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OULD TIMES AROUND KILFANE
Walter WalshOur story begins in 1776, little more than a hundred years since the Cantwells, Lords of Kilfane for centuries, were banished to Connaught leaving behind their castles of old at Stroan, Closgregg and Kilfane to fall into decay. In their place came the Bushes. Col. John Bushe, the first of his family in Kilfane, came to Ireland with Cromwells Army and was rewarded for his services with a grant of land in 1670.
In 1776 Gervase Parker Bushe, a great-great-grandson of Col. John, had as his guest Arthur Young, the noted traveller, whose observations tell us much of life in Kilfane at the time. The housing of the poor he found to be wretched. They were packed into small cabins an average of 7 to each one. Many had just a cabin and a small potato garden which they rented at £3-3-0 per annum. Farm size was 6 acres on average for which the annual rent was £1-3-2 per acre. The rent was paid from the produce of the land; wheat, oats and barley, and from whatever work they could get at 101/2d per day at harvest-time, 6d daily in the winter or 7d daily the year round. A skilled tradesman, carpenter or mason, could earn 1-3 per day. The wheat was sown from September to November, the ground having been ploughed 3 or 4 times beforehand. Barley was generally sown in April or May. The poor sowed no clover but Mr. Bushe himself used it a lot and indeed a field in the old demesne is still called 'the Clover Field' to this day. Potatoes were widely cultivated and all the labourers 'had their bellyfull of them'. The main varieties were 'the yellow', 'the Wise' and 'the Turk' which was an inferior type that yielded well on poor land. Young also noted that some flax was grown for the use of the tenants themselves. Lack of fuel, he observed, was the great problem around Kilfane in 1776. The local tenants at this time had an unusual custom of renting a field between 5 or 6 of them and dividing it equally between them. They then did all the work on the field together but kept their accounts separate. Young tells us that because of 'suspicions' they had of one another they worked in this manner rather than putting the whole lot together and dividing the profit.
Some of the families in the immediate locality of Kilfane who may have cultivated their lands like this included Dulanys, Archers, Barrys, Meaneys, Leathams, Ryans, Briens, Hollands and Dolowrys to name but a few. There were Powers of The Plantation, Nugents, Rogers, Sheehys, Eagans, Butlers, Ryans and Phelans in The Park. Over in 'Ballarow' there were Kierwicks, Cloneys, Prendergasts, Walshs and Murphys. Up the heights in 'Knockarua' (now called Knockenroe') there were Cahils, Lahertys and Ryans.
Above the bridge of Kilfane, which was built in 1798, the old highway turned right at the Church side towards Kilfane House, passing the large stables and the main entrance to the house (The Dark Walk), out through Sunnyvale and past Kilmurry House to the Kiljames Road. The roadway to Stoneen and Castlegarden was no more than a wide path.
These were the Penal times, when priests were outlawed and the people heard Mass on the hillside and in the back lanes. The old native Irish language was still spoken by many. Words like Plamas, Aingis, Aghaidh fidil, inniun, grafan, pisreog, cruibin, droman, gabhlog, sceach, stuacan, griseach, luban, aimleach, flaithuallach are still used around Kilfane to this day.
Down Castlegarden, names such as the Coill a Lios, the suasbhan, the Bawn ard, Carrachan, the Cumar and Bantalans would have been familiar to the Murphys, Briens, Corcorans, Magraths, Cashins, Narkits, -Bakers, Lennons, Kellys, Burns, Lahains, Kinshellas, 'Bulgers', Galways, Powers, Hennessys, Hanrahans and Mc Namaras who were some of the families who lived there at the time. Up Stoneen, which means a small stang, (a measure of land in olden days), there were Walls, Nowlans, Murphys, Ryans, Barrys, Narkits, Malones, Bryans, Kealys, Neals, Davis's, Powers, Coadys, Guiders, Reads, Drays, Doyles and Larkins.
The population at the time was steadily increasing. In 1800, there were 121 families in the civil parish of Kilfane with a total population of 817 which was an increase of 503 persons since 1731. Also about this time, John Power or Captain Power as he was called from having served in the yeomanry in the year of the rebellion, came to reside in Kilfane on his marriage to Harriet Bushe, sister of the owner Henry Amias Bushe. Mr. Power brought with him his pack of foxhounds and later established the Kilkenny Hunt Club with his brother Richard. At the time, the countryside was to a great extent unenclosed with few fences to be seen and it is said that while John Power resided at Derrynahinch he could follow his hounds along the Walsh Mountains to the bridge of Waterford without jumping a fence. Having settled at Kilfane, he proceeded to build kennels, the ruins of which can still be seen behind the house in Sunnyvale and where years later an unfortunate man was eaten to death by hungry foxhounds. A circular courtyard ran round the front of the kennels which were well planned and well situated as regards aspect.
The local menfolk, principally the tradesmen, found welcome employment on the estate. There was also extensive tree planting and the construction of gorses, earths and fox coverts, as in the early period Mr. Power had to rely on woodlands and rough natural coverts. He availed himself of patches of natural gorse in wild places and enclosed and enlarged them but many he planted such as Castlewarren, Bishopslough, Cloghala, Dunbell and Knockroe. Others such as Ballyfoyle, Ballysallagh and Clara he merely fenced. He took Grennan Wood on lease as a nursery for foxes, and for timber thinnings and oak bark. At the close of the 18th century and for some years after, his was the only established pack of county foxhounds in Ireland so he was practically free to hunt where he pleased, going as far as Tullow in County Carlow, Coolattin in County Wicklow, parts of Wexford and as far at Durrow Wood in County Laois. He often kept his pack in Kilkenny for a week at a time hunting the countryside around the City and the dinners at night at Rice's Hotel (later to become The Club House) were famous for good wine and good fellowship.
In Kilfane Demesne at the time there was a well stocked deer park, various cattle fattening houses, a water driven flour mill and a salt house at 'Ballarow', but the mill had been previously sold by the Bushes to Sydenham Davis of Dangan. A short distance from the front of the house there was a beautiful fruit garden and adjoining it an orchard covering approximately 14 acres with an Ice House situated among the apple trees. An "appleman" was employed full time and occupied a small house called 'The Appleman's House' which was situated just below the Ice House.
The Thomastown Farming Society was founded in 1800 with Sir John Power of Kilfane as President. It was one of the first such societies to be founded and was regarded at the time as a model. Prizes were given for the best managed farm, the tidiest cottage, the best crops of turnips and potatoes, the best rickmaker, and the best ploughman with horses and oxen. Prizes were also given for livestock, for the spinning of the best quality flax, and a reward of one guinea was given to every owner of a cart with an iron axle and two pence for every live rat.
With improving times, many of the old hovels throughout the demesne were knocked on the instruction of the landlord. Thirteen of them were burned on one evening in Summerhill. It was said that Lady Power didn't like the look of them and ordered them destroyed, presumably because of their squalid condition. These little hovels or cabins as they were called once stood on the 'Knockarua' side about half way up the Summerhill Road at the bottom of the 'Blue Door Hill.' After the burning, a local woman named Marg Grady, who lived near Cuddihy's well on the road between Kilfane and Stroan fountain, went down to Kilfane House, got in through a window, went to the dining room where the supper was in progress and cursed all the Powers for so many generations. It was said that nothing was said to her and she was led out by the butler. Evictions were rare, but a number did occur in the locality principally up Summerhill, at the bridge of Kilfane, where one of the Powers was said to have been knocked from his horse, and at Closgregg where fifteen families were evicted on a May morning.
Larger houses had been constructed in the demesne for the tenants', generally with two rooms up and two down, the kitchen being the largest with the table positioned in the middle of the flag floor, a settlebed in the corner for the odd guest or "fear siulach", and an enormous chimney supported by two large wooden beams. The fire was on the open hearth. Every locality had its "ramblin" house where the men would sit down in the glare of the fire on a winter's night and relate old stories of ghosts and grizzly deeds which would chill the blood of the attentive listners, made all the more eerie by the dark shadows which lurked beyond the candlelight or the paraffin lamp on the wall. An old story around Stoneen tells of two gamekeepers employed in Kilfane Demesne called Bowmann and Beecham. They had separate paths of wood under Kilfane Cottage to patrol at night. The story goes that both fought for the hand of a local girl in the wood one night resulting in Beecham shooting Bowmann dead. Nothing is known of what befell Beecham following the incident but it is firmly believed that Bowmann's ghost walks the wood on a certain night of the year and a track in the wood is still known as "Bowmann's Walk."
Another incident occured in the last century in Tom Barry's house (Walshs) in Stoneen which was a well known 'ramblin' house at the time. As the night wore on and after a drop of the 'hard stuff' was consumed, a wager was made between two of the visitors that one of them would not go down to the vault in the graveyard in Kilfane, bring back a skull and place it on the kitchen table. The one accepting the challenge lifted the latch of the front door as the clock struck twelve and set off on foot for the graveyard, helped along by 'a sup of the crater' that he brought with him. The other, fearing he would lose his substantial bet, headed out into the night a short time later, crossed the wood wall into the shrubbery, and ran as quickly as he could down past the back of the kennels and through the 'Seorrantha Garrantha' to the graveyard wall. He was concealed in a dark corner of the vault when the other arrived. After striking a match and poking around with a stick he found a skull. He was about to pick it up when he heard 'leave that there, thats mine.' He fled in terror, stumbling through the long grass and the briars until he came to the demesne wall below the 'Locrekane Gate'. Spurred on by the thought of the money he could win, and the sup from the Buideal, he decided to go back and have a second go. He went back and after striking another match, found a different skull and was about to pick it up when - 'Leave that there, thats mine.' In a bout of bravado he said 'Ye can't own 'em all', stooped down, grabbed the skull and didn't stop running until he planted the skull on the kitchen table in Stoneen. - A true story. Another more famous story recalls the nights of the sumptuous banquets in Kilfane House following the day's fox hunting known as 'The Hunt Ball,' when the carriages and four bearing distinguished guests drew up in front of the hall door. The ladies in their long gowns and the gentlemen in their top hats and swallowtails alighted to the swift attention of the footman. The main candlelit hall rang with gaeity and for an hour or so some of the servants and locals around were allowed to gaze through the ballroom windows at the dancing within. As the night progressed, the menfolk would retire to the drawing room to smoke and discuss in detail the days hunt while standing in front of the large open fire. Then the traditional card game commenced. It was on one of these occasions that the following incident is said to have occurred. A stranger had joined in with 'The Hunt' that day and made such a good impression with Sir John (who was Master of the Kilkenny Hunt at the time), that he was invited to Kilfane House that evening to join in the festivities. The day was now drawing to a close, the fire was dying down and the cardgame was in progress. At about the dead hour of night one of the gentlemen's cards fell on the floor and on his attempting to retrieve it, he noticed that the card which fell from his hand was 'the Joker' and furthermore, the stranger who had joined them earlier that day had a cloven hoof.
Sir John, on being told of the matter, became very alarmed and sent for the local Minister who arrived and later requested that the Parish Priest of Thomastown, Father Cody, be called to assist him. When he came he placed items of his apparel in each corner of the drawing room -- his walking stick, his breviary, gloves and biretta, and began the exorcism. Thereupon the stranger, like a flash of lightning, went up through the ceiling and out through the domed skylight of the small corridor upstairs.
At the time, a large candelabrum hung in the main hall of Kilfane House and Sir John in his gratitude is said to have presented it to Father Cody and it hung in the Parish Church in Thomastown but was eventually sold to help pay for renovations. Later it was presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington, London where it hangs in a room on the fourth floor today. An inscription on the wall nearby reads - 'Presented by Major H. Colville and formerly of Thomastown Parish Church, Ireland.' Over the years since, numerous efforts to fix a leak in the skylight failed and a tub had to be placed underneath to hold the water. The most remarkable thing about it is that no leak occurs during the heaviest showers in Summer, but at the start of the hunting season the water comes in again.
After the death of Miss Power, the house and what remained of the old Demesne was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Hal Clarke who employed tradesmen to carry out major renovations. On removing the drawing room floor boards, the workmen found to their amazement that the underside showed clear scorchmarks which affected each board throughout the room.
H. D. Inglis, when passing by Kilfane in 1834 praised the beauty of the countryside but stated that the condition of the people was generally wretched. He met many women begging for potatoes and gathering sticks by the roadside which was the only fuel they could afford. These weren't common beggars, but the wives and daughters of labourers who could find no employment Many hadn't the means of obtaining seed potatoes for their little patches of ground. The cabins of the poor were stated to be wretched in the extreme, many without even a pig in them which was a sure sign of poverty. On a Sunday he watched the people thronging to the chapel. Every woman wore a cloak with a hood and most of the menfolk, in spite of the warm weather in Summer wore great coats. Even before the famine years of 1845 to 1848, times were hard for the poor and unemployed. Inside the Demesne wall was a no go area and trespassers were punished severely. The landlords were the magistrates and controlled the police. Mark Seigne from Stoneen was transported to Van Dieman's Land for killing a hare in the Deerpark.
The failure of the potato crop in 1845 heralded 'An Gortha Mor.' County Kilkenny fared better than most areas in the country but as always the poor suffered most. The ‘Poor Relief Committee' for the Thomastown area was established in the early months of 1846 with Sir John Power of Kilfane as Chairman. Soup Kitchens were set up in the Workhouse in Thomastown and at the junction of Mill Street and the Mall. Two deaths are known to have occurred locally which resulted from famine and fever. Their corpses are buried near the old lime kiln inside Corcoran's gate at Closgregg after they had collapsed on the roadside while trying to make their way to the Workhouse.
The local well or pump was a favourite meeting place from days of old where the bucket or churn was transported at a certain time of the day, and in addition to the water, the few bits of news and local gossip were obtained. There was Cuddihy's well in Kilfane which never went dry and another fine spring near the old stables in the Demesne. In Castlegarden, there were a number in the bog, one of which is well known as Tobar Chiarain. Up Stoneen there were various wells, one at the back of Courtney's barn, another in Barry's field and a pump at the entrance to Baker's lane. At the corner of Baker's field near 'the mangle field' gate, (where the clothes were washed and mangled in olden times) a well was being sunk at the time Queen Victoria died. The money to case it ran out, work stopped and the shaft later fell in together with the windlass. About the turn of the century, yet another well and pump was sunk in the Demesne opposite Baker's (Walpole's) lane on the instruction of Sir Richard Power. Tom Brennan, a stonemason from Kiljames built the surrounding wall and as directed inscribed the words 'Aqua Regia' on the nearby cattle trough. Nobody around knew what it meant at the time but it was known that Canon Drennan could read it but didn't tell anybody!
A few yards down the road from here was the site of the only known school ever to exist in Stoneen. It was here in the last century that Judy Ryan taught catechism to the local children, preparing them for Holy Communion and Confirmation. A number of steps led up to it from the road. There was no building - the children just sat on the grass and a few flags. The teacher, who was said to be a very devout woman, lived in a two roomed thatched house about fifty yards over Baker's Lane on the left hand side. Further down the road are the kennels which were originally built in the early 1820's as a stables by Richard Power of Kilkenny Theatre fame.