Clara parish

This union comprises the parishes of Killbride, situated in the barony of Kilcoursey, King’s County, and Ardnorcher, or Horsleap, located partly in the barony of Kilcoursey, but chiefly in that of Moycashel, County Westmeath.

Kilbride

A church and convent were founded here by St. Bridget, and there is a tradition amongst the people that this was the first church erected by her after her religious profession, on the hill of Usny. There are still some remains of an old monastery and chapel; and the fragments of a church in the cemetery, quite contiguous, measure fifty-two in length by twenty-four. Some years back, with the permission of the church-warden of that day, many of the stones of convent and church were carried away to build a house, and, by the providence of God, this house has been converted into a convent—the Sisters of Mercy are living there to-day. Thus, the mission of St. Bridget is still perpetuated amongst the people of Kilbride, or Clara, and the youth, as of old, are trained up in habits of virtue and industry.

Ardnurcher, or Ath-an-urchair, has been called also Horseleap, and the tradition of the place is, that it derives this name from the fact of Sir Hugh de Lacy having leaped on horseback over the drawbridge, making his escape from pursuit. The Four Masters record the erection of a castle here in the year 1192. The old church of Ardnurcher was levelled in the seventeenth century, and a Protestant house of worship was erected on the site. In the graveyard rest Rev. Mr. Sheeran, formerly pastor of Tubber, Rev. Kedagh Dempsey, Rev. Patrick Fallon, and many other ecelesiastics whose names are not now remembered. Over Rev. Mr. Dempsey is a stone, with the following:

“Pray for the soul of the
Rev. Kedaugh Dempsey,
who departed this life December
the 25th, 1753, aged 50 years.
Erected by his sister, Bridget Dempsey.”

A monument to Rev. Mr. Fallon has the following inscription:

“0 Lord, have mercy on the soul of the Rev. Patrick Fallon, who departed this life on Sunday, the 13th day of July, 1823, aged 35 years. This stone was erected as a testimony of regard to his pious, learned, and charitable memory, by his affectionate father, Michael Fallon.”

There are several other remarkable places in the union of Clara, besides those already mentioned—viz., Temple Macateer, Tigh-Bhrigdhe, Syonan, Lismoyny, and Gageborough.

Temple-Macateer --There was a church founded here, in the present parish of Ardnurcher, by the celebrated St. Kieran, of Clonmacnoise, which was called, after him, “Teampul mhic a’t saoir”, or “the church of the son of the artificer.” The ruin stands still on a townland, to which it gives name, and hence St. Kieran is supposed to have been the ancient patron-saint of Ardnurcher. St David has been the patron-saint for several centuries, and there is a holy well dedicated to him at Ballinlaban, which is still much frequented.

Tigh-Bhrigdhe, or “Bridget’s House.”—A small chapel stood here, on the townland of Ardnurcher, dedicated to St. Bridget, which in latter years has been pulled down and uprooted. St. Bridget’s well is still here, and is occasionally frequented.

Syonan —St. Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, the biographer of St. Columba, preached on a hill here to his relatives, the race of Fiacha, son of Niall, on the occasion of his visit to Ireland. In commemoration of this event the place has been called Suide-Adamnain., or the seat of St. Adainian. — (See Dr. Reeve’s Adamnan; Appendix to Preface, lxv; Four Masters, at A.D. 703.)

Lismoyne, or Lismoyny, is remarkable as having been the residence of Conell Mac Geoghegan, translator of the Annals of Clonmacnoise.

Gageborough—A convent was founded here by Matilda de Lacy, in the thirteenth century.

The Franciscan Monastery

This religious house, called the Monastery of Lehinch, in the parish of Kilbride, was commenced on the feast of St. Lewis, 25th of August, 1821, by Brother Lewis M. Delahunt, who was admitted by Dr. Plunket, and placed under the guardianship of Very Rev. Luke Doyle, then pastor of the parish. The founder had about twenty acres of land, which farm has been since augmented, and some of this is fee-simple property. Brother Benedict Farmer, and Brother Patrick Ryan, members of the Mount-Bellew Monastery, arrived in May, 1848, and received from Brother Lewis Delahunt the proprietorship of the place. Brother Patrick Ryan collected several thousand pounds in America for the monastery, and may be said to have sacrificed his life in the cause. The first stone of the new monastery was laid on the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, by the Rev. Patrick Barry, in the twenty-second year of the episcopacy of Dr. Cantwell. This beautiful building cost about £4,000, and is a model in its way of symmetry and architecture. The community consists of lay brothers, who take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience—who till the land, teach school, dispense charity in proportion to their means, edify by the holiness of their lives, and stimulate to industry, morality, and discipline, by their praiseworthy example. Brother Patrick Ryan and Brother Felix Mairs died on the festival of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, 1854.

Brother Bonaventure Strahan died on the 24th of May, 1862; Brother Paul M’Cormack, in March, 1889; Brother Patrick Delahunt, in April, 1841; Brother Jerome Roch-fort, in March, 1840; and Brother Michael Egan, on the 4th of June, 1842.

In the cemetery of the monastery are several tombs commemorating the deceased members of the brotherhood, the simple inscriptions on which cannot fail to touch the heart:

“Deus meus et omnia.
0 Jesus, Son of the living God,
have mercy on the soul of Brother
Patrick Ryan, who departed this
life on the feast of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
A.D. 1854, in the 33rd year of his age,
and 16th from his entrance into religion.”

“Dens meus et omnia.
O Jesus, son of the living God,
have mercy on the soul of Brother
Felix Mairs, who departed this life
On the feast of the Assumption of the B. V. M.,
Anno Domini, 1854.”

Several priests have been interred likewise in this graveyard—viz. Rev. Mr. Molloy, formerly pastor of Rahin; Rev. Mr. Barry, late pastor of Clara; also Rev. Messrs. Egan, Kelly, and Ryan. A monument commemorates Father Egan, with the following inscription:

“Sacred to the memory of the
Rev. Michael Egan, who departed
this life on the 2nd day of May,
1849, in the 45th year of his age,
and 19th of his ministry.
Kind, benevolent, and warm-hearted
in private life attentive, laborious, and truly exemplary
in the faithful discharge of each duty of his sacred calling,
he died equally revered and lamented
by all who ever knew him. Requiescat in pace.
Amen.”

The Rev. Mr. Egan was born in the neighbourhood, studied in Spain, officiated as curate in Eglish, Ballimore, and Milltown. He was a Franciscan friar.

The Rev. Roger Kelly was born in this parish, and completed his studies in St. Jarlath’s, Tuam. He officiated as curate in Rochfort-bridge, Dunboyne, &c., and died of decline in 1848.

The Rev. Peter Ryan was born in the parish of Clara, studied in Navan and Maynooth, and was ordained in 1851. He officiated as curate in Frankford and Tullamore, caught fever in the discharge of his sacred duties, and departed this life, universally regretted, in 1864. His remains were interred in his father’s tomb, in the grave-yard of the monastery, and over both is a monument, with the following inscription:

“Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen.
Erected by his sons in memory of
William Ryan, of the Parks,
who died March 10th, 1858, aged 69 years.
Beneath are also deposited
the mortal remains of his
beloved son, the Rev. Peter Ryan,
who died on the 1st of September, 1863,
in the 11th year of his ministry, and the 36th of his age.
May they rest in peace. Amen.”

Chapels

In the dread penal times, the pastors of Clara suffered innumerable persecutions from the priest-hunters with which this neighbourhood abounded. Mass, in those days: was celebrated on the Erry hills, and continued so until sites for humble mud-wall chapels were tolerated at Aughamore and Horseleap. Since then religion has sensibly progressed. Chalices — There are two venerable heirlooms still used in. the parish. The first has the following inscription on the pedestal:

“Orate pro Cornelio Fallono, S. T. Doctore, 1651.”

What a depth of reflection this expressive inscription suggests! Surely, during the persecuting reign of Cromwell, the Rev. Cornelius Fallon, Doctor of Theology, required fervent prayers. The second has the following inscription:

“R. D. Eugenius Geoghegan me fieri fecit, anno 1770, ad usum Parochiae de Horseleap ea conditione ut utentes annua-tim offerant Duo Sacrificia pro ejus anima.”

Pastors.

In 1704, Rev. James Dillon was registered at Mullingar as “Popish priest of Ardnorcher and Kilbride.” He was ordained at Ballyleoge, County Galway, in 1688, by Dr. Keogh, Bishop of Clonfert, lived at Moycashel the year of the Registration, was then forty-five years of age, and had for “sureties,” in accordance with the penal law, John Herald of Kilbeggan, and Aghery Shell of Ballykilroe.

According to the traditions of the people, this Father Dillon was a confessor who suffered much for the faith. He lived in. times when the priest was at the mercy of the common informer, and when betraying his whereabouts and leading to his arrest were deemed by Parliament an. honourable service. The law guaranteed protection to the registering priests of 1704, but the law had no scruple in breaking faith, when it found that all its machinations to entrap these men into the oath of abjuration proved a signal failure. Of the Fathers and Guardians of the Irish Church of that day very few met with more unrelenting persecution than Father Dillon of Ardnorcher. This was owing, amongst other causes, to the persevering activity of a priest-hunter, named Lowe of Newtown, who pursued him with the scent of the blood-hound. There are very dark stories handed down respecting the low devices which this vile informer and priest-hound adopted to find out the haunts and hiding places of the Catholic clergy, and the lonely places where, at day-break, they ventured to perform the sacred ceremonies. On one occasion he bribed a woman to induce her husband to feign sickness, had himself concealed in the house in order to see the priest administer the Sacrament, and thus have evidence against him. The unfortunate man consented, took to his bed, sent for the priest, but, by a terrible retribution, when the priest arrived the man was dead. On another occasion he arrested Father James Dillon as he was celebrating Mass, had him tied with ropes, and in this plight marched him into the gaol of Mullingar. Father Dillon took ill, and for some time his life was despaired of; and to this circumstance he was chiefly indebted for his subsequent liberation.

The year of Father Dillon’s death is unknown to me, but I was told he was buried in the church-yard of Kilbride.

The Rev. Nicholas Travers, O.P., succeeded. This pastor was related to Father Dillon, joined the Dominican order, and officiated as curate under his predecessor. He died on the 29th March, 1798, aged ninety, and was buried in. the grave-yard of Kilbride. His headstone has the following inscription:

“Here lie the remains of the Rev. Father and Brother in Christ Nicholas Travers, of the Order of Preachers, Professed for the Convent of Longford in 1720, and afterwards promoted to the care of Kilbride and Horseleap, wherein about 40 years he with zeal and piety advanced the honour and glory of God, and died on the 29th of March, 1793, regretted by all, who will, it is hoped, pray for his eternal rest.”

Rev. James Daly succeeded. He died on the 29th of March, 1805, and was buried in the church-yard of Kilbride. Over his remains a monument has been placed with the following:

“This monument was erected by
Joseph Daly, in memory of his
brother, Rev. James Daly,
late Pastor of Kilbride and Horseleap,
who departed this life March 29th, 1805,
Aged 60 years.
Requiescat in pace. Amen.”

Rev. Thomas Walsh was appointed on the 30th of March, same year. He died on the 1st of May, 1810, and was buried in the church-yard of Killare. Over his remains is a monument with the following inscription:

“0 Lord have mercy on the soul of
The Rev. Thomas Walsh, P.P. of
Kilbride and Horseleap, who departed
this life May 1st, 1810, aged 46 years.
This monument was erected to his memory
by the Rev. James Egan.
May he rest in peace.”

Rev. James Wyer succeeded. In 1820 Rev. James Sheerran was administrator. Early in 1822 Father Wyer was translated to the union of Tubber, died in 1823, and was buried in Castletown-Geoghegan. Very Rev. Luke Doyle succeeded. This distinguished pastor was born in Ballimore, studied in Navan and Maynooth, officiated for a time as curate in Milltown and Navan, and professed in the Diocesan Seminary. He administered in the parish of Moyvour in 1816 and ‘17 and was appointed administrator of Kilbeggan in September, 1818. On the 1st of June, 1820, he was appointed Pastor of Tubber, and early in 1822 he was translated to Clara, where he became Master of Conference and Vicar-General. At the election of 1824 for a Coadjutor Bishop, he was third (dignus) on the list. He died in. November, 1824, and was buried in. the church-yard of Ballimore. Over his remains a monument has been raised with the following inscription:

“Beneath this tomb lies the body
of the late
Very Rev. Luke Doyle, P.P. of
Clara,
and Vicar-General of Meath.
As if his many virtues and enlightened
zeal had already fitted him for heaven,
he was called to an early reward
in the next life on the 7th of November, 1824,
aged 38 years.
May his soul rest in peace. Amen.”

Rev. Patrick Barry succeeded. This worthy pastor was born in. the parish of Dunboyne, studied in Navan and Maynooth, and was ordained in 1815. After having officiated as curate in Navan, with zeal and efficacy, he was appointed pastor of Clara, on the 9th of November, 1824. He died on the 11th of January, 1861, universally regretted, and was buried in the cemetery of the Franciscan Monastery of Clara. Over his remains a monument has been erected, which appropriately expresses his many excellent qualities in. the following words:

“The Rev. Patrick Barry, P.P.,
Kilbride and Horseleap.
This faithful Pastor laboured incessantly
for the salvation of the people of these united
parishes the last 37 years of his saintly life,
truly venerable and dignified in the functions
of his sacred ministry.
The erection and decoration of the parish
chapels, the establishment of a Monastery
and Schools, the founding of a Convent
of the Sisters of Mercy, are monuments
of his zeal and piety.
He was generous and hospitable,
mild and amiable, of refined taste,
polished manners, gentle and conciliating
disposition.
He was loved and admired by all.
Many of a different religion have united
with his own flock in paying this last tribute
of respect to his memory.
He died the 11th of January, 1861, in the 73rd year of his age.
Requiescat in pace. Amen.”

The Rev. James Corcoran, present pastor, was born in the parish of Rahin, studied in Navan and Maynooth, and was ordained in 1841. He officiated as curate in Frankford, Athboy, and Clara, and was appointed pastor of this union immediately after the death of Father Barry.