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The Last King of Ulster

The Last King of Ulster by Edmund Getty, 1841

This book of romantic fiction, published in 1841 and written by Edmund Getty, tells the story of Hugh O’Neill’s rise to the Chieftaincy of Tí Eoghan (Tyrone) and later Red Hugh O’Donnell’s escape from Dublin Castle and his return to Tír Connaill. The book got our attention as accordingly the first place he rests on entry to his homeland is Kilbarron Castle.

“Nor did he and his faithful attendant rest until they reached the strong Castle of Kilbarron whose gates were at once thrown open to receive the fugitive chief of the principality”

The author Edmund Getty was born in 1799, son of Robert Getty who was a merchant carrying out a business in North Street, Belfast.

Lower North Street, Belfast where Edmund Getty was born and where his father Robert had his premises.

Edmund was educated at the Belfast Academy (then situated in Academy St in Belfast) under the headmastership of Dr Bruce and later at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He became Ballast Master of the Belfast Ballast Board in 1837. Later as Secretary to the Belfast Harbour Board, he was responsible for the reclamation of the slob lands on the Co. Down side of the harbour.

Royal Belfast Academical Institution where Edmund Getty was educated.

He was also associated with the inception of most of the Belfast literary and scientific societies of the early part of the nineteenth century-the Natural History and Philosophical Society, the -Belfast Museum; the Literary Society, and the Botanic Gardens He was one of the founders of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, his contributions to which show him to have been endowed with considerable powers of investigation and antiquarian research. He pursued a literary interest with publications such as; The History of the Harbour Board; The Island of Tory; Its History and Antiquities; and Notices of the Round Towers of Ulster.

He also had a keen interest in the Irish language and was one of the members of a group of Gaelic scholars who regularly met in Belfast including Dr. Samuel Bryson, Samuel Nielson and Robert Mc Adam, the latter the scholarly editor of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology and who in 1835 printed at Belfast his “Introduction to the Irish Language”, intended for use at the Belfast Royal Academy. In 1845 Edmund Getty was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. A tall and imposing character he died suddenly in 1857 of heart disease.

Today he is relatively unknown but he contributed greatly to the growth and prosperity of Belfast in the early 19th Century and was also instrumental in the foundation of the strong artistic cultural and scientific life of Belfast.

The Last King of Ulster can be read online.

Visitors to Kilbarron Castle Part 1 (1768)

In the years since Kilbarron Castle became a ruin it has hosted a number of distinguished visitors who have left a written record of their visit. The earliest that we know of is the visit of Mervyn Archdall sometime before 1768 when his book was published.

In 1768 Mervyn Archdall wrote a book called “Monasticum Hibernicum ” listing all the churches priories and monasteries of ancient Ireland. Many errors were subsequently corrected in a new edition of the book revision of the book with notes by Patrick F. Moran and other antiquaries began in parts, at Dublin in 1871.

Where this book is of particular interest for those researching the history of Kilbarron Castle is that the publication includes an entry for Kilbarron Church and a passing mention of the castle. This extract is taken from the revised edition of 1871.

“Kilbarran- This is the name of a locality about four or five miles north-west of Ballyshannon. It possesses much antiquarian interest for it has the remains of the old castle or fortress of the O’Clerys, as well as those of the church or monastery from which the parish derives its name”.

It continues by giving the background of the Church’s founder. “Its foundation is attributed to St Colum-cille himself. Manus O’Donnell, in his life of the saint, mentions the fact, and adds a long and beautiful account of the circumstances which let him to establish it. St Barrainn whom he appointed to govern it, was a relative of his own and a descendant of Conal –Gulban.”

Mervyn Archdall was a descendant of John Archdale or Archdall of Abbotts Hall, Darsham, in Suffolk who was granted estates in Co Fermanagh to be later known as Castle Archdale, as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

Ruins of the first Castle Archdale which was built in 1615. It was burned during the 1641 rebellion and again during the Williamite wars. Eventually fell into ruin when the family built a new house in the 18th Century. It was demolished in the early part of the 20th Century.

Melvyn was born in Dublin in 1723 and later graduated from Trinity College taking Holy Orders. There too he developed his interest in history and when his mentor Richard Peacock, Archdeacon of Dublin, became Bishop of Ossory he appointed Mervyn Archdall to the living of Attanagh (partly in Queen’s County and part in Kilkenny) He was also a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He died in 1791.

Mervyn Archdall was appointed the parish of Attanagh. Current St Brigid’s Church, Attanagh, in modern Co. Laois.

Thinking that we had found evidence that Kilbarron Castle was a ruin when Mervyn Archdall’s “Monasticum Hibernicum” was published in 1768, further research has revealed that all the footnotes were added to the original text by Patrick F. Moran in the second edition in 1871 and the above extract was most likely written in 1871. Other references in the extract mention Cú Coigcríche Uí Cléirigh’s will which in 1768 was still in the possession of his descendants in Drung in Co Cavan and was unlikely to have been available to Mervyn Archdall, though not impossible. It was only after the Uí Cléirigh manuscripts were purchased by George Petrie in 1831 that this information became available.

So we are no further on in determining when exactly Kilbarron Castle was abandoned- The quest continues!

Copies of Mervyn Archdall’s original book are to be found in the British Library and Trinity College where it would be interesting to double check the original entry for “Kilbarran” to see what exactly are the differences in the information there and the information in the second edition of the book.

Visitors to Kilbarron Castle Part 2 (1814)

The next distinguished visitor who wrote about Kilbarron castle was the Reverend Henry Major who contributed an article on Kilbarron Parish for a publication called “A statistical account or Parochial survey of Ireland” by William Shaw Mason, a book with facts and observations from a selected number of parishes around Ireland.

The Reverend Henry Major was the Rector of Kilbarron Parish. His ancestors had come to the district in the early 18th Century. Henry Major was a lawyer who became an agent for the Conolly estate sometime before 1745.

In 1719 William (Speaker) Conolly, whose father was an innkeeper in Ballyshannon, bought the Ffolliott estate which comprised of most of the land in the parishes of Kilbarron and Inishmacsaint as well as part of the parish of Drumhome.

William Conolly was Speaker, the presiding officer, in the Irish House of Commons. Due to his modest background he never got a title even though he was one of the richest and most powerful men in Ireland in the 18th Century.

A native of Ballyshannon, Conolly’s chief residence was at Castletown House in Co Kildare but they kept a summer residence at Cliff House overlooking the Cliff falls on the Erne between Ballyshannon and Belleek.

A view of Cliff House from the River Erne looking upstream. This picture is from the William Lawrence Collection held in the National Library of Ireland.

Henry Major also became one of the major landholders in the area by the 1770s leasing the townland of Camlin Erwin, which would later become known as Camlin Major, the other part of the townland known as Camlin Tredennick.

The Reverend Henry Major, possibly a grandson of the elder Henry Major, was born in 1770 and on his tombstone in the graveyard of St Anne’s Church in Ballyshannon it further states that became “rector and vicar of the United Parishes of Killireran and Knockmoy in the diocese of Tuam and vicar of Kilbarron in the diocese of Raphoe.”and that he died in 1819.

The essay gives a very general view of life and times in the parish of Kilbarron. He states that there is about 1,051 families in the parish, allowing for six persons per family giving a total 6,306 persons. He remarks that “the lower orders are generally lively and docile; quick in apprehending the trades to which they are apprenticed to and friendly and well disposed. They generally speak English but Irish not unfrequently. In stature they are of a size usual in most other parts of the Island”.

The full essay by Reverend Henry Major can be read on Google Books.

Visitors to Kilbarron Castle Part 3 (1802)

In 1802 some twelve years before the account on the parish of Kilbarron by the Reverend Henry Major, Dr James McParlan published a “Statistical Survey of County Donegal”. He was employed by the Dublin Society (later the Royal Dublin Society) who asked him to carry out a survey of a number of Irish counties on their economy both urban and rural and to make suggestions on how to improve it.

Main building of the Royal Dublin Society who sponsored the Statistical Survey of Co Donegal by Dr James McParlan

The report on Donegal can be read online (Trove) and is a very interesting snapshot of life in the county at that time.

Front piece of the survey which can be read on the Trove website (National Library of Australia see
https://ia902705.us.archive.org/23/items/statisticalsurve00macp/statisticalsurve00macp.pdf
There is also attached a survey of Co Tyrone by McEvoy for Lord Jim Mountjoy

Doctor James McParlan, a medical doctor by profession, was interested in the health and wellbeing of the people and blamed the distillation of spirits as the chief ill of the lower classes. He complained that they used what barley they grew, not to feed themselves but to make their spirits (poteen).

The Dublin Society asked him to particularly report on the state of education and that of tithes. The latter was the tax collected from each landholding tenant, regardless of their religious persuasion for the support of the clergy of the Established Church. This tithe was deeply despised by all faiths but particularly by Presbyterians and other non-conformist sects, as well as Catholics, who had the added undertaking of supporting their own clergy and churches. In this, James reports that generally the tithe in Donegal is not onerous and says

“it is impossible however, that this could be otherwise, for the clergy of this county, to most of whom I have for some years had the honour of being known, are composed of gentlemen conspicuous for every species of virtue and of worth”

He reports on the state of agriculture in the county, remarking that in the area south of the Erne around Ballyshannon the Leitrim “loy” spade is used for most spadework.
He reports that work had started near Belleek in building a canal bypassing the various falls and rapids on the Erne between Belleek and Ballyshannon. (This part of the canal bypassed the waterfall at Belleek was completed but the project was eventually abandoned)
He writes about various ruins of castles in the county mentioning Donegal Castle, Doe Castle and Greencastle but the ne of particular interest to us is his remarks on Kilbarron Castle.

The map of Donegal published in the Statistical Survey of Co Donegal bt Dr James McParlan 1802 see
https://ia902705.us.archive.org/23/items/statisticalsurve00macp/statisticalsurve00macp.pdf

“Kilbarren Castle-two miles north-west of Ballyshannon, built by O’Skineens, on a precipice over the sea; it does not seem to have been strong or important; very few of only of the ruins remains”

This remark possibly confirms our belief that Kilbarron Castle was not a castle as such but a bardic school – stone buildings that were not churches or monasteries of any antiquity were invariably referred to as “castles”.

Photogrammetry Survey

These amazing images are the results of Simon Downing’s photogrammetry survey of Kilbarron Castle in January 2018.

Simon is a community pharmacist in Waterford with a background in computational modelling and engineering. He has a keen interest in applying the emerging scanning technique of photogrammetry to Archaeology.

These images show the site of the Castle and the surrounding fields along with images of potential anomalies that need further investigation.

Thank you to Simon for permission to share these images here on our website.

You can see more of Simon’s excellent work go on his Aerial Archeology website.

Essay on the parish of Kilbarron 1837

In 1837 Samuel Lewis published his book called the “Topographical Dictionary of Ireland“in which he gives a description of the main features and landmarks in every civil parish in Ireland. Main towns are given a separate description.

The Parish of Kilbarron in the Barony of Tirhugh, in the County of Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, has a very interesting entry. It tells us that there are over forty townlands and a population of 10,251 people living in the Parish. The main town in the parish is Ballyshannon. In its own separate entry Ballyshannon’s population is given at 3,775 people with over 1,000 living in the “Purt” situated on the south side of the River Erne and in the neighbouring parish of Inishmacsaint. (In 2016 Ballyshannon’s population is given at 2,229).

He stated that the parish comprises of almost 23,933 acres of which 900 acres are under water, half the parish was arable land, the remainder meadow, pasture and mountain bog.

The principle seats listed by Samuel Lewis were

Parkhill belonging to the representatives of the late J. O’Neill, Esq;
Cavangarden, the residence of T. J. Atkinson, Esq;
Cherrymount of Dr Crawford;
Camlin Tredennick of I. Tredennick, Esq;
Fort William of W. Tredennick, Esq;
Danby of J. Forbes, Esq;
Wardton of J. Ffolliott, Esq;
Laputa of J.F. Johnson, Esq and
Cliff House of Col. Conolly.

In fact most of the parish belonged to the Conolly family of Castletown House in Kildare (Speaker Conolly who was born in Ballyshannon, bought the Manor of Ballyshannon from the Ffolliott family in 1718) The above mentioned gentry owning leases from the Conolly estate and others such as John Ffolliott, a descendant of Henry Ffolliott, the first Baron Ballyshannon, held a lease of Ballymacaward townland from Trinity College.

The ruins of Wardtown Castle at Ballymacaward today. The house was the residence of John Ffolliott at the time of Samuel Lewis’s essay on the parish of Kilbarron.

Wardtown Castle, built in the 1740s by the Ffolliott family, was abandoned in 1916 and was in ruins by the 1920s. The tragic tale of Colleen Bawn (Cáilín Bán) is reputedly based on an elopement at Wardtown Castle in the 18th Century by Helen Ffolliott.

Today, the Castle Adventure Open Farm is based in the grounds of the ruins of Wardtown Castle.

Demolition

Many of these grand houses were demolished and flooded as a result of the Erne Hydro Electric Scheme in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Cliff House overlooking the Cliff Falls on the Erne some one mile from Belleek in Co Fermanagh. In 1837 it was the summer residence of Col Conolly of Castletown House in Co Kildare.
It was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the Cliff Hydro-Electric power station.

Camlin Castle residence of J Tredennick in 1837. It was demolished in the 1950s. The waters of Assaroe Lake never reached the house and the foundations of the house can still be seen.

Laputa House on the north side of the River Erne and the residence of J. F. Johnstone in 1837. It was also demolished as part of the Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme.

Freebooters

Samuel Lewis in his essay on the parish of Kilbarron goes on to mention Kilbarron Castle stating that “near the glebe house on a stupendous rock rising almost perpendicular out of the sea, are the ruins of the castle of Kilbarron which is supposed to have been inhabited by freebooters”.

This latter statement seems odd but it is possible that in the years after its destruction or decay of the castle in the 17th Century, that it may have been used as a lookout point for smugglers landing contraband at the castle flag situated below the castle. We know that there was a brisk illegal trade in Spanish and French wines their import being prohibited during the Napoleonic wars between France and England between 1793 and 1815. However apart from this assertion we have not heard or seen any other spoken or written evidence that Kilbarron was ever used by freebooters.

Irish Penny Journal, 1841

On January 16th 1841 an extensive article on the history and background of Kilbarron Castle was published in the Irish Penny Journal along with a woodcut showing the ruins of the castle. This woodcut shows that the ruins of the castle were much more extensive at that time than they are today.

The Irish Penny Journal was a weekly magazine with stories of the people and history of places all around Ireland.

The Irish Penny Journal published 52 issues between 1840 and 1841. It was a weekly paper edited by the antiquarian George Petrie, containing original contributions by the William Carleton, James Clarence Mangan, John O’Donovan James Hardiman, Anne- Marie Hall and Edward Walsh. Many of the illustrations were by William Frederick Wakeman. A number of these had previously contributed to the earlier Dublin Penny Journal which existed between 1832 and 1837.

George Petrie (1790-1866), painter, musician, antiquary, archaeologist and editor of Irish Penny Journal.

It was a magazine which hoped to reach a mass audience throughout Ireland costing one penny but its format of being non-denominational and apolitical perhaps was its downfall and it remained in existence for only over a year.

The contribution about the bardic O’Clery family and their lofty home overlooking Donegal Bay was written by “P” almost certainly George Petrie who had purchased the various manuscripts originally belonging to Cúcoigcríche (Cugory) Uí Cléirigh and handed down through the various generations of his descendants until loaned or sold to Edward O’Reilly by John O’Clery. These including the Uí Cléirigh Book of Genealogy a copy of the Leabhair Gabála, The book of Invasions and various other manuscripts. These George Petrie bought at the late Edward O’Reilly’s auction in 1837 for the Royal Irish Academy.

To read the article see: #239 – The Irish penny journal. v. 1 (July 1840-June 1841). – Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

A Victorian Travellers Guide to Ireland, 1843

Termon MacGrath Castle near Pettigo, Co.Donegal

In 1843, just two years before the outbreak of the Irish Famine, “An Gorta Mór”, Mr and Mrs Samuel Carter Hall published a book about their experiences travelling around Ireland called “Ireland: Its Scenery, Characters &c” in three volumes, filled with factual history, their own observations and anecdotal stories from the people that they met on their journeys around the country. County Donegal featured large in Volume III of their book and in the southern part of the county they visited Donegal Castle, Lough Derg and the ruins of Termon McGrath castle near Pettigo.

In addition they visited the ruins of Kilbarron Castle and gave the following brief description.

“Our own route lay through the southern extremity of the county to Ballyshannon; but we diverged a few miles in order to examine the picturesque and venerable ruin of Kilbarron –an ancient fortalice of the O’Clerys, chiefs of the district”.

Interestingly they also include a lithograph of the ruins of Kilbarron Castle in their book along with many other sketches of places of interest around Ireland. The Kilbarron drawing is the work of J. H. Burgess and engraving by “Jackson”. The engraving shows the ruins to have been more extensive in 1843 with upstanding walls of all three buildings easily identified. This image has been very useful in determining what the castle originally looked like. The original drawing by J.H. Burgess is in the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.

Lithograph of Kilbarron Castle from the original sketch by J. H. Burgess in the travel book called Ireland Its Scenery and Characters by Mr. & Mrs. J.C. Hall 1843.

Samuel Carter Hall was born in Geneva Barracks, Co Waterford. The son of a London born British army officer. In 1821 he went to London to study law but became a newspaper reporter instead, He married Anna Maria Fielding in 1824 who was born in Dublin in 1800 but went to live in England when she was fifteen years old. She published extensively under her married name Mrs S. C. Hall including “Sketches of an Irish character” in 1829. She also contributed articles to the Irish Penny Journal under her name Anne Marie Hall.

As a footnote it is interesting to note that Kilbarron Castle, Termon McGrath Castle and Donegal Castle were recommended as places of great antiquity and interest for the intrepid tourist of the 1840s! In the years since then, the first two of these although nominally protected by the state have been allowed to fall further into ruin whilst the latter has been partially restored by the Board of Works in more recent years.

The present view of Donegal Castle which has been extensively restored in the last thirty years. It is now a major tourist destination due to the work undertaken.

Tours of Ulster 1855

George Petrie (1790-1866), editor Irish Penny Journal

In an extensive piece written about Kilbarron Castle in a book called “Tours in Ulster – A handbook to the Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Ireland” the author begins by remarking that “The castle of Kilbarron memorable as the ancient residence of the hereditary annalists of the kingdom (Tír Connaill) is situated on the sea coast, about three miles from Ballyshannon. It was in this castle the justly celebrated Annals of the Four Masters were composed. The accompanying sketch from the pencil of George Petrie, Esq, will convey an accurate idea of its present extent. Some idea of the liberal patronage bestowed by the native princes upon the literati may be formed from the extent of the estates granted for the support of these annalists”.

The book written by John Borbridge Doyle and published in 1855, promotes a series of tour routes across the nine counties of Ulster (as well as the Cooley Peninsular) He extols the scenic virtues of the province but additionally delves into the historic background of the many places of antiquity as well as remarking on the modern buildings of the period. He bases many of his tour routes on the growing extent of the new railways that were being built at the time. Some lines were still under construction such as the Dundalk Clones and Enniskillen line which by this time had only reached Castleblaney and one had to get a coach to Fintona in County Tyrone to link up with the Omagh to Derry line.

John Borbridge Doyle was one of nine children born to John Doyle and Sarah Borbridge who came from Dunganstown in County Wexford. He married Anne Smith and spent the latter years of his life living in Clougharevan, Bessbrook in County Armagh where he died on the 19th April 1882. He published an earlier book in 1852 called “Lesser Lights of Scripture. Dorcas and Ruth” which is currently out of print.

John Borbridge Doyle was obviously a man of artistic ability as many of the sketches in the book Tours of Ulster are by his own hand. As noted earlier the lithograph of Kilbarron Castle was sketched by George Petrie whom he further quotes his remarks on Kilbarron Castle “From the singularity of its position, situated on a lofty precipitous nearly insulated cliff exposed to the storms and billows of the western ocean, the reader will naturally conclude that this sad dilapidated and time worn ruin must have owed its origins to some rude and daring chief of old, whose occupation was war and rapine, and whose thoughts were as wild and turbulent as the waves that washed his sea girt eagle dwelling; and as such in their ignorance of its unpublished history, has been the conclusion by modern topographers that it must have been the habitation of freebooters. But not so. This lonely insulated fortress was erected as an abode for peaceful men -a safe and quiet retreat, in troubled times for the laborious investigators and preservers of the history, poetry and antiquities of their country”.