is a dangerous rock which just about covers at high tide.  Already mentioned.  Meaning obscure but the first part could refer to ‘cliff’ and the second syllable to ‘scairt’ meaning separation.   Swines Head.   Whittle.  Meaning obscure.  An important landmark marked on many navigation charts.    The Entrenchment.  Power.  The site of a promontory fort.  Very likely dating from the Iron-Age and one of several promontory forts along the Waterford coast.  (The Society recently commissioned an aerial survey of this site)

The Gaultier Harriers

In February Maurice Whittle of Killure and I had an interesting conversation regarding the Gaultier Harriers and Sir Robert Paul of Ballyglan.  The Hunt,  an important social and sporting event in Gaultier, if indeed restricted to a particular social class prior to WWI and then again from the mid 1920s, was led by Paul until his retirement as Master of the Hounds in 1930.   In 1923, Mr Darrell Gallwey gave a pack of harriers to Sir Robert.   They became known as the Gaultier Harriers and hunted east Waterford and south Kilkenny.  By 1930  ‘their country measured fifteen miles by twenty-five miles’.  At our February conversation Maurice gave me an article from the magazine Hounds (December 1993) by James E. Norton,  a now rare description of one particular chase in Gaultier.   ‘On the 3^rd of March, 1925 hounds met at Woodstown Gate.  They first drew Woodstown Marshes opposite the kennels and at about 11.50 they got away on good terms with their pilot.  In spite of a rather catchy scent they pushed him through Woodstown Demesne, through Kilbride Covert, across the Folliune(sic) Road and onto the high ground above Belle Lake nearly to the Gaultier Creamery.  Here he was headed and turned left handed pass (sic) the Fairy Bush, he went in direction of Harristown and short of this covert, he turned left-handed into Woodstown again.  Hounds worked on him steadily without being touched and pushing him through Woodstown and Kilbride Covert he headed for Ballyglan.  Here he ran past some unstopped earths and did a short circle and came back in the direction of Belle Lake.’  And the description continues in this colourful vein of language.  Linguistically it is a treasure.  This particular chase lasted two hours with Misses de Bromhead, Mrs Spark, Miss Goff,  Major Carew, Miss Richardson and Mr David finishing the run. Is the Kilbride mentioned here locally known as Sir’s Cover?)  (Thanks for this Maurice).

Do you have a story or an item of information?  It would be welcomed.     Send it to Ray McGrath woodhouseduo@gmail.com

 The Barony Echo

A Quarterly of the Barony of Gaultier Historical Society

  

Issue 3                                                                                   February 2015                                                                                                                  

The Wars of the Weirs

The Salmon and Sprat weirs of Waterford Estuary have had a prominent place in the story of Passage and Cheekpoint and  the neighbouring villages across the Estuary.    The first record of a fishing weir dates back to a charter of King Henry 11 given to Juvenis Ailward, an ancestor of the Aylwards of Faithlegg.  By the mid 17^th century the Aylward family had 8 weirs in the Cheekpoint/Faithlegg area alone.  By the early 1800s the numerous weirs between Little Island and Woodstown were seen by the salmon men of the upper reaches of the rivers to be killing machines leading to a severe reduction in the number of salmon going upriver by the cot salmon fishermen of the Nore and Barrow.   The weirs were owned by the local landlords and were often leased out to local fishermen.   So there was a double target when the Barrow and Nore fishermen formed a flotilla of 200 cots (small flat -bottomed salmon fishing boats) in 1836, came down river, armada –like, and with axes, hatches, and other weapons of weir destruction  cut down the Scotch weirs and presumably some of the head weirs of Waterford Estuary.  The Dublin Penny Journal reported how the salmon-men from Ross ‘braved the dangers of the high seas, leaving on the tide, cut down the weirs and returned on the incoming tide and were received in New Ross with tumultuous cheers by all the lovers of cheap salmon.’

Were the Vikings in the Barony?

The publication recently of Maria Walsh’s Waterford 914 has prompted a long overdue visit back to the historical sources.   Ms Walsh’s book is a very interesting read as it presents an alternative appreciation of Viking life especially that of the women of that culture.   Ragnall is the Viking leader in this engrossing work of fiction but in some ways it is his wife Daegmar who is the central character as the invading fleet makes its first camp at Woodstown before proceeding upriver to take the existing settlement at the junction of St John’s River and the Suir.

To what extent is Ragnall based on a real life character?  The different Annals contain reference to a Ragnall between 913 and 918 AD.   One of these references has a Ragnall Ua Imair leaving Loch dá Chaech in 917 AD.  (See Clare Downham The Historical Importance of Viking-age Waterford for a more detailed discussion).   Although the name Loch Dá Chaech was in common usage for Waterford Estuary in later times it is found in the Annals only between 814 and 825.  From 826 on it is the earlier name Port Láirge which appears in the Annals.  There are other Ragnalls in the records indicating that the family of Ragnall was prominent and linked to the Dublin Vikings. 

Furthermore it is very interesting that Ragnall of Waterford in Ms Walsh’s novel came from Jorvik (the later York where there is now a Heritage site called Jorvik).  And the records tell us the Waterford Vikings had links to York

Apart from the possible land fall at Woodstown that Ms Walsh includes in her story,  and the tradition of a Viking presence in Ballygunner, the scholars differ as to the extent of the Viking presence in Gaultier.  Further research may supply a definitive answer but my money would be on an important Waterford Viking influence in the Barony particularly along Waterford Estuary.

Gaultier History- WW2 activity – The Brownstown Head Look-Out Post

I was recently made aware of a book dealing with air incidents in the south-east  during the WW2 era.  In the book written by Patrick J Cummins, Emergency Air Incidents: South East Ireland 1940-1945 several incidents near Waterford and Tramore are recorded.   Campile Creamery was bombed on Monday August 26, 1940 with the loss of three lives; on April 24, 1941 a British Battle T.T.1 crash landed at Crobally, Tramore; a German Junkers Ju weather plane was shot down 15 miles south of Hook Hd and all 4 crew were killed;  on August 23, 1942 a German Bomber crashed at Carriglong near Tramore and on February 7  a British bomber crashed at Kilbarry.  

In nearly all of these incidents the Look Out Posts on the Waterford and Wexford coasts were involved.  The Look Out Stations were established as part of the Marine and Coastwatching Service which came into being on September 3, 1939.   These Posts maintained a 24 hour watch and reported on all military or suspicious incidents.  Of the 83 Posts around the Irish coast, four were located on the south Wexford and East Waterford coasts.  These were numbered as follows – No. 14 at Carnsore Pt, No. 15 near Kilmore Quay, No. 16 at Hook Hd, No. 17 at Brownstown Hd and No. 18 near Bunmahon.  The Lookout number  was marked out in white on nearby rocks or cut into the ground and filled with whitewashed stones.  These signs measured 30 feet in length.  The word ‘Eire’ was similarly displayed.

The Posts  were manned by a team of 7 or 8 men some of whom were members of the Defence Force, the balance made up of local volunteers.  The Society would like to know the names of those who took part in this important work. We have some –  John Fitzgerald and Paddy Dunne who were members of the Defence Forces, John (Bulligan) Power.    There was also a man whose surname was Corcoran reportedly from the Newtown area of Tramore.    If you have any further details please get in touch with the Society via woodhouseduo@gmail.com

The huts made of prefabricated concrete and erected by local  contractors were very basic.  The shell of the Brownstown Post survives including the small fireplace which was built into all.  Each Post was equipped with a telephone, a bicycle, a log book, telescope, binoculars, compass card, signalling lamps and flags, a map of the assigned coastal area and aircraft and ship recognition cards.  Eight Coastwatchers were assigned to each Post.  Reports were made to the Coastwatchers of all relevant incidents including ship and aircraft movements, crashes or forced landings, bodies washed ashore.  These reports were ‘placed at the disposal of the British authorities’.

 The Hook Hd Post No. 16 and  Brownstown Post, No 17 were involved in reporting several of the incidents listed at the start of this article.   Coastwatchers  reported the flight of the German bombers after the attack on Campile Creamery and Ambrosetown viaduct.  The plane that attacked Ambrosetown viaduct but failed to destroy it flew out over Waterford Estuary followed 5 minutes later by the Campile plane that was spotted at the Hook Head Lookout Post.  This plane was heading off to the south-east.  In the case of the British Battle, the aircraft  was seen near Dunmore ‘hovering about’  at 1645 on the afternoon of August 26.  It eventually crash landed safely at Crobally but I don’t have a report to hand saying that it was spotted at Brownstown Post No 17.  The Post seems to have been involved in the matter of the Junkers Ju that came down in Carriglong on Sunday August 23, 1942.  At 0925 hours ‘two aircraft, five miles north, circling’ were reported from the Brownstown Post.  These happened to be two spitfires chasing and firing at the German Junkers Ju, on a weather mission from near Paris.   The incident was also seen by people on the Tramore Road who had to dive for cover to escape from the dogfight overhead. The German plane crash landed in Carriglong in a field owned by Owen Power and almost immediately burst into flames.  The jettisoned machine guns were later discovered when the corn was being harvested nearby in September. In the case of the British Wellington Bomber which crash landed at the Six Cross Roads in Kilbarry, the plane was sighted at the Brownstown Lookout Post at 00.20 hours off Tramore Bay and then at Waterford Harbour ( presumably by the Hook HD post) heading north.  It eventually crashed in Kilbarry at 01.30 after circling Waterford several times.

L.O. Post 17 is showing some structural deterioration.  The Society is currently investigating the possibility of contributing to its repair.   The Society would also like to have the Coastwatchers who manned the Post during The Emergency remembered in some suitable way.

 The Society’s Spring Talks

The spring season started with a very well received talk by Noel McDonagh.  The talk was entitled Recent Finds of Flints in Gaultier and it was held at the Saratoga pub on Wednesday February 18.   The talk which was very well attended centred on the dating of Noel’s finds in the Credan Head area.  Professor Peter  Woodman of UCC the leading archaeologist in Ireland on the early Mesolithic period earlier expressed the view that the finds were very significant and  he placed some of the material collected by Noel into the early Mesolithic suggesting that settlement in our area occurred far earlier than previously thought and may in fact go back to 7000 BC.

In March,  Michael Farrell, John Burke and Ray McGrath will each give a 15 minute report on the latest research they’ve been involved in.   John’s talk will be on Bishop Thomas Hussey (1746-1803) and his links to Gaultier.   Ray McGrath’s subject is  Laurence Crotty’s  War:  his 1914-15 diary,   and Michael Farrell’s talk will be on The Ladies Land League in Corbally   The talks will take place in Hayes’s Pub Killea Dunmore East on Wednesday March 18 starting at 8 pm, admission €5.

The Giant’s Grave and Jacquetta Hawkes

Jacquetta Hawkes came to Dunmore in the summer of 1939 to do an archaeological dig at the Harristown  passage tomb ( the Giant’s Grave).  She confidently placed the building of the tomb to the Neolithic period about 4.500 years ago and also discovered cremated remains dating from the Bronze Age.   Also unearthed  were beads,  which along with the structure of the tomb ,  link the Harristown site to the Scilly Isles.  Jacquetta Hawkes is remembered for her mould -breaking work in the post war period in popularising archaeology. 

Hawkes was a friend of Diana Collins who in her book Time and the Priestleys relates an incident told to her by the archaeologist who on the day she made the finds was last to leave after covering the tomb.. ‘as she cycled back to her dreary hotel she was met to her surprise by a long procession of people making their way to the tomb.. rumour had spread that a magical hare, the guardian of the tomb, had been disturbed and that a crock had been discovered, which on the stroke of midnight would prove to be full of gold coins..’

From her childhood she wanted to be  an archaeologist and eventually became the first woman to graduate from Cambridge University in her chosen field.   She immediately went to work with her future husband,  the noted archaeologist Christopher Hawkes,  whom she later divorced and  then married the writer JB Priestley.  Her work was rooted in prehistory and her humanistic approach to the field is captured in an oft quoted remark of hers...’let us have the courage to accept the inner experience that tells us  we are something more and that we may be part of a process much greater still.’

Robert Manning at Springhill,  Ballycanavan

Robert Manning  (1816-1897) made a lasting contribution to engineering science when he published his water flow formula.  The speed at which water flows in open channels and pipes was an important part of any drainage project.  Manning devised a formula to calculate this.  The formula spread rapidly around the world and is still in use.  It is known as the Manning Formula.

Although Manning was born in Normandy he lived in Gaultier in his teen age years.   Ruth Stephens (1792-1854) of Dromina, Woodstown was his mother.  After his father’s death in 1826, the family lived in Springhill, Ballycanavan.  There was a tidal corn mill under Springhill on the Ballycanavan Pill and it is likely from knowing how that worked that he developed an interest in the flow of water.

Coastal Placenames  1  ( Creadan to Dunmore)

The following is an amalgam of a map prepared by Stephen Whittle and the work of Canon Power in his Placenames of the Deises

Creadan Head is derived from the Irish Ard Chriodáin.  Criodán probably refers to a Celtic deity or chieftain.  The Packs is a ledge of flat-topped rocks just west of Creadan Head.   Donegal Hole is cavernous inlet just west of Creadan,  origin unknown.  Wall’s  Cove or Creadan Cove is above Arnanamult Head and was also known as Showery’s after the Power family who lived in Creadan Cottage.  The Dummie’s Garden is shown on the Whittle map just south of Walls Cove.  Others put it between Walls and Credan.  Ardnamult, the height of the wethers, is also known as Middle Head. The Closh is west of Ardnamult.  It’s a name that occurs frequently on our coast and is probably derived from the Irish An Chlais meaning a cleft.  Foillakipeen is next and is the last headland before turning into Dunmore Bay.   Probable meaning is The Cliff of the Little Sticks  ( See local legend).  Laweesh is the rock lying off Foillakipeen;  origin unknown but sounds Irish.  The Gravel Hole  is  a small cleft inside Laweesh Rock.  Cathedral Rocks lie between Laweesh and Councilllors.  Can anyone supply the origin?   Councillors  Strand is probably named for the owner of Nymph Hall who in the 18^th century was a city councillor.  Dunmore Strand was usually known as Lawlors in the 1950s and  named for the family who owned the hotel. And Dunmore Bay itself is shown as Whitehouse Bay on the Doyle chart of the 1730’s.    Peg’s Rock at the west side of Dunmore Strand remembers a Peg whose house collapsed onto the rocks below.  Ladies’ Cove or is it Lady’s is around the small headland.  Men’s follows, remembered for its diving board.  Poll na Línte translates as Hole of the Nets and is the cleft after Men’s.   Badger’s is next and the origin is unknown now.  Goosey’s Rock is named An Charraig Liath on the charts and then there is Stony Cove, named no doubt for its gravelly beach.

Comments and material welcomed at woodhouseduo@gmail.com