Chapter 1 - Ireland in the 18th Century

The Revolutionary War of 1689-91 ended in a complete victory not just for William of Orange but for the Protestant community. Many Protestants were critical of William’s administration because it was too tolerant. The prime objective of Irish Protestants having just escaped destruction was to secure their position for the future. The confiscations which followed the Revolutionary War meant that Catholics only held about 1/15th of all the land but this was not enough to quell their fears. It was an unpalatable fact that Protestants constituted a minority of the Irish population and many felt that the only way to secure their future was to destroy the power of the Catholic Church, confiscate Catholic land and deny Catholics all social and political authority. In their eyes Ireland was a Protestant Nation and much of what happened between 1691 and 1801 was based on that premise and the fears that went with it.

The Penal Laws are much embedded in Irish tradition and folklore. A series of laws were passed not just against Catholics but against all Dissenters including Protestant minority groups such as the Presbyterians in the north. It was felt that in a time of crisis Dissenters would still rally around because of their common fear of Catholics. The main purpose of the various Acts was to deprive Roman Catholics of all political influence. They were excluded from parliament, the army and militia, the civil service, the municipal corporations and the legal profession. They were forbidden to send their children abroad for education. The Penal Laws were really against the Catholic gentry and to lesser extent the Church. Land was the key to power and wealth and for this reason the Catholics were forbidden to acquire land by purchase, inheritance or gift etc. A Catholic had no power to leave land at will and if the eldest became a Protestant he would inherit it all. It was successful in that many landowners conformed in order to save their estates and political position. The Penal Law restrictions did not have any major effect on the majority of people because they were not considered as dangerous as the gentry.

Penal Laws and the Church

Religious persecution certainly was not uncommon on Europe and was mainly perpetrated by Catholic rulers in France and Spain but what was unusual in Ireland is that it was directed against the majority. The Penal Laws were intended to give security and power to the Protestant minority but enforcement depended on political circumstances at any given time. In a sense the Protestant community had every reason to fear the Catholic threat. The House of Stuart which did no favours for the majority of Irish Catholics, may have been defeated at the battle of the Boyne but the Pope continued to recognise their descendants as legitimate heirs to the English throne up to 1766. For this reason the Catholic clergy were considered disloyal to the Protestant king.

An Act of 1703 provided for the registration of all "popish priests" under pain of banishment and arising from this 1,089 priests were registered. It had the one positive effect only and that was it recognised the legal status of all registered priests. They had the right to say mass, administer the sacraments and the normal duties of the priest. The theory of it was that all Bishops were banished from the country under the Banishment Act 1697, therefore when the registered priests died off, there would be no more Catholic priests and without clergy all the Catholic people would turn to the Established Church.

In reality this did not occur and in truth there was no great political will to convert Catholics to the Established Church. What would the Gentry have done if millions of Catholics converted to Protestantism with all that entailed regarding property, political freedom, economically etc? However as many paid lip service to the conversion of Catholics, efforts were made by some to promote the Protestant interest e.g. through the Charter Schools. Many of the children were orphans or foundlings as Catholic parents would not give up their own. Around 50 schools were set up across the country but an Education report in 1825 showed that since the 1730s only about 12,745 were apprenticed in the schools and only 1,155 had received the £5 given to those who married Protestants. To put it in context the estimates of the population of Ireland in the 18th century vary from 2-2.5 million in 1700 rising to 4-5 million by 1800, so the impact of the schools like many other schemes was quite small.

International Politics

The attitude of the Government towards Catholics was determined much of the time by the international political situation. From 1702 - 1713 the War of the Spanish Succession took place and England was at war with Catholic France but on the other hand the Austrian Emperor was their ally and he was also Catholic, therefore the Government had to strike a balance. The Stuart Rebellion in Scotland in 1715 and the war with Spain in 1718 brought back the dreadful twin Protestant fear of the Jacobites and Papists and therefore severe implementation of the laws (other wars in the 1740’s and 1750’s had the same effect). In 1701 an Act was passed which denied the rights of James II’s son to the English throne. It was called the Oath of Abjuration and in 1708 following the sighting of the French fleet off the coast of Ireland, proclamations were issued to commit all popish priests to jail. Many had to go on the run and in 1709 the 1,089 registered priests were compelled to take the oath but only 33 did it and the Government found it impossible to impose. Thirteen priests were presented by the Grand Jury in Mullingar in 1711 for saying mass without taking the oath. Of the priests who had taken the oath, 9 were from Westmeath and the Grand Jury were trying to get the others to also comply with it.

The great image of the 18th century is of bishops and priests on the run and saying mass in fields, sheds and at rocks. While this was obviously true at various times but it was mainly confined to the first half of the century. There is also a traditional image of the priest hunters pursuing the clergy relentlessly but in many cases public opinion was against them on both the Catholic and Protestant side. They were in constant danger of losing their lives and there was a stigma attached which gained few friends. Arguably, a bigger threat to many bishops came from degraded clerics who switched to the other side and for a fee would provide the authorities with information.

Because in a sense the Catholic Church was totally independent of all Government and secular authority and operated on the run it grew strong and close to the ordinary people, unlike other countries where Catholicism was the state religion and the rulers constantly intervened in church matters. While the bishops were in exile, dioceses were administered by vicar generals who could carry out the functions of the bishops except for confirmation and ordination. A constant influx of priests from Catholic Colleges all over Europe ensured that the number of priests were maintained. Collections were taken up for the priests and the traditional offerings at funerals began at this time, although ordinary people had few resources especially as they had to pay tithes to the Church of Ireland.

The second half of the century saw the gradual easing of the laws and when the Pope no longer recognised the Stuarts in 1766 the Hanovers and Protestants generally felt less threatened by an invasion. Prayers were said for the King and Government in Catholic Chapels and bishops constantly reminded their flock to obey the laws of the Government. However the Penal Laws did teach ordinary people the need to defy the law to maintain their faith and by the 1790’s many of them were ready to defy their own church leaders when the need arose.

Affairs Of State

The Irish Parliament in the 18th century consisted of a House of Lords and a House of Commons. The House of Lords consisted of 22 spiritual peers (Church of Ireland) and the rest were lay peers. The House of Commons was composed of 300 members - two were returned by each of the 32 counties, two by 117 boroughs and by Trinity College, Dublin. The county franchise gave votes to 40/= freeholders - those who had land either leased on certain terms or owned outright worth at least 40/=. Many landlords tried to create freeholds falsely in order to control the votes but most centres had less than 4,000 votes. In the 57 corporation boroughs the franchise was confined to members of the corporation (mostly 13 in number). Some of the County boroughs like Dublin and Cork had larger numbers and on occasions there was some doubt as to who would be elected. However the basic point is that the Irish Parliament of the 18th century was not in any sense democratic or representative of the people. It was the preserve of a Protestant Ascendancy class and based on the exclusion of papists. The boroughs were totally rotten and controlled by the gentry e.g. Bannow in Wexford had no house and nothing but a pile of sea sand and in Harristown in Co Kildare there was "not one house and but one tree inhabiting." Westmeath County (Electorate 1,120) in 1783 had Athlone Corporation consisting of burgesses and 400-500 freemen (Patrons Sir Richard St. George and Dean Handcock); Fore Corporation with 13 burgesses (Patron the Earl of Westmeath); Kilbeggan Corporation with 13 burgesses (Patron Charles Lambart); and Mullingar Manor with freeholders of which 12 voted in 1783 (Patron Earl of Granard).

Between 1725 and 1793 Catholics and those married to Catholics could not vote. Elections were rare as one parliament lasted for the whole of George I’s reign and its successor went on for 33 years. The buying and selling of seats was very common. The main problem in running the country was that the executive and the legislature were separate. The Lord Lieutenant and his officials in Dublin Castle received their instructions from the English ministry. In the first half of the century he was an absentee who nominally came over at two year intervals to conduct parliamentary sessions but he was not dependent on parliament to approve policy. His job was to ensure that the policy which the English Administration wanted was pushed through and in order to win votes the Lord Lieutenant often pandered to the selfishness of the members of the Irish Parliament. Votes were gained by the granting of titles, places and pensions to the members and civil, military and ecclesiastical appointments to their relatives. By its nature trying to maintain a majority in such circumstances was extremely difficult for the Lord Lieutenant. As one Lord Lieutenant said "Most Irish gentlemen enter my closet with a P in their mouths - Place, Pension, Peerage, or Privy Council." This in one sense made many Irish M.P.s both independent and irresponsible as patriotism and the Irish interest were often used to gain further advantage from Dublin Castle. The situation only gradually improved from the Castle point of view when the Lord Lieutenant’s began to reside in Ireland from the time of Lord Townsend in the 1770s, which encouraged a system of more direct patronage by each Viceroy up to the Act of Union.

Economic Situation

One of the main features of the 18th century was that prior to the Rebellion of 1798 there was no real threat to the existing order for over a century but visitors to Ireland commented mainly on the poverty and poor living conditions. Part of the problem was the restriction on trade and Irish manufacture by the English Government following the Revolutionary War e.g. an Act in 1699 prohibited the export of wool to any country except England where there were heavy duties on Irish wool. One positive side of this was the gradual development of the Linen Industry which was encouraged by the English Administration. By the end of the 1720’s around ¼ of all exports were in the linen trade, however it was mainly confined to the north.

With a rapidly increasing population Ireland was still dependent on agriculture and beef was the only important agriculture export to grow in the early part of the century up to the 1730’s. Ireland suffered from the periodic famines (e.g. 1740-41) and failed harvests common to all countries. The real problem was the inefficiency of the agriculture system with absentee landlords who drew valuable resources from the land and put back very little in return and on the other hand tenant farmers had little security with poverty the normal condition of life. Tenants could get long leases up to 31 years but then it was often sublet again in order to get the rent to pay the landlord and their was little incentive to improve the land. The growth of the population with the encroachment of pasture on arable meant the sub-division of farms. Most families lived on potatoes and buttermilk in mud cabins and on a knife edge of threatened famine and fever as sanitary conditions were poor.

The 1730-50’s was a great period of road building which helped to increase the internal trade. They were built and maintained by Trustees and most were Turnpikes. The Trustees put up the capital and then took the tolls on the traffic. From the 1760’s they were built mainly by the Grand Jury in each county (the equivalent of the County Councils) The development of the canals towards the end of the 18th century also assisted in the expansion of flour milling, distilling and brewing on a larger scale and towns increased in size and importance. The problem was that most of the wealth went to the landlords and merchants. Agrarian crime became more widespread and serious in the latter part of the 18th century, most of it localised. The Whiteboy movement which originally arose due to land closures spread from Munster into Leinster and became the focus of many peasant grievances and the pre-cursor of the 19th century movements.

Political Situation from 1780’s

One of the problems for the Irish Parliament in the 18th century was that the English Parliament held the power to legislate for Ireland. Legislative bills could originate in the Irish Parliament as ‘ heads of bills’ but then had to be sent to the King’s Representative, the Lord Lieutenant for transmission to England for approval. It meant that ‘Irish interests’ (i.e. Protestant Ascendancy class interests) were totally dependent and subservient to English interests. The rise of Protestant leaders like Henry Grattan and Henry Flood as part of the ‘patriot’ movement seeking the right of the Irish Parliament to legislate for itself coincided with the formation of the Volunteer Movement.

The American War of Independence in the 1770’s with a major involvement by the French brought back the usual fears of invasion. Most troops had been withdrawn from Ireland and the Volunteers originated as a defence against foreign enemies and to secure domestic peace as there was no police force. They were first formed in Belfast in 1778 and all volunteers were Protestant, mainly well off merchants, tradesmen, and well off farmers led by officers from the nobility and gentry. Neither the Parliament nor the Volunteers were interested in the rights of Catholics as Grattan said on one occasion (when addressing Protestants!). " I love the Roman Catholic. I am a friend to his liberty but it is only inasmuch as his liberty is entirely consistent with your ascendancy ". When no French invasion came the Volunteers turned towards politics and in 1779 helped to win concessions with the removal of restrictions on Irish trade and by 1782 the delegates from the Volunteer Corps met in Dungannon and passed political resolutions drawn up by Flood and Grattan with the main assertion being the right of the Irish Parliament to legislate for itself. The same year the concession was won from the British Administration and from 1782-1800 the country was ruled by the so-called ‘Grattan’s Parliament’.

There was no desire to break the link with England and the independence of the Irish Parliament was more imaginary than real. The Rebellion of 1798 helped to seal its fate, leading to the legislative union of the two countries again in 1801. The Volunteers who had helped to support the Irish Parliament in their clashes with the English Authorities disintegrated on the issue of electoral reform (which did not include Catholics) as many Ulster Presbyterians who were part of the Volunteers received little for their efforts and support. From a peak in 1782 the Volunteer Movement went gradually into decline and by 1786 even Dublin Castle considered then harmless. In a return done for the whole country in 1784 there were only about 18,500 members (some of them Catholics). Some of the ideas manifested themselves and partly led to the rise of a new movement - the United Irishmen. The Protestant Dissenters began to realise that future reform had to enlist the help of the Catholic majority.

United Irishmen

The impact of the American and French Revolutions cannot be underestimated as the latter in particular produced a wave of interest in reform especially amongst Presbyterians in the north. However now the reformers were no longer interested in working within the system they wanted a more democratic state. The founding of the Society of United Irishmen on Belfast and Dublin in 1791 by Wolfe Tone was Protestant in origin and thought but ultimately its real importance was the alliance for the first time with Catholics in order to gain political rights for all. The alliance certainly brought alarm to the authorities leading to the Volunteers being suppressed and the United Irishmen harassed.

To ease the pressure the Catholic Relief Bill was passed in 1793 allowing Catholics to vote. However without the right to sit in parliament it was a false dawn. As attitudes on both sides hardened with the United Irishmen driven underground and the rise of the Orange Societies in the 1790’s, rebellion became the only means by which the reformers could change the system. The reformers were prepared to use violence at home and ally themselves with France or ant other allies. The United Irishmen were formed by a group of the middle class with the objectives of Parliamentary and Catholic Emancipation but after being driven underground in 1794 changed into a secret revolutionary organisation. The alliance between the mainly Presbyterian leaders of the United Irishmen and the Catholic led Defenders gave it a mass popularity that could appeal to visionaries and to those with less lofty aims.

Defenders

The Defenders originated in Co. Armagh in 1784 arising out of fierce competition for land in a densely populated area. They were organised as a defence against attacks by the Protestant Peep O’Day Boys who plundered Catholic houses in search of illegal arms. It was an organisation which used local grievances as part of an anti-Protestant, anti-State, and anti-English agenda but it was also a link between the less violent earlier movements and other more subversive organisations like the Whiteboys and Ribbonmen of the 19th century.

The exact nature and appeal of the organisation is difficult to define. Entry was by oath with pass words and signs of recognition. The movement blended traditional grievances over land rents, tithes, and taxes which appealed very much to the poorer Catholics classes with their anti-State ethos which was subversive and sectarian. There was also elements of the traditional Gaelic culture of deliverance from foreign rule and a gradual move towards seeking support from abroad in the shape of France. The authorities were never quite sure of their aims as the Freemans Journal printed in January 1793.

"In all other risings of the populace there was some avowed object or some general grievance to complain of. The Defenders and other tumultuary confederacies that derive from them on the contrary can or do allege none. One talks of paying no hearth tax, another of paying no tithes, a third of paying no rent for potato ground and some others shout out Liberty and Equality."

What started as a secret defence organisation for Catholics spread through Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, into Leinster. One major factor in the spread of the Defenders was the passing of the Militia Act in 1793. The militia were intended to be a domestic defence and peace keeping force who would replace the defiant Volunteer Organisation. It was organised by the local Protestant Gentry in each county and conscripts were mainly poorer class Catholics. The proposed compulsory service and a belief that they would be sent abroad led to a fierce and popular resistance. Riots took place all over the country and hundreds died. It only helped to entrench the widening gap between the Protestant Ascendancy class and the lower class Catholics. One effect was that many members of the Defenders were balloted into the various county militia forces and because they invariably did not operate in their own county were able to spread the movement into new areas.

As the state massed its resources and developed a tougher stance to stamp out the terrorism of the Defenders the organisation came to see the Protestant Ascendancy class as their enemy to be removed. The British Government policy of conciliation of the Catholics up to 1793 gave way to a tougher policy, under the Lord Lieutenant Camden, of no concessions and the development of a strong military force to enforce the law. The situation was aggravated even further by the founding of the Orange Order in September 1795 following the Battle of the Diamond in Co Armagh. Class hatred, sectarianism and religious discrimination were common long before this date but the specific formation of the Orange Lodges drove many Catholics into the arms of the Defenders and United Irishmen. The Defenders unlike the United Irishmen did not have a particular set of policies but they had a sophisticated network of lodges and unlike the United Irishmen it is practically impossible to recognise major leaders of the Defender Movement. Leaders of the United Irishmen like Henry Joy McCracken, James Hope, William Putnam McCabe etc travelled far and wide from 1795 in order to bring about an alliance with the Defenders and have as many as possible sworn as United Irishmen.

It was not a peasant movement and included teachers, weavers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen. The gradual and ultimately logical orientation of the Defenders towards the United Irishmen gave both organisations a wider appeal and conviction that a rising with French aid was the only solution to their respective problems. What started out as a defence organisation had quickly gone on the attack with many raids on the gentry and magistrates between 1795-1798 in an attempt to gain arms. Now they were preparing for an armed Insurrection.

1798 Rebellion in Ireland

The United Irishmen struck terror into the heart of the authorities but by early 1798 the movement was collapsing as the authorities through spies collected much information on the leaders and their plans. The Government repression, lack of French aid and finally the arrest of many of its leaders prior to the Rebellion guaranteed failure. On the eve of the Rebellion the Leinster Executive was arrested and also Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Sheares etc. while Wolfe Tone was in France trying to raise an expedition. The Rebellion began on the night of 23-24th May 1798 and basically was over in 4 months.

The insurgents had two great disadvantages going into battle. They were badly armed and discipline and training was not great without proper leadership. The United Irishmen were organised on a military basis by Lord Edward Fitzgerald. They were formed into companies for a district and a larger group or corps made up of companies over a wider area. The normal title of the officer was Captain and they were appointed by popular election. John McManus was the leader in the Kilbeggan area covering other places like Castletown, Streamstown, Horseleap etc. The force which assembled in Kilbeggan (without McManus) was divided into bands of 60-100 men headed by an officer and moving in regular order. The problem was that in the heat of battle it was difficult to maintain discipline against trained troops.

The military force in Ireland at the outbreak of the rising was over 76,000 - consisting of regulars, militia, and yeomanry. Fencibles were regular soldiers not used for overseas service and only for the duration of hostilities and they had been raised since 1794. Their discipline was poor at times. The militia were first raised in 1793 and it was an infantry force consisting mainly of Catholics but with a Protestant officer. There were around 24,000 in the militia and the authorities feared that they would desert to the United Irishmen but on the balance of evidence this did not happen and they fought well for the authorities. There was no doubt about the loyalty of the yeomen because the majority of them were Protestant. They had a great interest in defending their own position, often local and personal, coloured with a mixture of fear and dislike of the threat of the Catholics. They were in many ways a partisan police force and not soldiers. While they played a major role in defending the Administration, without the regular army they would not have been able to put down the rebellion. The critical factor in the war was that the government forces had artillery which proved crucial on a number of occasions and obviously discipline and training was better than the rebels.

Towards the end of May the rebellion broke out in counties close to Dublin i.e. Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, and Carlow. The insurgents had some success with the capture of Kildare, Prosperous, and Rathangan but defeats at the Hill of Tara on 26th May and the retaking of Rathangan by the use of artillery ended any real prospect of success for the rebels in Kildare although the county remained disturbed up to and after the conflict at Ovidstown on 19th June. Between the months of May and September approximately 50 battles or skirmishes took place stretching from Antrim & Down to Wexford. In the north the Rebellion was mainly carried out by Presbyterians carrying pikes and muskets but it was put down within a week. Westmeath in spite of being one of the more active and agitated counties the year before the rebellion did not rise except for Kilbeggan on 18th June and later in the year at Wilson’s Hospital (6th September). When 1798 is spoken of only one county immediately comes to mind as the songs and folklore commemorates Vinegar Hill, brave Fr.Murphy etc. Within a comparatively short time successes at Oulart, Enniscorthy, and Wexford gave the insurgents control of the county but unfortunately they could not break out of the county to link up with others.

The gradual concentration of superior forces and artillery on Wexford led to the crucial conflict at Vinegar Hill on 21st June when the rebels were defeated. The conflict in Leinster continued in a series of skirmishes in Wexford, Wicklow, and later Longford into September. Why was the conflict in Wexford on such a large scale compared to the rest of the country? Contemporaries were shocked at the furious eruption of war and blind sectarianism of the time. However the explanation of poor peasants being led by priests in a religious rising fuelled by a resentment of Protestant military rule without any of the principles of the United Irishmen is not satisfactory. The same could equally apply to other areas of Ireland. There is evidence that many parts of Wexford were politicised and well organised before the rebellion and it is more likely that a mixture of this and local issues that made the scale of the conflict greater in Wexford than elsewhere. In late August 1798 the French arrived in the west of Ireland and initially General Humbert defeated the government forces at Castlebar but Cornwallis who was Viceroy organised a force against them and by 8th September they had surrendered at Ballinamuck, Co Longford.

The significance of the 1798 Rebellion was that on the one hand the Protestant Ascendancy and the British Government were alarmed and it helped to confirm the belief that a legislative union with Britain was the best solution from a security and police point of view. On the other side it was the start of a revolutionary and nationalist tradition in Irish politics which lasts up to this day in various forms. The 1798 Rebellion brought about the Act of Union with Britain in 1801 but it also laid the groundwork for a tradition that was to break that union in the 20th century.

Chapter 2 - Kilbeggan in the 18th Century

An Act of Parliament in 1542 created the county of Westmeath and within the county the Barony of Moycashel was effectively created in 1571 by the appointment of Ross McGeoghegan to the seneschal of Ceneal Fhiachrach or McGeoghegan country which was to be named the Barony of Moycashel. The barony takes in many surrounding areas from Horseleap, Streamstown, Castletown, Ballinagore, to Rahugh, Durrow etc. In the context of events in Kilbeggan up to 1798 it is necessary to take in the general area of the barony and also the parts of the barony of Fertullagh close to the Kilbeggan Parish. The men who marched into Kilbeggan in June 1798 came from many of the surrounding areas and not just the immediate vacinity of the town.

Penal Laws and the Kilbeggan Area

During the period 1690-1779 six parish priests ministered in the parish. It is difficult to get good records of this period but the Protestant Bishop Dopping during his visitations between 1682/85 mentioned that there was a Popish schoolmaster Garrett O’Reilly in Kilbeggan. There is some information regarding the landowners in the census of 1659 and occupiers of houses and lands in 1682 (Appendix). A century later there were six schools in the town. He mentioned about 40-50 Protestants in the town. John Daly was Abbot and Parish Priest of Kilbeggan in 1690 and in 1704 Anthony Mitchell was registered in Mullingar as Popish Priest of Kilbeggan. He was ordained at Valentia in Spain by John Salizares, Bishop of Valentia. He had for sureties in accordance with penal statutes Hugh Flanagan of Horseleap and Denis Brown of Hopestown. In the same year Anthony Coghlan was registered as Parish Priest of Castlepost and Rahugh now part of the Kilbeggan parish. Of the priests who refused to take the Oath of Abjuration the Westmeath priests seemed to have achieved the greatest notoriety. Anthony Coghlan was one of those who took the oath and with so many refusing to take it those that did were held in contempt by their parishioners. It is probable that they only agreed to do it in order to attend their pastoral duties in peace but unfortunately for them it misfired.

Another priest from the Barony of Moycashel James Dillon had proceedings taken against him in 1714 because although he had registered he had not taken the oath. In the same year in near-by Fertullagh William Warren an unregistered priest had a warrant issued against him by Mr Rochfort, Mr Birtles, and Mr Handcock. It is clear that life was difficult for clergy in all areas during the first half of the century in particular. Even as late as 1742 Luke Tyrell was convicted at Mullingar Assizes of being an unregistered priest and ordered for transportation (31st August 1742). His main offence was that he was said to have carried away and seduced to the Popish religion a Protestant woman Jane Morley. Included amongst the bill of costs was an item " a man and two horses to Dublin in pursuit of Tyrell ". He was convicted and transported. The situation gradually changed over the century and when Thomas Dunne P.P. died a monument was erected with an inscription which included " In testimony of the respect and esteem which the Roman Catholics and Protestant inhabitants had for Rev. Thomas Dunne.......". He had studied in Salamanca and was parish priest from 1779 to the early 1800’s, earning the respect of all. Strangely Westmeath county aside from Dublin city had the highest number of people outlawed for high treason arising out of the Williamite Confiscations i.e. 304 people including landowners, their sons, tenants, traders etc.

According to tradition mass was celebrated in the 18th century at Balrath cross-roads where great numbers attended and some had to keep a vigil during ceremonies, also at Cruckanvara, Comagh Hill, Barley Hill on the banks of the Brosna, Ballinderry and many more. One priest captured at Comagh was executed at a place called the " Murdering Boreen".There is also a tradition of an old underground passage from the Cistercian Monastery (near the graveyard) to St Columcilles abbey in Durrow which was in the past used as a hiding place by hundreds of priests. There are many stories about priest hunters in the area including the notorious Barry Low and the Fionules. The Lows are said to have persecuted, imprisoned and hanged a number of priests. One extract from a song includes the lines

" Barry Lowe you all do know,

He was very ill inclined,

He dirtied on the altar,

And the devil knocked him blind"

This supposedly arose out of an incident involving Fr. Dillon, who was captured by the Lows at Shureen near Kilbeggan. He had him cuffed and brought to Newtown the home of the Lows and then tied to his horse and dragged to Mullingar Jail. The folklore has it that he was asked to liberate the priest and he answered " May the devil blind me if I do ". With that he was apparently struck blind for a short time. A common phrase in Westmeath for many years was "You are as blind as Barry Low."

Kilbeggan was once described as a town of battles and raids in the past and churches and chapels always seemed to suffer. The Cistercian Abbey founded in 1150 was the subject of many attacks and raids until its dissolution in 1539 when all its "goods and chattels" were taken by the King’s cohorts. In the 1640s an internal dispute within the Irish forces camped in Kilbeggan almost ended in the Catholic church being blown apart as Owen Roe O’Neill ordered the artillery to draw up and fire on the church but happily it was saved. During the 1798 rebellion the yeomanry on several occasions seemed likely to set fire to the chapel with the congregation in it

Protestant Church

A Protestant report of 1733 states with regard to Kilbeggan that there were 34 church families, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Anabaptist, and 130 popish. There was also a parish priest and a mass house. The Protestant Church was built in 1764 and part of it still remains.The church grounds consisted of a relic bawn of 2 roods and 2 perches, churchyard 2 roods 25 perches, and around 2/3rds of the church lane was tilled. The number of Protestant households seemed to increase into the 19th century. In 1808 there were 40 households which increased to 49 in 1813 (102 male and 103 female) and by 1818 it was 54 households. In 1834 there were 5,104 Catholics, 155 Protestants, and 14 Dissenters in the parish. It is interesting looking at some of the expenses of the Protestant Church on 7th April 1765 - the shopkeeper,innkeeper, and ale seller got 1d each; the shoemaker, wigmaker, butcher, clothier got 6d each; and the smith, tailor, cooper, hatter, and hucksters 3d each. It showed the wide variety of activities in a self contained town. They benefited from gifts from the Lambart family including the church silver. John Elrington who was minister from 1764 - 1801 was called as a character witness for John McManus at his trial in 1798 probably at the instigation of Matthias McManus (father of John) who was a prominent Distiller at the time. It was an indication of the generally good relationship between the Protestants and the Catholics in the Kilbeggan area. In the 1790’s Dr Plunkett the Catholic Bishop spoke out very strongly against United Irishmen and Defenders on his confirmation visits to the town.

One factor that did create some tension between the various religious and social groups prior to the 1798 rebellion was that arising out of the Williamite Confiscations the Protestant Ascendancy were dominant in the near-by Newtown- Tyrellspass region (even in the time of O’Connell, Tyrellspass was described as a Protestant town) with families like the Lowes, Rochforts, and Pilkingtons, whereas Kilbeggan aside from the Lambarts did not have big landowners. It was a trading and market town more open to outside influences than most towns in the midlands and less restricted by powerful Protestant landlords.

John Wesley

He founded the religious movement Methodism with his brother Charles and between 1747-1789 he visited Ireland on many occasions. There is no account of a meeting in Kilbeggan town but he spent much of his time with Samuel Handy of Coolalough House near Kilbeggan. He preached there on a regular basis and the house became a centre of Methodist influence in Ireland. There was a large congregation in Kilbeggan when a preacher visited in 1794 and even in 1837 there was a community in the town. The l and members of the Methodist community were to play some part in the events of 1798 as part of the yeomanry.

Parliamentary Representatives

One of the most notable of the Elizabethan Protestant settlers was Sir Oliver Lambart. He was an officer in the army of Essex and is mentioned in a decree of Elizabeth I as a gentleman of good credit and a nephew of Sir Henry Wallop Her Majesty’s Vice-Treasurer in Ireland. He was one of Mountjoy’s leading officers in the war against the Earl of Tyrone. On 19th July 1601 he was made Governor of Connaught and after much success was granted huge tracts of lands in the Kilbeggan area including the monastery grounds. He received about 700 acres of land, 60 houses and gardens and the rents and church tithes of 26 townslands. Kilbeggan was made a borough town by charter of James I in 1612. Lambart also obtained a weekly market for the town in 1606.The corporation according to the charter was styled "The portreeve, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Kilbeggan, and consists of one portreeve who was a magistrate, 12 burgesses and an unlimited number of freemen." (Robert Tent, Burgermaster or Provost; Sir Oliver Lambart,Edward Warren, James Large, Thomas Alford, Richard Daniell, John Addys, Robert Lambart, John Mason, John Jones, Henry Dixon, John Smith, and John Boucher). The freedom was obtained by the favour of the portreeve and burgesses. A Borough Court of Record for the recovery of debts not exceeding 5 marks was still held in the 19th century and also a Court of Petty sessions every Saturday in which the Portreeve occasionally presided with the Magistrate. The position of the corporation remained the same down the years but the main power was in the hands of the Lambarts. Oliver Lambart represented Cavan in 1614 and he was elevated to the peerage as Lord Lambart, Baron of Cavan in 1617 before his death in 1618.

He was an able officer not particularly liked or trusted by the Irish as he was over zealous. At an election in Cavan he cracked the head of a hostile voter who had no hat on at the time. The Lambarts either represented or controlled representatives for Kilbeggan right up to the Act of Union when Gustavus Lambart sold his vote. His heir Charles was advanced to Earl of Cavan and Viscount of Kilcoursey in 1647. The family had mortgaged much of their property in Cavan and Westmeath even prior to the 1641 rebellion. Events in the rebellion did not help as in 1642 he was robbed of his cattle, sheep, corn, and equipment in Kilbeggan. His house, the church and mills were all damaged or burned. The family were always part of the establishment e.g. another Oliver Lambart is found in an address to King Charles II in 1683 and Charles and Oliver Lambart were commissioners in 1695, 1697, and 1698 for Meath and Westmeath for raising a supply for William of Orange against James II. In the "Patriot Parliament" summoned by James II in 1689 the borough was represented by Brian and Charles Geoghegan but the success of William of Orange was to see the downfall of this great family in terms of representing Kilbeggan and in many other ways

The list of Parliamentary representatives in the 18th century were:-

Charles Lambart and Patrick Fox - 1703-1713

Brabazon Newcomen and John Preston in 1713 (Preston was also a knight of the shrine for Co Meath and put in a writ for a replacement for the Kilbeggan borough in 1713. He was replaced by G.Fitzherbert)

Charles Lambart and Brabazon Newcomen 1715-1727

Charles Lambart Sn. 1727-52

Charles Lambart Jn. 1727-41

Gustavus Lambart 1727-75

Hamilton Lambart 1752-61

Thomas Tipping 1761-69

Charles Lambart 1769-84

Sir Robert Johnston 1776-84

John Philpott Curran and Henry Flood 1784-91

Thomas Burgh and William Sherlock ) 1791-98

Gustavus Lambart and Sir Francis Hopkins 1798-1800

The contribution of the Lambarts in parliament was highly questionable. In 1746 Lord Chesterfield described three peers including the 5th Earl of Cavan as having "nothing of their own . . . . . and part of the furniture of this House of Lords, which, if his majesty thinks proper to put in a little better repair, he will at the same time do a real act of compassion." References to the Lambarts within Parliament were few and far between. Richard,Earl of Cavan was receiving a pension of £800 in 1780 and Elizabeth, wife of Charles was receiving a military pension of £300 in 1777. One of the more unusual references was on 23rd November 1753 when a complaint was made that " Doctor Francis Andrews did in a violent manner insult Gustavus Lambart Esq this morning at the door of the house". Four days later Dr Andrews in the custody of the sergeant at arms expressed his sorrow for his offence and begged the pardon of the house and prayed to be discharged. Gustavus Lambart received leave on several occasions to go to the country e.g. in 1756 "upon extraordinary occasions" and in 1759 he was granted "leave at his own request to waive his privilege in a suit between him and Richard Hamilton (a burgess)". In July 1743 the Earl of Cavan had put the great and small tithes of the parish of Kilbeggan up to be sold to the highest bidder. The Earls of Cavan were much of the time resident in Dublin and even in January 1759 when lands were being let at Forduras (tenants John Berney and John Harris) and Augheraminagh (tenant councillor Low), Kilbeggan, application had to be made to His Lordship’s home in Dublin. The Lambarts generally voted for Government with the reward of pensions and certain posts as compensation.

In June 1772 Charles Lambart was appointed Collector of Excise for Sir Edward Newenham from whom the appointment had been withdrawn. However in March 1785 "in the accounts of all debts due to his majesty by officers of his majesty’s revenue who have died or being dismissed from his majesty’s revenue between 25th March 1782-25th March 1783 " the name of Charles Lambart appears as follows:-

Because of their position they were always welcomed by the gentry in the area e.g. in July 1754 when two new burgesses Richard Hamilton and William Midgeig were elected Gustavus Lambart was present. It was his first appearance in the corporation of Kilbeggan since the rising of Parliament. It was said that he was " paid all the compliments due to him by the gentlemen of the county and the night concluded with drinking loyal toasts, bonfires, illuminations, and ringing of bells". It is not often that we get a hint of how the gentry entertained themselves in the midlands in the 18th century aside from hunting and shooting. Many years later in 1786 Sir James Nugent constructed a balloon at Donore with the intention of sending a cat, a dog, and other animals up in it. I am sure the launch was attended by local gentry like the Lambarts but there was no explanation as to how the poor unfortunate animals were to get down again!

When Lord Townsend became Viceroy he took every opportunity to win over supporters by flattering, obliging, or threatening them. Every connection would be strained and stretched to influence doubtful members and improve the castles numbers.(The Lambarts were always likely candidates for this type of pressure!). On 14th February 1771 he wrote to his mother

"There was a Mr Charles Lambart, a son of a very worthy gentleman Mr Gustavus Lambart of Beauparc who is on the point of marrying a relation of yours, Miss Dutton. It may be difficult at such a time to persuade a young lady to part with her lover but if your ladyship pleases to hint how much it may coincide with my wishes to Mr Lambart’s family as well as for the Kings Service here at so critical a time in the first day of session, it may be of use."

It is a good indication of the workings of the Irish Parliament in the 18th century. Not even true love good stand in the way of political needs!

Like many other landowning families through the 18th century the Lambarts had to for financial reasons associate with many of those who founded their fortune on trade e.g. Sir Michael Cromie MP for Ballyshannon was the son of a Dublin wine merchant and he married Lady Gertrude Lambart daughter and heiress of the Earl of Cavan. Cromie was made a baronet in 1776. Finance was always a problem for the Lambarts and in March 1796 we find a letter addressed to Arthur O’Connor (a key figure in 1798) from C.J.Fox,Fitzroy Square.

"Sir, -I received some days ago an answer to Mr Lambart who says it is his intention to re-negotiate only for one seat and that in respect to that one he is at present in Treaty with two persons but if he should not close with them he is willing that you should have it if the terms suit you. They are £3,000 Irish to be paid down and he is to pay the interest till the day of the return. I suppose he means until the return is made secure against a Petition."

The ultimate price for the seat was paid with the passing of the Act of Union in 1801. Gustavus Lambart sold his vote for £15,000. The family were typical of the Protestant gentry of the 18th century - protective of themselves and their own class before any other considerations e.g. Gustavus Lambart was one of the Grand Jury members who generously voted a service of plate to the Wicklow Militia led by the murderous Hempenstall " The Walking Gallows" and all at the expense of the taxpayers.

Contribution to Kilbeggan

The Earls of Cavan never lived at Beauparc House which was in their ownership from the mid-18th century up to 1986 when Lord Henry Mountcharles, Slane Castle took it over. Gustavus William Lambart married Lady Francis Caroline Maria Conygham in 1847. She was the daughter of the 2nd Marquess Conygham. As usual the Lambarts were in financial difficulties at the that time and the 2nd Marquess gave the house to her daughter and son-in-law. The house was the home of many of the Lambart’s but they did live in Kilbeggan for generations. They had a house on the Tullamore Road on the hill of the grove near the water tower and there were two gate houses around the first house on St James Terrace. The entrance was said to be beside Clavin’s on Main Street where the archway stands with a gate lodge on one side and a bit back from the street.

The impression given of the Lambart’s up to this point would infer that they contributed little to the Kilbeggan District but in fact that would be unfair. On the one hand the Protestant community were well supported by the family as the parish and church benefited from their gifts. They contributed to the building of the last Protestant Church in 1764 and to much of the church silver even prior to that e.g. a flagon was given by Charles Lambart to the Church in 1754 and he gave an alms dish in 1768. Of more practical benefit to the general population was the development of the roads and the weekly market which was one of the largest in the midlands and also the annual fair. Gustavus Lambart paid much of the costs of the Market House built in 1828 by Patrick Phylan and still one of the most striking buildings in the town. They also gave strong support to the suggestion of a branch of the Grand Canal coming to Kilbeggan, first explored in 1796 and ultimately achieved in the 1830s.

There is no real tradition of antipathy towards the Lambarts as there would be towards some other families in Westmeath like the Rochforts, partly because they moved out of the area and worked through agents. There is a tradition that on one occasion some of the people decided to burn out Gustavus Lambart. They went up to the house and set it alight. A loyal servant of the family got him out in a feather tick. He was described as a small wizened man. Paddy Phylan in his recollections of his grandfather’s time (1766-1859) mentions in connection with the Lambarts that there was an election and as his grandfather was a 40/= freeholder he had a vote. Lambart wanted him to vote for a Protestant landlord connected with the family who were living in Kilbeggan at the time. His grandfather had a plural vote and intended it for the nationalist candidate. Lambart asked him to "Split your vote and I’ll forgive you" but he refused and Lambart said "Paddy, you are the only tenant on the estate that a Lambart stopped with" (that would have been his great grandfather Mattie). He refused and Lambart said "If you don’t split your vote, I won’t leave you two rafters on my estate to cover you." His grandfather managed to survive the threat.

Even though Gustavus Lambart represented the borough of Kilbeggan in 1798 there is no record of any comments by him regarding events at the time. Presumably he had little enough contact with Kilbeggan during this period. Like many Protestants in the area their general feelings outside the heat of a rebellion was expressed some years later at the setting up of the Tyrellspass Brunswick Constitutional Club on 27th October 1828. The purpose of the Club was to protect the integrity of the Protestant Constitution. Gustavus Lambart was in the Chair and said the motto of the Club was not " Blood much blood " as was attributed to them but "Peace and good will to all." He wished that "every Roman Catholic enjoy the comforts of his own fireside with his religion and his property protected from loss and insult and that he should enjoy every privilege that would not endanger the safety of the Protestant religion and our free constitution." He added that we should hesitate to give further concessions to Catholics but " however irritating their conduct has been.....we profess to conduct ourselves with kindness towards them and avoid all reasonable cause of offence". While the Brunswick club of Tyrellspass represented something totally different from the Catholics of the area the sentiments were probably fairly close to the general attitude of the Lambart family in 18th century Kilbeggan.

The same could not be said of another member of the family as the Rev. George Lambart of Beauparc contributed much valuable information to the authorities in Co. Meath regarding the Defenders and United Irishmen. (* Appendix)

Other Kilbeggan Representatives

We know little about some of the other parliamentary representatives as the Lambarts controlled the borough e.g. Oliver Lambart who represented Kilbeggan in 1661 was married four times and one of his daughters Arabella married into the Newcomen family which explains Brabazon Newcomen’s position as an M.P..

William Sherlock of Sherlockstown and Thomas Burgh of Chapelizod were both from Kildare families and connections with Kilbeggan were tenuous. Burgh represented Kilbeggan for seven years. He was a man of great ability (he even invented cooking stoves used in the Militia Camp at Loughlinstown in Dublin). He was Joint Weigh Master of Cork. Treasurer of the Ordinance and Comptroller General but he had an arrogant and overbearing manner and in 1780 the following lines were found posted up in Parliament House.

" To put an end to all dissention,

Let needy Grattan have a pension,

Buck’s Usher on the Bench be seated,

And Bushe a baronet created,

Aspiring Burgh be made a lord,

And Napper Tandy have a cord "

In 1799 Burgh who lived in Sackville Street was removed from his position in the Treasury to one in the Board of Accounts. Burgh when representing Kilbeggan and acting as Accountant General appeared in the house on 8th February 1791 to set forth a petition that he had been at great expense and trouble in preparing national accounts laid before the house and " praying reward". He was brought into parliament through the Duke of Leinster’s influence but opposed his patrons wishes by constantly voting for Government. He did not seek re-election after the Union but continued as Commissioner of Accounts until 1804 and in 1807 he was made Commissioner of Revenue. He died in 1810.

Thomas Tipping from Louth was an interesting representative. The election in Louth in 1761 was most unusual in that the selling of boroughs was long practised. Messrs Fortescue, Foster, and Thomas Tipping came to an agreement to deposit £400 each and agreed that Fortescue would be one member and that Foster and Tipping should toss up to see which of them would get the other. The loser was to get the £1,200 to purchase a seat in another borough. The toss was made and Foster won it. The whole arrangement caused controversy but ultimately Foster and Fortescue were returned unopposed. They failed to keep their side of the bargain and feelings in Louth ran so high that for a few years no sherriffs or grand jurymen were elected. Shortly after his withdrawal from the election in 1761 Tipping was returned for the borough of Kilbeggan, presumably by purchase but who provided the money is not known. Tipping had lands at Gneevebeg, Moycashel formerly held by Kedagh McGeoghegan. The mill and dwelling house were destroyed by fire in 1753 and a reward of £50 was put up for the culprit.

Sir Francis Hopkins was another parliamentary representative of note and at one point he had pretensions to liberalism. In 1792-93 a Society was found in Dublin called Friends of the Constitution, Liberty, and Peace. They had Whig sympathies and a radical programme of reform of Parliament and Catholic Emancipation. There was a branch formed in Trim in January 1793 which included well known figures like Sir Benjamin Chapman, Joseph McVeigh, and former sheriff Sir James Somerville, in addition to Hopkins. The appearance of the Defenders in the county and the outrages stunted the growth of this liberal organisation. At around the same time another organisation called the Meath Association had also arisen under the influence of John Foster, a major political figure and landowner in Meath who was anti-Catholic. Foster had advocated in 1793 that regulations which forbade Catholics to carry arms should be rigorously enforced. Hopkins, Chapman and the others all contributed to the Meath Association. His brief flirtation with liberalism over Hopkins represented the Kilbeggan area in the years before the Rebellion and Act of Union but he made no impression in Parliament. Eventually, he was prevailed upon to take money and let in a Unionist. He was no worse than some other local representatives e.g. William Handcock of Athlone of whom Jonah Barrington said that he made and sang songs against the Union in 1799 at a public dinner of the opposition. Then in 1800 he made and sang songs in favour of the Union, all for a title and money. In 1812 he took the title Baron Castlemaine. The extremes from limited ambition to corruption came home to roost by the end of the 18th century.

Henry Flood

The two most notable representatives of Kilbeggan in the 18th century were John Phillpott Curran and Henry Flood, two of the most important figures to bestride the century.

Flood was one of the most eminent and talented members of the House of Commons and with Henry Grattan played a major part in winning legislative independence for Ireland in 1782. He was born in 1732 in Kilkenny and studied in Trinity College and Oxford. He first represented Kilkenny in 1759 and was a vigorous speaker and antagonist against the Government. In 1775 to the surprise of many he took a position in Government as Vice Treasurer of Ireland apparently in the belief that he could achieve more in Government than outside, while Grattan lead the "patriots" in opposition. Flood discovered that he was expected to support Government in all votes and after about six years he joined Grattan and the others to gain the great success of 1783.

In 1783 he drew up a scheme of parliamentary reform and still dressed in his uniform led a Volunteer Convention to the House of Commons but this time they were faced down and the bill was refused (Its recorded that the Motion for more equal distribution of the people in Parliament was made in the House of Commons on Saturday, 29th November 1783 by the Rt. Hon. Henry Flood M.P. for Kilbeggan and seconded by the Right Hon. William Brownlow M.P. for Co Armagh). He opposed any proposals to allow Catholics to share in the political life of the country. Subsequent to this a personal dispute arose between him and Grattan regarding a national grant made to Grattan for his service and it turned into a bitter dispute. The Speaker had to interfere and take both into custody and bound over to keep the peace. He represented Kilbeggan from 1784 until the year preceding his death. He made several visits to the area but little is known about them. His lack of contact could be explained at the time as he was also a member of the British House of Commons representing the borough of Winchester. He had little further success as much of his eloquence and influence was gone. It was said of him that "by his exertions and repeated discussion of questions, seldom if ever approached before, first taught Ireland that she had a Parliament." From a Catholic and Nationalist point of view his achievements might be considered limited when he died in 1791 at his seat in Farmly, Co Kilkenny in his 60th year and he has been overshadowed in history by the more famous and effective figure of Grattan.

John Philpott Curran

The ‘incorruptible’ John Philpott Curran also represented the borough of Kilbeggan from 1784-91. This celebrated advocate and parliamentary orator was born at Newmarket, Co Cork on 24th July 1750. His father was seneschal of the manor court of the town and his mother was said to be witty and eloquent (her maiden name was Philpott). He originally intended to enter the Church when he entered Trinity College in 1769 but soon changed to law and went to London to study and in 1775 was called to the bar. For a time he attended the sessions in Cork. His first fee of any consequence was received from Arthur Wolfe (later Lord Kilwarden) who was murdered during the Rebellion of 1803 in Dublin. From that start he grew within his profession to become the most popular advocate of his Time. He joined the opposition in Parliament in 1784.

It was said that Lord Longueville who was a wholesale dealer in the trade of parliament was eager to get a desirable recruit like Curran and he helped return him for a seat under the mistaken belief that a young barrister with a growing family and dependent on his profession for subsistence would not allow principles to interfere with personal interest. However he voted against his patron on the very first question and persevered subsequently in his independence. He also purchased a seat which he insisted on transferring as an equivalent for that of Kilbeggan. Curran in parliament was in the ranks of the opposition and acted with many of the great patriots and statesmen of the time. However he always acted within the law and was friendly with many of the establishment through his career.

Curran was especially noted for his sharp wit and many stories have been told of his ability to produce the quick retort. The Beresford family were a great power in 18th century Ireland and John Fitzgibbon (later Lord Clare) was related to them by marriage. He was Attorney General in 1783 and Lord Chancellor in 1789, and also a great supporter of the Union. There was a mutual antipathy between Curran and Fitzgibbon, both in political life and within the court of law. On one occasion when Fitzgibbon was on the bench and Curran was presenting a case, the former had a dog beside him in court and continued to pet it even as Curran spoke. Curran’s patience eventually broke and he lapsed into silence. When the judge asked him to continue Curran replied "I thought your Lordships were in consultation."

He was also quite friendly with John Toler who was elevated to the peerage as Lord Norbury, better known as "The Hanging Judge." He was a judge for 27 years in spite of having little knowledge of the law and a harsh unyielding attitude which caused the death of many young men. Curran visited him on occasions at his residence in Durrow just a few miles outside Kilbeggan. One day they were out riding to a hunt near Tullamore when they passed the jail and Norbury looking over at the gallows remarked to Curran "If the gallows was doing its duty, where would you be." "Riding alone my Lord" was the ready reply from the ready wit. On another occasion when at a dinner with Norbury the latter was asked if he would care for some meat and he asked " Is it hung?" and Curran quickly said "Oh, you have only to try it and it is sure to be hung."

Curran is best remembered for defending many of the United Irishmen from Hamilton Rowan to John and Henry Sheares. Even though he did not succeed in having them freed his impassionate speech in defence of the rebels could not have been bettered, but in the political climate of the time he had little hope of success. His last speech in the House of Commons was in May 1797 when he spoke on Parliamentary Reform gives some idea of the man.

"You have tried to force the people; the rage of your penal laws was a storm that only drove them in groups to shelter. Your convention law gave them that organisation which is justly the object of such alarm; and the very proclamation seems to given them arms. Before it is too late therefore, try the better force of reason and conciliate them by justice and humanity . . . . .. As to the system of peace now proposed you must take it on principles - there are simply two, the abolition of religious disabilities and the representation of the people. I am confident the effects would be everything to be wished. The present alarming discontent will vanish, the good will be separated from the evil intentioned . . . . .. every sensible man must see that it gives all the enjoyment of rational liberty if the people have their due place in the state."

Unfortunately for Curran he was speaking to irrational people and had little chance of success. Curran is remembered in a less favourable light in the in his relationship with his daughter Sarah because of her involvement with Robert Emmet. The murder of Lord Kilwarden, who was friendly with Curran, in Emmet’s abortive rebellion of 1803, certainly put a huge strain on the relationship. He felt compromised and assured the Government that he disapproved of the whole matter. That was understandable but his harsh treatment of his daughter was much less so. He died in 1817 an unhappy man on both a political and personal level. In his time there is little evidence of him achieving much for Kilbeggan in spite of his local visits but to expect it would be a misinterpretation of how politics worked at the time. It was the large landowners and business people who influenced the development of an area and not barristers!

Kilbeggan Town and Trade

Ireland in the first half of the 18th century was predominantly a rural country and even larger towns in Westmeath like Athlone and Mullingar had a small population. In 1682 Sir Henry Piers visited the county and many towns including Kilbeggan and he gave a general description of the area (which is naturally not without prejudice). When speaking of the manners and customs of the county he describes them as " rude and barbarous" and it will take many years to civilise them. He is critical of the gentry for being lazy and useless but the people had a love of learning and were hospitable to all The landlords were described as oppressors of the tenants. He describes the principal commodities as corn, hides, tallows, flax, hemp, cheese, butter and wool.

Because of the relative peace for the first three quarters of the 18 th century, agriculture and trade flourished in the Kilbeggan area in spite of Acts of Parliament which benefited English farmers at the expense of the Irish. Competition for land only became a real issue with the clearances towards the end of the century. This was due to the development of the great estates with woodlands and gardens but this also required money and plenty of space, therefore tenants were cleared off and had to compete for other land. The remaining tenants had to pay higher rents. Because there were few large estates in the vacinity of Kilbeggan it was less effected than other towns and regions. After the mid-century more fields were enclosed by ditches because of the more intensive use of land as the population grew.

Arthur Young in his travels in the 1770s pointed out the increase in the number of potatoes being planted as it gradually became the staple food. They also had some milk and a little butter but meat was only occasionally eaten. Other writers more than a century after Piers described the living conditions of the people. Brewer said the people lived in cabins composed of mud with smoke escaping through a hole in the roof with perhaps a hay band stretched across the fire place for hanging linen to dry in spite of the thick smoke. A few animals like cats and dogs would be common, an iron pot, 2 or 3 stools, a table, a dresser with some cutlery. Shoes and stockings in many cases were a luxury. A sack of meal might be placed in the corner but many tenants were bound by their lease to carry oats to their landlords mill.

Cromwell writing about Westmeath early in the 19th century indicated that in spite of the fertility of the soil and the good returns to occupiers "the condition of the labourers bear little affinity to either; extreme privation and poverty are still the characteristics of their pitiable situation." The gap between rich and poor was at least as great as most areas in the country. Westmeath from the late 18th century through the 19th century especially around the Kilbeggan area was very much an area of violence and brutality. This was at a time when improvements in farming methods and production took place as prosperity for some developed side by side with others slipping gradually into destitution.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer later in the 19th century gives some idea of the conditions in which people lived which obviously in most cases would have been worse a century earlier. Kilbeggan is described "Though containing a full compliment of squalid cabins and hovels presents a tolerably well built appearance and has a fair proportion of slated houses." However being on the route from Dublin to the West, Kilbeggan in the 18th century would have had a number of small thatched houses with two rooms at most and some two storied thatched houses for the better class.

Our knowledge of the town at the time is limited but the Square contained a few houses on the southside and a large pond on the northside for ducks and geese. The Courthouse and Market House were not yet built but two dilapidated hovels were in their place. Several lanes and side streets existed with a few hovels. There was only one main street and all the other by-streets were called lanes, roads, alleys, etc.

Some of the names were Creevy’s Lane, Puddle Lane, Mill Lane, Taylor’s Lane, Sailor’s Row and Water Street. The Coola and Mullingar road did not exist as we know them nor did the present Dublin Road. The Harbour Road was the Dublin Road because there was no canal as yet. Coola Mills did not exist but there was an old mill there and an extensive milling business. There was a small mill in the town with a lane that ran from Mill Lane to Coola via the River Brosna. Aside from being a borough and garrison town Kilbeggan was also a postal town because of the coaches. In 1768 it was listed as having post twice weekly with a 4d charge. The principal route to Galway was not through Kilbeggan at the time. The town had two hotels, a livery stable, and it was a coach stop with coach agents and yards and there was a carman’s stage outside the town.

Roads

Before the 1760s road building was the responsibility of Trustees who built and maintained them. The Trustees also took the tolls but from the 1760s they were built by the Grand Juries and received many compliments from English and foreign visitors.

There are accounts of meetings in Kilbeggan concerning the roads. In April 1754 the Trustees of the Athlone Turnpike Road met in Kilbeggan to receive tenders for letting of the tolls and also repair of the roads and in 1779 the landlords of Moycashel met in Thomas Cuffe’s Inn "to consider such roads as are necessary to be repaired by presentment and to fix on honest and diligent persons as overseers to see that public money is properly expended and it is expected that all persons who intend to apply at the next Assizes for repair of any roads will bring measurements of such roads to said meeting with the names of their overseers." In 1751 an advertisement for flying chaises going to Dublin indicates that it would be 7 hours with 16 fresh horses. " Gentlemen and ladies enjoying the fresh air and well protected against the cold".

Attempts were made to improve the roads across the bogs e.g. in April 1747 there was a presentment to build a road across from Kings County over the bogs into Westmeath and further,which would shorten the trip by many miles and drain unprofitable land. It was agreed to have a survey carried out. It suited the gentry to have better roads which is why they were so liberal in approving cesses for road building. The development of the roads and trade complimented each other although building was quite expensive. The main stage roads were turnpike i.e. collections were made at certain points where traffic was stopped by heavy gates hung on cut stone piers closed across the road. The Grand Jury roads were financed by a cess or tax levied by them on property occupiers within the Barony. The road between Tullamore and Kilbeggan was greatly improved between 1770-1800. All of this had the effect of improving internal trade and contact within populated areas which had some influence on the 1798 rebellion.

Paddy Phylan’s grandfather was a carman at the time of the 1798 rebellion. He had two horses and drayed from Dublin. The carmen went to Dublin to supply goods for the district. In the summer they would do two journeys per week with about 20-30 of them coming from Dublin to Kilcock and maybe as many coming from other parts. Kilbeggan was one of the main stages. They often started at midnight with nosebags on the horses and arrived in Dublin before the heavy traffic and out again quickly. He had just two Irish draught horses with two drays and each horse carried a ton weight. The roads were full of carmen and drays and many going west would stop in Kilbeggan. The arrival of the canal in the 1830s ended the need for carmen.

Agriculture and Trade

Kilbeggan was one of the most important market towns in the midlands with products like butter and eggs in particular but also potatoes, turnips etc. Its importance increased into the 19th century after the Market House was built in 1818 by the Lambart’s and a section of the Grand Canal opened in 1835. They came from Daingean, Drumraney, Mount Temple, Loughnavalley and all around. It was said that anything would be sold in Kilbeggan which brought the wool buyers, the corn merchants, green grocers, butter buyers, and even onion buyers. In addition four fairs were held in March, June, August and October. It was not a coincidence that the rebellion took place on the fair day in June.

The making of linen and linen manufactures was one of the great industries of the 18th century. A Board of Trustees for linen manufactures had been set up by the Government in 1711 to establish places to deal with all stages from growing flax to the finished article. The Economic Depression of the 1770s and a shortage of skilled weavers brought a rapid decline in the linen trade in the Kilbeggan area. It was reckoned in 1773 that the linen trade had declined by 2/3 in the Athlone and Kilbeggan area and about 1/2 the looms were idle in the Clara district. In November 1773 a meeting was held in Moate of linen manufacturers from Clara, Kilbeggan, Tullamore, Athlone, and Moate. Those in attendance were asked to bring the number of looms employed by them at that time or within the previous two years and also the number who had left the trade in that time. unfortunately the figures are not available.

In 1809 a figure of 1,448 acres under flax was given for Westmeath but it would have been much greater in the 18th century. It was grown in abundance in the Kilbeggan area from Coola to Moycashel. The process involved pulling, bounding the sheaves and immersing in water, preferably bog water. It was taken up and spread out to dry and then bound and stacked. The scutchers removed the rotten outer layer etc. leaving the strands of fibre used for making the linen. A lot of the tow produced by scutching was sold to the local Distilleries for insulating pumps. On the south side of the River Brosna close to the Distillery there was a site called ‘the bleachyard’, which was rented to Messrs Fleetwood and Hill for the bleaching and finishing of the linen. Fleetwood built a pressing and dye mill on the site but unfortunately he became bankrupt early in the 19th century.

The Fleetwoods were also involved in another industry which was especially successful in Kilbeggan in the last 20 years of the century, which was flour milling. The two main flour mills in the area were Coola and Ballinagore. The Fitzpatrick had the mill in Coola up to 1781 when it was taken over by Mr R.Connolly and the Fleetwoods owned the Ballinagore Mill. A comparison of flour sent by road to Dublin at that time shows that between 1777-88 Ballinagore Mill went from 3,158 cwts. to 6,772 cwts. The Coola Mill in Kilbeggan was very small scale when run by the Fitzpatricks and from 1778-81 the amount sent to Dublin went from 644 cwts to 126 cwts. However the Connolly family obviously improved and expanded the mill and in 1781/82 around 2,936 cwts were sent by road to Dublin and 1,034 by canal. In 1789/90 Coola was sending more flour by road to Dublin than any of the other mills in Westmeath i.e 4,693 cwts, Fleetwoods 3,262 cwts, R.Garrett, Athlone 3,603 etc. (In 1762/63 Westmeath was one of the few counties from which flour was consigned to Dublin).

Brewing and Distilling

Trade and agriculture depended on good quality roads and this also helped the development of Kilbeggan’s famous distilling industry in the mid-18th century.The most outstanding and striking feature as you drive through Kilbeggan is Lockes Distillery which has had an new injection of life in recent years. All along the River Brosna for many years prior to the 18th century corn mills were common because it was a suitable area for barley and other cereals. Kilbeggan had the necessary components for development of a distillery i.e. water, barley, and fuel from the nearby bogs. Illicit distilling along the river was common from early times but the first distillery was said to be established in 1757 (even in 1775 George Darcy, Surveyor reported 26 illicit stills were taken in Westmeath in 7 months). It was probably established under the influence of Gustavus Lambart who was a collector of taxes for the Trim Excise District aside from being an M.P. and on the Grand Jury of Westmeath.

By 1782 there were three distilleries operating in the town. Matthias McManus father of John was operating a distillery partly on the site of the present one and his still had a capacity of 232 gallons, with an output of about 1,500 gallons per annum.By 1796 McManus was the only distiller still operating, as many small distilleries went out of business. The size of his still rose to 278 gallons so his trade probably increased. The family connection with stilling was over by the end of the century. The loss of his two sons John and James during the events of 1798 and a probable switch to brewing, presumably were the main factors in this development. At the same time the Codds were setting up a distillery on the opposite side of the road which was to be the base for the great and historic Lockes Distillery of the future in spite of many trials and tribulations.

Volunteer Inn

The most famous place in Kilbeggan was the Volunteer Inn. It was a stopping off point for travellers heading west and catered for them by providing food and drink, comfortable beds and another service was the provision of horses, sidecars, long cars and coaches with all the necessary facilities. Later in the 19th century the novelist Charles Lever in his book "The Knight of Gwynne" described a stop off to change horses at an Inn in Kilbeggan and it was very likely the Volunteer Inn. It was owned by Thomas Cuffe and his wife who are said to have employed a housekeeper named Mrs Browne and her daughter Sally, a boy named Able, and three men in the yard who looked after the horses, drove the vehicles, sowed the garden and assisted travellers in general. The Inn became famous at the end of the 18th century arising out of an incident when the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Townsend knighted the owners Sir Thomas and Lady Cuffe. The coach had broken down and he spent the knight in the Inn. After a wonderful meal and some of the local whiskey he was so impressed that he knighted the proprietor and his wife. The next day he tried to pass off the incident as a joke carried too far. Cuffe said that he had no objection to foregoing the title " for a proper consideration" but the problem was " what will my Lady Cuffe say?" (see Appendix for a full account of the event). They held the title for the rest of their lives and the Inn was visited by many just to meet the noble innkeepers. It was said that Cuffe became something of a snob after receiving his title and when a neighbour greeted him familiarly "Hello, Cuffe" he responded "Do you know I am Sir Thomas Cuffe, knight baronet and knight of the garter." The man quickly replied "If you’re Sir Thomas Cuffe, knight baronet and knight of the garter, you can go to hell, tonight, tomorrow, and the night after"

In 1806 Sir Richard Colt-Hoare visited the Inn and at that time it had received a new shopfront but the old painting of Sir Thomas being knighted was still on the front wall of the premises. He mentions "that the Inn though kept by a Knight and his lady bears a melancholy appearance." In 1791 Charles Etienne de Montbret lodged at the Inn from 24-25th May but he makes little comment on it except that that he paid 5/= to the driver Baker. In fact he was not generally complimentary on Westmeath saying that other areas were humming with industrial activity but that there was no winds of change blowing over the bogs of Westmeath. He mentions "that coarse linens or sheetings are made in the direction of Kilbeggan." When Rev. Daniel Beaufort visited the Inn in 1787 he was more impressed as they provided a complete an ample meal for 13d. A choice of veal, bacon, greens, roast beef, tart and cheese.

Terence O’Toole (Rev. Caesar Otway) in his book "A Tour of Connaught" visited Kilbeggan in the summer of 1799 a year after the rebellion and he gives a full account of the knighthood. Sir Thomas Cuffe had died by this time but Lady Cuffe was still alive. Kilbeggan was a garrison town at this time. when he dropped into the Inn It was full of soldiers reclining and smoking " gigantic looking fellows with terrible moustaches and other marks denoting them to be foreigners". He was under 20 at the time and he was told they were Germans or Hessians to be exact. he went to the stables to check the horses. At that time it was a token of loyalty to carry a tail pennant from the back of your neck and those who did not were considered Croppies. He was suddenly grabbed from behind and his arms pinioned by a 6 foot 6 inch Hessian and he was searched for the deficient tail pennant to no avail. It was presumed he was a rebel and in consequence "he kicked me in the stable, and he kicked me in the yard and he kicked me in the streets, and he kicked me up the front steps of the Inn." The toe of the jackboot did terrible damage to his body. It was pointless complaining and he had not sufficient money to stay in the Inn. Instead he called for a chaise and "putting plenty of straw under me, for air cushions were not yet invented, proceeded in a very delicate state to the end of my journey, my only consolation being that though a kicked man the disgrace and pain were not inflicted by a countryman - by a rale O or a true Mac but by a brutal Hessian."

The Inn was often a meeting place for the Trustees of the Turnpike Road or landlords. Lady Cuffe provided a wide variety of services as she advertised coaches from Phillipstown to Kilbeggan, Moate, & Athlone for the accommodation of passengers travelling in the Grand Canal Passage boats between Dublin and Phillipstown. The coach stopped each night at Kilbeggan and left the next morning for Athlone and Phillipstown at 6 o’clock, Rates were Phillipstown to Kilbeggan 3s 3d; Moate 6s 6d; Athlone 9s 9d; and the boat Dublin - Phillipstown 8s 8d. A note on one of the more interesting meetings held in Cuffe’s gives an accurate reflection of the times i.e. the paranoia and selfishness of the ascendancy class and also a certain touch of irony. In November 1779 Captain Henry Goddard as Chairman of the Protestant Moycashel Association called the meeting "It was resolved that persons who do not at this crisis join the Moycashel Association unless prevented by constitutional disability and do not contribute to defray the expense, do not deserve the protection of the Association. That they should only buy native manufacture and not drink French wine except what is present in their cellars". Then again it could be described as an early Buy Irish campaign!

The Inn obviously received its name from the Volunteers formed after the American War of Independence to defend the country against possible invasion from France in particular. In the fevered passion of the 1770s and 1780s the Volunteers took control in Ireland and meetings were held by local members in the Inn. It is said that at one of the meetings a fever broke out resulting in the death of one of the members. Because it was the fever he was laid out in a room at the Inn and a notice was placed on the door " Na bac leis "(do not disturb). As Henry Flood represented the borough for a number of years and was closely involved with the Volunteers it is likely that he stayed in or visited the Inn on a number of occasions. Interestingly Flood was a Freemason and it is not clear as to what impact it had on events at this time. Freemasonry has had a considerable influence on political events across Europe since the middle ages and organisations from the Volunteers to the United Irishmen recruited large numbers from various Masonic Lodges (even the Westmeath Militia had its own lodge). The Hon. George Augustus Rochfort, second Earl of Belvedere formed the first Volunteer Corps. in the county at Mullingar in 1777 and he was also the first Worshipful Master of the Mullingar Lodge of Masons in December 1765. A lodge was set up in Kilbeggan on 4th October 1759 with William Begley, Worshipful Master, Francis White, Senior warden and Matthew Donoghue Junior Warden. It was present in the town all through the events of the late 18th and early 19th century. There is no real evidence that it had any affect on developments in Kilbeggan at this time.

Being a market town and on the coach routes the Inns in Kilbeggan seemed to do a good business. The Red Lyon Inn was let in October 1767 by proprietor Thomas Falkiner including a house, office, and lands 20-30 acres. By May 1768 Pat McDermott of the Red Lyon Inn opened another house of entertainment at the White Hart Inn. He was obviously doing well and " requested the continuance of his friends and the public and by his endeavour to please hopes to merit their favour. He had furnished himself with every article fit for the reception of the genteelest company ".

One of the more interesting visitors to the town in the 18th century was Oliver Goldsmith. It was said that when staying with the Tobin family he entertained the locals with his famous flute and the story goes that on his last visit he exchanged the flute for a bottle of the local whiskey.

This hopefully gives some idea of Kilbeggan in the 18th century. To conclude it would appear to have been a reasonably prosperous small town with potential for improvement and with no major or even tyrannical landlords in the immediate vacinity. It seemed an unlikely place for an open rebellion in the splendid isolation of the midlands in June 1798?

Chapter - Rebellion in Kilbeggan

In order to understand the attitudes prevailing in 1798 and subsequent to the rebellion it should be remembered that it has been described as the most concentrated episode of sectarian violence in Irish History. Atrocities were perpetrated by both sides out of fear and confusion. On 14th November 1798 Bishop Plunkett stated in his diary "I returned home this evening after having finished the most laborious visitation I made since the start of my administration. I was more or less exposed during my excursion through the diocese. The rebellion broke out last summer in different parts of the kingdom. In four different parts of the diocese of Meath the King’s soldiers engaged and defeated them at Tara Hill, Williamstown, Kilbeggan and Wilson’s Hospital." This sums up events in the area in 1798 but the bishop came from a certain perspective as summed up when he visited Kilbeggan on 15th September 1793 when he warned against " rioting and quarrelling" and cautioned them against Defenderism. Many others felt that a rebellion was the only solution to their problems.

As we have seen the episodes of violence were common in Westmeath especially in 1797 when it seemed more likely that a rebellion would take place in Westmeath. The outrages were less common early in 1798 as groups of Protestant loyalists supported by yeomen and militia officers committed a series of outrages against Catholics in Westmeath. It is not clear if it was a deliberate plan to stay low in early 1798 and not commit as many acts against landlords and gentry. At the Spring assizes in Westmeath it was mentioned ‘the most satisfactory accounts from the judges, of the behaviour of the juries ‘. In near-by Moate a warrant was issued on 3rd February 1798 to arrest two United Irishmen named Coffie and Carbery who were supposed to assassinate the infamous George Clibborn, Captain of the Moate cavalry. The men were arrested and lodged in Mullingar jail. Mr Smyth a member of parliament for Westmeath wrote to Pelham on 4th March 1798 that while "great enormities . . . were practised by the soldiery at the other side of the county" which he could not defend but there were extenuating circumstances and in relation to the rebels he mentions "the recent fact of attacking twenty four houses in one night and almost on the same hour, which seemed to indicate a general rising."

Informers gave information to authorities that several blacksmiths in the Barony of Moycashel were making pikes and Thomas Medcalf in a letter to Lord Castlereagh on 22nd April 1798 specifically mentions the blacksmith Kinahan. On 15th April 1798 it was said that "the county was in a state of perfect peace except for the Athlone conspiracy." In April 1798 Nangle, Doyle and Murray were found guilty at the Assizes of being United Irishmen and were carried in full procession from Mullingar Jail by detachments of Militia and yeomanry to the strand near the old Abbey of Athlone where they were hung at a temporary gallows erected for the purpose. Tradition has it that a group of United Irishmen were very active in the Barony of Kilkenny West near Athlone under the leadership of a young man called Harte

Information was being provided on a on-going basis by informers about the oaths being administered by the United Irishmen or Defenders. In the Barony of Fertullagh the sergeants were known by the informers but they would not come forward publicly. It was said that 130 men were raised in the barony i.e. 13 by each 10 sergeants. It was said that they were getting directions from the Commission in Dublin and that they make a return of the men enlisted. The position as given by one informer in a note dated 24th February was that the Commission would give orders to use the signal to murder all Protestants and that the order would only be received a few days before executing it. In early April 1798 Faulkner’s Journal reported that 200 young trees, ash, elm, and larch belonging to Westmeath gentlemen were cut down and it is supposed that they are intended for pike handles.

Because of the pressure, McManus was one of the few who made his return to Patrick Gallagher at Thomas Street in May 1798. He was an important figure in Westmeath and his arrest on 8th June just over a week prior to the Kilbeggan Rebellion was obviously a major motivating factor in the events that followed. However the organisation was more complex than that and there were other influences even in the Westmeath area.

Dublin was the capital and operational headquarters for the United Irishmen from 1796 and many people from the country had reason to travel to Dublin (e.g. the McManuses being in the distilling business would have to go for a number of reasons) it was comparatively easy to make contact with headquarters etc. Charles Teeling had spread the doctrine of the Defenders by travelling widely through Ireland including Westmeath in 1795 and his brother Bartolemew had spread the doctrine of the United Irishmen at the same time. Two of the great organisers of the United Irishmen, James Hope and William Putnam McCabe had travelled regularly across the midlands and even in 1798 McCabe was organising in Westmeath. He posed as everything from a farmer to a peddler. Carmen and peddlers were often used to spread handbills because they travelled easily from the country to Dublin and back again. All of this indicates that it wasn’t just through McManus that many people were organised and sworn in the Kilbeggan district.

Fair Day

It was fair day in Kilbeggan which allowed large numbers to come into the town from near and far because as we have seen Kilbeggan was a well established market town used by travellers, traders, and farmers passing through. It seems likely that in the week after McManus’s arrest some of the local leaders spread the word to meet in Kilbeggan at the fair and bring their weapons which could easily have been hidden in carts. It was probably the sheer numbers that alerted the authorities to the possibility of something happening. The trial of McDonagh indicates that they were aware of some of the events that day and there is also evidence of drink been taken which might have loosened a few tongues.

The original plan of rising on 23rd May had been completely disrupted by the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Sheares brothers etc. and on top of that the United Irishmen who assembled at Tara on 26th May if they were successful intended to join in with the insurgents in Cavan, Westmeath, and other counties to cordon off the capital from the north and west. McManus had been preparing the units in the Kilbeggan area for the rebellion on 23rd May. The arrests and the failure at Tara presumably led to a postponement. McManus’s trip to Cavan with Carey may have been for the purpose of re-organising and uniting with the Cavan forces. Even prior to his arrest it is mentioned in correspondence that some of the Westmeath leaders were already taken.

One other event which might have contributed to the Kilbeggan Rising was the death of three men in Ballycumber on 13th June. Murty Daly, Edward Feeney, and Michael Conway were all hanged after being convicted as United Irishmen (It was close to the home of John Warneford Armstrong who was known as ‘ Sheares’ Armstrong because of his betrayal of the Sheares Brothers). They were all natives of the locality. During the course of the trial the authorities guarded all the surrounding roads leading to Clara, Moate, and Ferbane because they feared trouble. They even had artillery covering each road. They were hanged by a local magistrate Richard Holmes - there is a tradition that it was arranged that the valet would kill Holmes while shaving him by cutting his throat but the plan came to light before the fatal occurrence. The news of the hangings would have been relayed to the leaders in the Kilbeggan District and possibly have convinced them that it was time to make a move or they could all be arrested and convicted. There is evidence that United Irishmen from Offaly participated in the Kilbeggan rebellion as you would expect with the town so close to the county border.

Attack On Kilbeggan

At about 11 o’clock on Saturday 16th June a recruit of Captain Clark’s gave information that the town would be attacked on the next day. As many similar claims had been circulated before it was not much regarded. Nonetheless, a number of mounted guards were placed around the town with instructions to report anything suspicious. At break of dawn a large number of insurgents (reports at the time said 3-4,000) were seen at the top of a hill (the Hill of Doon on the Comagh Road per Paddy Phylan) on the west side of town. Immediate notice was given to the commanding officer who directed that the horse guard should continue to observe the movements of the rebels and if the numbers increased retreat slowly about 200 yards in front of the town and let him know the position. According to McManus the number of troops in the Barony of Moycashel was 70 Northumberland Fencibles (they had first come to Ireland on 26th May 1797 and were discontinued on 25th August 1802- they had a full strength of 589), 40 Grange yeomen infantry, Tyrellspass and 30 Grange yeomen cavalry in Moate. On this particular night the best information indicates that Kilbeggan was in the hands of 60 Northumberland Fencibles led by Captain Thatcher, a company of 30 Fertullagh yeomen cavalry, and a large number of Protestants either local or some who had taken refuge in the town. The yeomen were led by Captain Berry and it has also been mentioned that Col.Blake was in Kilbeggan at the head of his Northumberland militia. Estimates of about 120 men against 3-400 were probably wrong on both counts.

What was agreed was that the rebels were divided into bands from 60-100 in regular order with different kinds of arms from 5-10 feet long pitchforks. Each band moved separately and were led by an officer who was a distinguished by a green sash or cockade. Most of the men had white paper bands around their hats (*). They generally had clean shirts on and they each had a piece of oat bread in their pocket and some were intoxicated. On the first appearance of the rebels about three hours before an attack commenced an express message was sent to Tullamore (7 miles away) where the principal part of the 7th Dragoons were stationed under the command of General Dunn. He forwarded a troop of about 80 men in number.

The actual sequence of events subsequent to this gets various interpretations e.g. one official account says that the rebels attacked our party in the " mountains" outside the town and obliged the Fencibles to retreat back to the town. No fighting took place until the rebels reached the outskirts of the town. Seward in his account states that ‘the loyalists cleared the streets which had been full of rebels without the loss of a man’ while Lewis in his "Topographical Dictionary" says the insurgents were defeated "near the town after an obstinate engagement."

Paddy Phylan’s account from his grandfather is probably the most accurate. He said that the rebels marched into town from the Hill of Doon past McManus’s house, the Distillery, up the hill past the Volunteer Inn and were met by barricades set up on the west side of the Square (i.e. around the Black Kettle / John Whelan’s shop).

(* White Paper was used as a distinguishing mark for troops in battle and white cockades were favourites of the Jacobites. White Paper hat bands were worn by a number of rebels in different parts of the country from Westmeath to Wexford. It is likely that they had an association with the Stuarts)

When the rebels came between the current Garda Barracks and the barricades soldiers opened fire. They all had muskets and the rebels only had pikes. A number of them were wounded or killed in the first volley. It was the first time most of them went into combat and came under fire. It was obviously a terrifying experience. They hesitated and as one of the leaders tried to rally them they came under a withering volley of fire again which made them retreat and started the rout as the cavalry went in pursuit of them. One man alone a Sergeant Price was said to have killed 14 pikemen. The cavalry were aided by a dismounted party of loyalists who had rushed from Tyrellspass on hearing the gunfire and arrived just before the Black Horse. Opinions vary as to the number killed from 400 to a more official figure of 120 men which would seem more accurate.

A report from Dublin Castle dated 19th June stated:
"An account was received this day from Brigadier General Barnett stating that on 17th inst. a considerable body of rebels attacked Kilbeggan but were repulsed by a detachment of 50 of the Northumberland Fusiliers under the command of Captain Thatcher. One hundred and twenty of the rebels were killed according to most accounts."

A letter from Athlone dated 20th June indicates that the rebels attacked four times and in different quarters:
"On Sunday last at 4 in the morning the town of Kilbeggan was most impetuously attacked four times successively in different quarters and were as often repulsed by the loyal inhabitants, the yeomanry, and by a detachment of the Black Horse who afterwards pursued the fugitives in all directions with incredible slaughter. Considerable numbers of prisoners were taken among whom is a man supposed to be their leader......An imperfect account of the above action reached Athlone on Sunday evening. A detachment of the Loyal Athlone cavalry, Roxborough Dragoons and Northampton foot with several pieces of ordnance were dispatched to reinforce the troops at Kilbeggan under the command of Brig. Gen. Barnett. They were joined on the march by the Moate cavalry under Captain Clibborne. They arrived in Kilbeggan at a very early hour and found tranquillity perfectly restored and the inhabitants engaged in removing the mangled bodies of the insurgents who had fallen in the contest and exhibited a most shocking spectacle of blood and carnage."

The arrival of General Barnett and the other forces was to re-inforce the town but when he saw that peace was restored he returned to Athlone and issued a proclamation promising every well disposed person would receive protection from the soldiers and by keeping in their houses after 9 o’clock at night they would have nothing to fear. Anyone found in arms or disturbing the peace would receive no mercy. The Churches were almost deserted on Sunday but the General promised to protect all places of worship. Having said that there is evidence that Captain Berry asked permission from Captain Thatcher to set fire to the chapel while the people were at mass. Its stated that they rode up to the chapel with drawn swords for that purpose but Thatcher would not consent until the congregation had left. It was a mudwall chapel (replaced in 1806) and tradition states that when the yeomen came to burn the chapel a terrible storm of hail, rain, thunder and lightning came and the soldiers had to shelter. By the time they got to the chapel the people had left and Captain Thatcher is supposed to have said "There is no use going up now, the birds have flown." In any case the chapel was ultimately spared.

Personal Accounts of Events

There are a few accounts of events from eyewitnesses at the time which reflect both the genuine fear and triumphalism which is still part of all sectarianism.

A letter from Kilbeggan dated 17th June stated:
"I am so alarmed that I know scarcely what to do having no arms or servants. I am obliged this night to go to Redmondstown to sleep. The rebels attacked Kilbeggan this morning and were beaten off with great loss. They went about in parties and forced many with them. None of my people were thank God taken. I do all in my power to keep them loyal. If I go away I fear my people will suffer and I am afraid to remain, there being no servants or army near this place. I request most earnestly for your advice to let me know by return of post what should I do or whether I should apply for some of the army."

A further letter from Kilbeggan on 18th June (Dublin Evening Post)

"‘Tis about 8 o’clock on Sunday morning. We are all safe and well. We were attacked between 4 and 5 o’clock by the rebels. We have completely defeated them and no person of ours hurt but Mr Nowlan. He received two thrusts of a pike but is not hurt much (see McDonagh trial below). I judge there were about three or four hundred. They will not I think try experiments on Kilbeggan in a hurry again. A party of the Black Horse came to our assistance too late to take share in the total rout of them and the Clara yeomen too late also so that the credit is all our own. Mr G---- is killed. Mrs ------ shot one man breaking her window and I had so good aim I settled another which dispersed that group. I cannot say too much but practise to make them cool. I judge not less than 40 - 50 of the rebels fell. Some prisoners were brought in a