The parish of Killeigh is situated partly in the barony of Upper Philipstown, but chiefly in that of Geashill. It consists of the union of the former parishes or ecclesiastical districts of Killeigh, Ballykeane and Geashill. This district is noted in both the secular and still more in the ecclesiastical annals of Ireland. The name of Killeigh is common with another ecclesiastical establishment which, according to Colgan, was situated in East Breifny. The Killeigh with which we are at present concerned is situated in Ofalia, and is always distinguished from the other by the addition droma foda. Achadh-dronia-foda signifies the field of the long ridge, and CilI was prefixed after St. Sinchell had erected his church there. The name, as Dr. O’Donovan adds (Note to Four Masters) is very descriptive of the locality, for a remarkable, long, low druim or ridge extends south-west-wards, immediately over the village of Killeigh. The entire of the ancient Ofalia, from Slieve Bloom to the Hill of Allen, and from the Sugar-loaf hill to the Great Heath is a plain nearly as level as the surface of a tranquil sea, and the droma-foda, though not high, becomes a remarkable feature in so level a district.
St. Sinell, or Senchell, one of the most distinguished ecclesiastics of his time, founded a Monastery of Killeigh at the beginning of the sixth century. This monastery became afterwards known as the Priory of the Holy Cross of Canons Regular of St. Augustine. St. Senchell, who is stated to have been St. Patrick’s first convert, was the son of Kennfinnain, and grandson of Inchad, or Finchada, of the royal blood of Leinster (Colgan, Trias. Thaum.) The father of the saint was ninth in descent from Cathair Mor, monarch of Ireland. In both the Martyrology of Tallaght and the Feiliré, St. Aengus notes the 5th of April as the Feast of the first Baptism conferred by St. Patrick in Ireland: —“Baptisma Patricii venit ad Hiberniam.” (Mart. Tall.) “Excellent Patrick’s baptism was kindled in Ireland.” (Feiliré.) On this latter the gloss in the Leabhar Breac adds, “i. Smell, son of Finchad of the Ui-Garrchon, he is the first person Patrick baptised in Ireland.” It is related that St. Ailbe, of Emly, presented him a cell, in which he had himself lived for some time, at Cluain Damh (now Clane, County Kildare). We find St. Senchell afterwards at Killeigh, where he founded a monastery, which in course of time became very celebrated. In order to distinguish him from another St. Senchell, a relative of his, who lived with him at Killeigh (and who is styled Bishop in the litany of St. Aengus), he is usually called senior. Having lived to a good old age, he died on the 26th of March, AD 549, in his monastery at Killeigh, and was interred there. Petrie states that St Kieran and the two Senchells died of the Plague which raged in 549. * In the litany of St. Aengus Ceile De, written in AD. 799, we have evidence of the celebrity and holiness to which this religious establishment had attained. “Thrice fifty holy bishops with twelve pilgrims, under Senchell the elder, a priest; Senchell the younger, a bishop; and the twelve bishops who settled ia Cill Achaidh Dromfota in Hy Failghi. These are the names of the bishops of Cill Achaidh: —Three Budocis, three Canocis, Morgini, six Vedgonis, six Beaunis, six Bibis, nine Glonalis, nine Ercocinis, nine Grucimnis, twelve Uennocis, twelve Contumanis, twelve Onocis, Senchilli, Britanus from Britain, Cerrui, from Armenia. All these I invoke unto my aid through Jesus Christ.” And again: —“ The twelve Conchennaighi, with the two Senchells in Cill Achaidh, I invoke unto my aid through Jesus Christ.” (IE. Record, May, 1867.) The learned editor of this litany (which he copied from a MS. in the archives of St. Isidore’s at Rome), in a note on the eight monastic rules of the early Irish Saints extant, writes as follows “We may add that we have ourselves discovered another, some-what different from these, in the St. Isidore MS. from which this litany is published, and we regret that want of space alone prevents us from laying it before our readers. It is entitled— The Pious Rules and Practices of the School of Senchil. This was Senchil, surnamed the Elder. The Rules and Practices are 38 in number. When we say that an ardent desire of hearing, and offering up the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and frequent confession were amongst the rules and practices of a school which was celebrated in the first half of the sixth century, we have said enough to prove under what system of education Ireland became ‘another name for piety, and learning in most of the languages of Europe.”
* The Irish Annalists relate that in the year 1163 “Glendalough was burned with the house of Kieran, the house of Kevin, and the Church of the two Senchells.” Commenting on this passage, Petrie writes “I am disposed to conclude that the unnamed Church to the S. of St. Kevin’s house (at Glendalough) is that called by the Annalists “The Regles of the two Senchells.’ I may add that we may infer, with every appearance of probability, that all these buildings were of contemporaneous age, and that, if not erected by the persons whose names they bore, those called after St. Kieran and the two Senchells were erected by St. Kevin in their honour, as, though they were all contemporaneous, and Kevin was the dearest friend of Kieran of Clonmacnoise, he survived both him and the Senchells more than sixty years, having lived, according to Tighernagh, to the extraordinary age of 129.” (Petrie’s Round Towers, p. 436.)
AD. 548. St. Senchell the Elder, son of Ceanannan, Abbot of Cill-Achaidh-Droma-foda, died on the 26th day of March. Thirty and three hundred years was the length of his life. (Four Masters.) Colgan (AL SS., p. 747), thinks this number should be one hundred and thirty. In the Mart. Tal. we find at 26th March, “Sinchelli, Abb. Chilli Achaidh; and at 25th June, “Sinchell Cilli Achaidh.” The former refers to St. Senchell, Senior, the latter to St. Senchell, Junior.
The Feiliré makes the 26th of March the “Feast of the two perennial Sinchells of vast Cill Achid;” to which entry the gloss in the Leabhar Breac adds
“Three hundred years—fine satisfaction!
That was (the elder) Siachelfs lifetime
And thrice ten years brightly
Without sin, without sloth.”
26 March. Sincheall, Abbot of Cill-achaidh-dromfota, i.e., the old Sincheall. It was of him this character was given after his death: -
“The men of heaven, the men of earth,
A surrounding host,
Thought that the day of judgment
Was the Death of Seancheall.
There came not, there will not come from Adam,
One more austere, more strict in piety;
There came not, there will not come, all say it,
Another Saint more welcome to the men of heaven.”
—(Mart. Don)
A.D. 741. Maelanfaidh of Cill-achaidh-Dromafoda, died. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 762. Cubran, Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died. (Id.)
A.D. 791. (recté’ 796, O’D.) Seanchan, Abbot of Cillachaidh -Droma-foda, and of Birra, died. (Id.)
A.D. 795. Tairdhealbhach, Abbot of Cill-Achaidh, died. (Id.)
AD. 800. (recté 805, O’D.) Ciii Achaidh was burned with its new oratory. (Id.) In Annals of Ulster, “AD 804, Cill Achaidh cum Oratorio novo ardescit.”
A.D. 803. (recté 808, O’D.) Faelghus, Abbot of Cill-Achaidh, died. (Four Masters.)
AD. 807. Died, St. Tighernach, Abbot of KiLleigh. (Mac-Geoghegan.) Tighernach, by whom Daire-MelI was founded, Abbot of Cill-Achaidh, died. (Four Masters.) O’Donovan regards this Saint, whose feast was celebrated on the 4th of November, as Abbot of the other Killeigh, in Breffny.
A.D. 825. Dubhdadrich, son of Maeltuile, Abbot of Cillachaidh, died. (Four Masters.)
AD. 830. Died Ceallagh McFynaghty, Abbot of Killeigh. (MacGeoghegan.)
A.D. 832. Reach tabhra, Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died. (Four Masters.)
AD. 840. The destruction of Cill-Achaidh-Droma-foda, by the foreigners. (Id)
A.D. 843. An array was led by the foreigners of Ath-Cliath (the Danes of Dublin) to Cluana-an.Dobhair, and burned the fold of Cill Achaid. Nuadhat, son of Saiger, was martyred by them. (Id) Cluana-an-Dobhair, above referred to, is stated by O’Donovan to be a district near Killeigh. Most probably it is identical with Urney, referred to later on, for which district Clonatogher is another appellation at the present day.
A.D. 844. Robhartach, son of Suibhne, Prior of Cill~achaidh, scribe and wise man, was slain. (Id.)
AD. 869. Dubhthach, Abbot of Cill-achaidh, scribe, anchorite, and bishop, died. (Id.)
A.D. 871. Died, St. Moylervayn, Abbot of Killeghie, and of the Churches of Tihelly (i.e., Teaqh-Teilli, the house of Teilli, now Tihelly, P. of Durrow, King’s County), and Disert-Dermot, (Castledermott, County Kildare). (MacGeoghegan.)
A.D. 872. Donogh MacMôylduin, Abbot of Killealga, was this year slain in battle by the Danes. (Id.)
A.D. 873. Robhartach Mac-Ua-Cearta, i.e., he from whom Inis-Robhartach (was named), Bishop of Cill-Dara, scribe and Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 876. Becan, son of Garbhan, Prior of Cill-achaidh, died. (Id.)
A.D. 885. Maenach, Abbot of Cill-achaidh Dromata, died. (Id.)
A.D. 901. Furadhran, son of Garbhan, Prior of Cill-achaidh died. (Id.)
A.D. 915. Maelgiric, Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died. (Id.)
A.D. 919. Ceallach, son of Congalach, Abbot of Cill-achaid, died. (Id)
AD. 935. Aireachtach, priest of Cill-achaidh, died. (ld.)
A.D 937. The men of Munster, under Ceallachan, King of Munster, plundered the churches of Cluain-eidhnach (Clonenagh, Queen’s County), and Cillachaidh. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 938. Coibhdeanach, Abbot of Cillachaidh, was drowned in the sea of Delginis Cualann (Dalkey), while fleeing from the foreigners. (Id.)
A.D. 949. Died, Reaghtaury, Abbot of Killeachie. (Mac-Geoghegan.) The Four Masters place his death three years later, and style him Bishop. .AD. 952. Reachtabhra, Bishop and Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died.
A D. 982. Aedh Ua-Mothrain (Hugh O’Moran) successor of the two Sinchells (i.e., Abbot of Killeigh), died. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 1030. Maelodhar Dall, lector of Cill-achaidh, died. (Id.)
AD. 1059. Ua Lorchain, Abbot of Cill-achaidh, died. (Id)
AD. 1080. Numbers of the men of Teathbha, of Muinter- Gearadhain, and of the Cairbre-men came upon a plundering expedition into Ui-Failghe, and they arrived at the Termon of Cill-achaidh. The Ui-Failghe overtook them and slew Guilla-rmuire Ua-Ciardha, Lord of Cairbre and Aedh, grandson of Dubhghall Mac-Finnbharr, Chief of Muintir-Geradhain (Muin-tergeran, N. of County Lougford—O’D.) and others of the nobility besides them. (Four Masters.) This attack upon Killeigh is thus noticed in the Annals of Clonmacnoise: -
“A.D. 1078 (recté 1080, O’D.) The people of Teaffa came to the Termyn-land of Killeachie in Affalie, and preyed and spoiled the whole Termyn-land, and also killed Gillamorie O’Keyrga, King of Carbrey, and the son of Mac Fynharr, chief of the O’Gerans, with many others.”
The Four Masters have the following entry: -
“A.D. 1085. Finn, son of Gussan, son of Gorman, Bishop of Cill-dara, died at Cill-Achaidh.” And Ware (Bishops of Kildare) states that “Finn, son of Gussan, died at Achonry in 1085.” Ware, at the year 1160, states that “Fian (Mac-Tiarchan) O’Gorman, Abbot of the monastery of Greenwood, Bishop of Kildare, died at Killeigh, and was there buried.” The similarity of the names would incline one to suspect a mistake here, and to believe that these entries really refer to the same person. A Bishop of Kildare of this name is given amongst the Prelates who assisted at the Synod of Kells, which met on the 9th March, 1162, as appears from the list taken by Keating from the Annals of Clonenagh (see Lanigan, vol. 4, p. 140.) This would then appear to have been the Bishop of Kildare, who died at Killeigh, and is interred there.
A.D. 1162. The Ui-Dimisaigh (the O’Dempseys)* i.e., Deallach, Cubrogha, and Cuilen, were slain by Maelseachlainn Ua-Conchobhair (O’Conor), lord of Ui-Failghe, in the middle of Cill-achaidh. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 1163. Gillabrighte Ua-Dimusaigh (O’Dempsy), successor to the two Senchills (i.e., Abbot of Killeigh), died. (Id.) And the same authority records that in this same year “the church of the two Senchells was burned.”
A.D. 1212. An army was led by the English of Munster to Roscrea, where they erected a castle. From thence they proceeded to Killeigh, where they were overtaken by Murtough, the son of Brian (O’Conor), and his army, who gave them battle; in which Melaghlin, the son of Cathal Carragh (O’Conor) received wounds of which he died. (Id.)
A.D. 1421. Murrough O’Connor, Lord of Offaly, a man who had gained many victories over those English and Irish who opposed him, after vanquishing the world and the devil, died at his own mansion seat, and was interred in the monastery of Killeigh. (Four Masters.) Another entry at the same date records that “O’Conor Faly retired among the friars of the monastery of Killeigh, and took the habit of a friar. O’Conor was (only) one month among the friars when he died, after a well spent life.” These two entries appear to refer to the same individual.
A.D. 1458. O’Conor Faly, Calvagh More, son of Murrough-namadhman (i.e., Morgan of the Defeats), Lord of Offaly, a man who never refused the countenance of man (whose hospitality was extended to all without exception, O’D.), and who had won more wealth from his English and Irish enemies than any lord in Leinster, died, and Con O’Conor, his son, was elected in his place before his father was buried in the monastery of Killeigh. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 1537. The Deputy, Lord Grey, plundered the Church of Killeigh, and carried away a pair of organs and other articles fitted for the King’s College, and as much glass as sufficed for the glazing of the College of Maynooth. (Colgan, AA. SS., p. 748.) The college referred to was one which Earl Gerald Fitz-Gerald, Lord Deputy, who died in 1513, founded, adjoining the town of Maynooth, for a Provost, Vice-Provost, 3 Priests, 2 Clerks and 3 choristers.
* The site of one of O’Dempsy’s Castles is pointed out at Ballykeane, about six miles N.W. of Portarlington; and not far from his Castle, on the verge of a bog, is a curious entrenchment called the Sconce, said to be the fortification that defended Lord Clonmaliere’s house. O’Dempsy also obtained possession of Lea Castle, originally built by the Fitzgeralds. —(O’Donovan—Note to Four MM.)
‘The Prior of the Monastery of the Holy Cross, at Killeigh, was one of those who had seats in the Irish House of Peers. (Allemande.) An Inquisition, taken 15 days after the feast of St. Michael, 11th Elizab., finds that Phelim O’Connor, the last Abbot, was seized of the Abbey, etc., containing half an acre of land, surrounded by a stone wall; also, an orchard and three gardens, with three messuages, 124 acres of arable land, three of meadow, or moor, thirty-four of pasture, and three of wood and under-wood, in Fentyre and Killeigh ; annual value of each acre, besides reprises, two pence halfpenny; a small plot of ground in the town of Kylleigh, whereon was formerly a mill with a water-course; three messuages and six cottages in Dunfeigh; 20 acres of arable land, called Channon’s land and seven acres of pasture and moor in Dunfeigh aforesaid; annual value of each acre, besides reprises, two pence halfpenny. The said Abbot was also possessed of the following rectories :—Killeigh, with the chapels of Eentyre and Killeigh; annual value, besides reprises, 17s. 6d.; Ballykeane: annual value, besides reprises, 40s.; Urney, annual value, besides reprises, 12d.: a chapel in Tyrine, with three acres of glebe; annual value of each acre, two pence halfpenny. The said rectory of Ballykeane extendeth into the townlands of Ballykeane, Enagban, Kilconye, Corballie, Urney, Ballinboher, Aghenanoghe, Clonyghgawny, Clony-gawniebeg, Tiren, Backecrewe, and Sbaraneure. (Ghief Remembrancer.)
June 28th, 18th Elizabeth. This monastery, with three messuages, six cottages, twenty acres of arable land and seven of pasture, in the town of Donfeigh, in this county, with the tithes, etc., were granted for ever, in capite, to John Lee, at the yearly rent of 45s. 6d. And, 16th May, 1578. This abbey, with all its temporal possessions, etc., was granted to Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, and his heirs, at the yearly rent of 33s. 4d., he to maintain one able horseman. (Auditor General.) Another Inquisition, taken 20th Feb., 1582, too long for insertion, may be seen in Monast. Hib., amongst the Addenda. An Act of Settlement, dated 7th Feb., 19th Chas. II., confirms to Francis Lye (son of John), of Rathbride, Esq., “the scite, circuit, and precinct of the late monastery or priory house of ye Order of ye Holy Crosse of Killeigh (here the details are set forth,)—To hold for ever, as ye same were granted and confirmed to him by patent dated 10th May, 15th Chas. II., the premises to be held under the same rents, tenures and services, as are reserved in said patent.”
A portion of this monastery still remains, consisting chiefly of a large hall or chamber, about forty-two feet by eighteen, and about eighteen feet high. It is arched roughly in stone, and appears to have had an inner roof of timber, the corbels for the support of which still remain. There is a large circular-headed aperture at the east end, which seems to have been the only window of the apartment. A doorway at the N.W. corner led to this chamber, and also to a stone stair in the solid W. wall. The upper story, to which this gave access, has disappeared with the exception of a few feet of masonry. Some stone windows of Gothic design, appearing to have originally belonged to this portion of the building, have been set as ornaments in the walls of an adjoining modern residence. A transept arch of the old monastic church can be easily traced in the south wall of the present Protestant church. A considerable portion of an extended circular trench, which formerly surrounded this Priory, and probably also the nunnery, may still be observed. The adjoining cemetery is the resting place of many Saints and distinguished personages. The graves of the two Saints Senchel must be here-about, and also the sacred dust of the “thrice fifty holy bishops, with twelve pilgrims, and the twelve bishops who settled in Cill Achaidh Dromfota,” invoked in the litany of St. Aengus. Here too reposes at least one Bishop of Kildare, Finn MacTiercan, or Tierian) who died, as we have seen, at Killeigh, and is interred there. The tombs of many of the great Irish families, who formerly held sway in this neighbourhood, are also to be found in this church-yard, viz. :—The tomb of the O’Conors Faly, with a rough marble slab, exhibiting a long inscription in Latin, but much defaced, beginning:—” Hic jacet Herourn Claro de Stemmate natus, Donatus Patriae cura dolorque suae. Una sepulta jacet tumulo Donati parentum, casta, pudica, pia., haec conjux, materque Johannis necnon Donati mater.” Here is also the place of interment of the Dempseys, Chiefs of Clannialiere. The inscription on the grave of the last who bore the family title is as follows: —“ Here lyeth the body of Maxamilian O’Dempsy, Lord Viscount Clanmaleere, who departed the 30th November, 1690.” Here also is the tomb of the O’Molloys, with a long epitaph; and the monument of the O’Dunnes, chiefs of Hy Regan, with their coat of arms elaborately sculptured. (Note to Four Masters, by O’Donovan.)
Of this religious establishment but little is known. In the Annals of the Four Masters it is recorded that in the year “AD. 1393 the Monastery of Kil Achaidh, in the diocese of Kildare, was erected by O’Conor Faly for Franciscan Friars.” This account differs materially from that given by Ware, who assigns the foundation of this house to the time of Edward I. He also records that “Donald O’Bruin, guardian of the Minorites of Killeigh, was appointed Bishop of Clonmacnoise in 1303. After his election he had the Royal assent on the 14th April, 1303, and was restored to the temporals on the 24th June following.” (Ware’s Bishops.) At the general suppression, this monastery was granted to John Allee or Lee. Information regarding whom, will be found in the Chapter on the Parish of Kildare.
Titular Guardians of this House continued to be appointed after the suppression. We find Father Bonaveutura Mellaghlin, Guardian of Killeigh, taking a prominent part in the affairs of the Confederate Catholics in 1651-2. He was chosen as one of their delegates, by the clergy of Leinster, to the General Assembly at Galway; and his name, as Chancellor of the congregation, is affixed to the Acta Congregationis utriusque Cleri Provinciae Lageniae, 25 Maii Anno 1652. (Aphorism. Discov. Vol. III., pp. 11 and 109.) From the Acts of a Chapter of the Friars Minors, held at Dublin, 1717: “Electus est Guardianus in Conveutu Killighy, V. A. P. F. Simon Waters.” And from the Acts of another Chapter, held also in Dublin, in 1729, amongst the Guardians elected, was “In Conventu Killighy, V. A. P. Eugenius Molloy.” A portion of a wall, covered with ivy, on the right of the present road to Tullamore, is all that now remains of this Monastery. The road passes through the former burial-ground. The Rev. James Kinsella, who came as curate to the parish in 1819, and died P.P. in 1859, thus writes: —“ The walls have been pulled down at different periods for building about the village. To the present day portions of cut stone, appearing to be the bases and capitals of columns, etc., are to be seen about the place. Many of these have been taken away to ornament the houses of the poor; some of the more opulent have worked them into their buildings. When first I took notice of these venerable ruins, I could not imagine that the same amount of destruction could have been effected in a century!”
A convent for Nuns of the Order of St. Augustine was founded at Killeigh by the family of Warren soon after the arrival of the English. (Allemande.) No vestige of this nunnery remains. In the Annals of the Four Masters it is recorded that “AD. 1447, Finola, the daughter of Calvagh O’Conor Faly, and of Margaret, daughter of O’Carroll, who had been first married to O’Donnell, and afterwards to Hugh Boy O’Neill, the most beautiful and stately, the most renowned and illustrious woman of her time in all Ireland, her own mother only excepted, retired from this transitory world to prepare for life eternal, and assumed the yoke of piety and devotion (took the veil) in the monastery of Cill-Achaidh.”
In MacFirbis’s Annals, many remarkable traits are given of this Margaret. Thus, we read of her pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James at Compostella; and also how the English of Trim, having taken several Irishmen, her neighbours, prisoners, and her lord having in his keeping certain English prisoners, “she went to Bealathatrim, and gave all the English prisoners for MacGeoghegan’s son, and for the sons of Art, and that unadvised by Calvagh, and she brought them home.” (Mis. Irish Arch. Soc. Vol. 1., p. 212.) The death of this lady is recorded by the Four Masters: “AD. 1451—Margaret, daughter of O’Carroll, and wife of O’Conor Faly, the best woman of her time in Ireland,—for it was she who had given two invitations of hospitality in the one year to those who sought for rewards (i.e. poets, minstrels, and members of mendicant orders, etc.,) died, after the victory of Unction and Penance, triumphant over the world and the devil; and Phelim O’Conor, son of Calvagh by this Margaret, and heir to the lordship of Offaly, a man of great fame and renown, died, being for a long time ill of a decline. Only one night intervened between the deaths of both.” The following interesting account of the two feasts to the literati of Ireland, above referred to, one of which took place at Killeigh, and the other at Rathangan, County Kildare, is given by that lady’s enthusiastic panegyrist, Duald MacFirbis: “A.D. 1451—A gratious yeare this yeare was, though the glory and solace of the Irish was sett, but the glory of heaven was amplified and extolled therein; and although this is a year of grace (Jubilee) with the Roman Church, it is an ungratious and unglorious year to all the learned of Ireland, both philosophers, poets, guests, strangers, religious persons, souldiers, mendicant or poore orders, and to all manner and sorts of the poor in Ireland; also for the general support of their maintenance’s decease, to wit, Margarett, daughter of Thady O’Carroll, King of Ely, O’Conor Faly, Calvagh’s wife. It is she that twice in one year proclaimed to and commonly invited (i, in the dark dayes of the yeare, to wit, on the feast day of Da Sinchell, in Killachy), all persons, both Irish and Scottish, or rather Albaines, to two general feasts of bestowing both meate and moneyes, with all manner of gifts, whereunto gathered to receive gifts the number of two thousand and seven hundred persons, besides gamesters and poor men, as it was recorded in a roll to that purpose, and that accompt was made thus, ut vidimus, viz.: The cheife kins of each family of the Learned Irish was by Gilla-nanoemhe MacEgan’s hand, the chief Judge to O’Connor, written in the roll, and his adherents and kinsmen, so that the aforesaid number 2,700 was listed in that roll with the Arts of Dan, or poetry, musick and antiquitie. And Maelin O’Maelconry, one of the chief learned of Connaught, was the first written in that roll, and first payed and dieted, or sett to supper, and those of his name after him, and soforth, every one as he was payed was written in that roll, for fear of mistake, and set down to eate afterwards. And Margarett, on the garrots of the greate churche of Da Sinchell, clad in cloath of gould, her dearest friends about her, her clergy and judges too, Calvagh himself on horseback, by the churches outward side, to the end that all things might be done orderly, and each one served successively. And first of all she gave two chalices of gould as offerings that day on the Altar of God Almighty, and she also caused to nurse or foster two young orphans. But so it was. We never saw nor heard neither the like of that day, nor comparable to its glory and solace. And she gave the second inviting proclamation (to every that came not that day) on the feast day of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady Mary in harvest, at or in the Rath Imayn (Rathangan), and so we have been informed that that second day in Rath-Imayn was nothing inferior to the first day. And she was the only woman that has made most of preparing high-ways and erecting bridges, churches, and mass-books, and all manner of things profitable to serve God and her soul, and not that only, but while the world stands, her very many gifts to the Irish and Scottish Nations shall never be numbered. God’s blessings, the blessing of all Saints, and every other blessing from Jerusalem to Inis-Gluair be on her going to heaven, and blessed be he that will reade and heare this, for blessing her soul. Cursed be that sore in her breast that killed Margarett.” (Annal. Clon.)
More than a century later, we find another female of this family distinguishing herself. In the reign of Edward VI., O’Connor Faly was imprisoned in the Tower of London; six years did he languish in this gloomy prison, when Margaret, his daughter, determined to make a personal appeal to the Queen Mary for his deliverance. She proceeded to England on this mission of filial piety in which she was successful. She obtained the release of her father whom she brought back with her to Ireland.
In a field hard-by the village of Killeigh, and within a circuit of a few yards, is a cluster of seven wells, reputed holy, and to which there is considerable recourse for cures, especially for diseases of the eye. The water that is considered of most efficacy in this respect is found in an aperture in a venerable tree that overhangs one of the wells. The supply in this aperture, which is some six feet high, is said never to be exhausted.
Urney, whose name (Locus Orationis) indicates its long-standing sacredness, is found mentioned in the Inquisitions as a rectory belonging to the Priory of Killeigh. This place appears to be the same as the Cluain-an-Dobhair, referred to by our Annalists. (Vide supra.) The Martyrologies of Donegal and Tallaght mark the 30th of August, as the feast of Cronan of Cluain-an-Dobhair.
AD. 938. Flann Ua Cathail (O’Cahill) suffered martyrdom at Cluain-an-Dobhair, by the foreigners. (Four Masters.)
A.D. 942. Robhartach, son of Maelcainnigh, Abbot of Cluain-an-Dobhair, died. (Id.)
There is a small portion of the east gable of the ancient church standing. In the circumjacent burial-ground are some interesting epitaphs, dating from 1729. A former P.P. is buried here, with the following inscription over his grave :—“ Here lieth the body of Rev. Edward Kavanagh, Parish Priest of Geashill and Dean of Kildare, who departed this life the 8th day of October, 1769.”
There was another Church in this district, the site of which still bears the name of Kilmalogue, and is the one noted by Dr. MacGeoghegan as Capella dicta Kilmalmoge ejusdem Parochiae (nempé de .Nurny.) This name, the author of Loca Patriciana suggests, may be derived from that of one of the Patrician Saints,—St. Malagh Brit,—uncle to St. David of Minevia, who, with his brothers, came to Ireland to aid St. Patrick in his missionary labours.
Ballykeane was another rectory belonging to the Priory of Killeigh. This Church still survives, in ruins. It measures forty-two feet by twenty interiorly. Portions of the south and west walls are standing. There is a small window in the west gable and a recess on the Epistle side of the former altar.
There is an humble chapel still in use, having a burial-place attached. Amongst those interred here is a former pastor; the following is the epitaph :—“ Beneath this stone lie the remains of the Rev. William Kennedy, Dean of Kildare and Rector of Geashill, etc., who departed this life on the 8th September, 1795, aged 69. In requie aeterna, potiatur Luce superna.”
Is the site of an ancient church of which nothing now remains if we except mounds that mark its outlines. A Protestant church has been built here. There is an ancient place of interment attached. We find here the grave of a priest with the following inscription :—“ Lord have mercy on ye soul of ye Rev. John Dempsy, who departed this life ye 2nd July, 1793, aged 76 years.” The tradition regarding him is that he was a native of the county Wexford, that he officiated in this parish, and that he was a “great performer on the Irish pipes!” In an adjoining field there are two wells, accounted Blessed. They are still resorted to, though much less than formerly, by people seeking to be cured. The custom was to use the upper one for internal, and the lower one for external application. The 24th of June seems to have been the special feast day.
A short distance from the village of Killeigh, formerly stood a chapel, as we see by one of the Inquisitions already quoted. This has completely disappeared. It was replaced by the humble thatched chapel of the penal times, of which no vestige now remains; but there are old inhabitants still living who heard Mass in it in their childhood, previous to the building, in 1808, of the present respectable and commodious parish church.
Within five and a half miles of Frankford, a ruin, probably that of a church and monastic house, is to be seen. Interments used to take place here, and were continued up to some thirty years ago; in later times none but unbaptized infants were interred here; we find the chapel of Killurin, Capella de Killurine, in Dr. MacGeoghegan’s List. (See Vol. I., P. 260.)
This ruin is very solidly built, and appears to he very ancient. Under date, 1532, the Four Masters record that “O’Carroll drew his cliamhain (father-in-law), the Earl of Kildare, Lord Justice of Ireland, against the sons of John (O’Carroll); and they took the castle of Cill-Iurin.” O’Donovan adds: “No ruins of the walls of this castle now remain; but the intrenchments which surrounded it are still to be seen.” This castle is shown in the old map of Leix and Offaly, made in the reign of Philip and Mary.
In 1821, a friar, probably the locum tenens of the Franciscans, established himself at Killurin. Judging from the sub-joined letter, which has been found amongst that prelate’s papers, Dr. Doyle, the bishop, appears not to have looked favourably on the enterprise
“My Lord,—I received your favour, and from the tenor of it had to regret the omission of more than one circumstance of not small importance in my late letter. Your Lordship disapproves of the establishment of a house in which a single Religious resides, without the advantages of conventual discipline or regular domestic occupation. Nothing can be more just, but it is my settled plan, and which, aided by Divine Providence, I shall most faithfully execute, to render the establishment at Killuran in no wise obnoxious to such objection. I intend to have a small chapel annexed, in which that portion of the neighbouring parishioners, when by necessity or circumstances they cannot attend their parish chapel, may on Sundays and holidays, have the benefit of assisting at Mass and hearing the Word of God; or, at least, whither they may send their children to be instructed in the Christian doctrine; and as to domestic life, I mean, even before I am joined by one or two other Priests, which will not be a distant day, to associate with me some devout Laics who wish to consecrate themselves to God in religion, and whose office will be (for one of them, at least) to teach gratis, under my own direction, the poor children of the vicinity, instruct them in the duties of our holy Religion, and prepare them for the Sacraments. I must now apologize to your Lordship for this new trouble, but it seemed advisable to acquaint you with these circumstances, as the statement must alter the complexion of the whole matter. Allow me to add a request that you will favour me with a line at your convenience, and to assure you of the respect, with which I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship’s very humble and obedient servant,—Br. John Joseph Donovan.
Tullamore, Oct. 30th, 1821.”
Near the village of Killeigh are two places having a melancholy interest in connection with the times of religious persecution. One is called Fagan’s Field. Here in a hollow a white-thorn marks the spot where a priest, probably of that name, was suddenly set upon and massacred whilst offering the Holy Sacrifice. A second spot is pointed out where another ecclesiastic—tradition says he was a Vicar Apostolic—was pursued and murdered, but whether from hatred of the Catholic religion, or for the sake of plunder, does not transpire. Probably the twofold motive instigated the sacrilegious act.
Is an ancient and very extensive burial-ground surrounded by a fosse. No marks of a church having existed here are visible, unless such can be inferred from the large quantity of stones scattered about. Immediately adjoining the graveyard is a large artificial mound, apparently sepulchral. Inscriptions date from 1740. One headstone, facing in the direction opposite to the rest, seems to mark the resting-place of a priest. The inscription, which is in Latin, is nothing more than a salutary reminder of the swiftness with which life passes: Cito pede labitur octas. This is probably the grave of Father Edward Fox, the PP. registered in 1704. Within a few perches of the modern church of Ballinagar a large stone is pointed out as having been used as an altar in the times of persecution.
Here stood the church of St. Mary’s, which also was a rectory of the Priory of Holy Cross. Its site is probably that now occupied by the Protestant church. This neighbourhood was the scene of some important, and decisive military events in the far distant past. In the Annals of Ireland we read that in the year of the world 3501, “a dispute arose at the end of this year between Eremhon and Emhear, in consequence of which a battle was fought between them on the brink of the Bri-Damh at Tochereterda-mhagh,* and this was called the battle of Geisill. The battle was gained by Emhear, and he fell therein. There fell also three distinguished chieftains of the people of Eremon in the same battle—Gorsten, Setgha, and Suirghe were their names. After this, Eremhon assumed the sovereignty.” (Four Masters.) In a note, Dr. O’Donovan remarks that this Bri-Damh, i.e., the Hill of the Oxen, is the place referred to in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as mons-damh, but there is no elevation near Geashill higher than 355 feet. In the description of this battle, preserved in the Dinnsenchus, it is stated that there were many mounds in this place in which Heber and the other chiefs were interred.
* Tochareterda mhah means the causeway between the two plains, a name partly preserved in that of Ballintogher, near Geashill.
The accuracy of the statement in the Dinnsenchus has been remarkably confirmed by the great quantities of human bones found in the locality, popularly pointed out as the scene of this engagement. The writer had an interesting conversation with a person who rents a small farm adjoining. This man, some twenty-seven years ago, whilst engaged in removing, for agricultural purposes, a mound on his land, came upon a structure composed of large stones, placed upright, and forming an oblong vault or recess. Within was found embedded in yellow clay the full skeleton of a man. There can be little doubt of this being the resting-place of a warrior of distinction, and it is not unwarranted to suppose it the grave of Heber himself. What strangely suggestive subject for reflection, to be thus brought, as it were, face to face with an event that synchronizes with the banishment of Tarquinius Superbus and his hated race, from Rome, and the memorable victory of Marathon; an event that was almost contemporaneous with the return of the captive Jews from Babylon: a battle that was lost and won full 450 years before Caesar set his foot in Britain!
It was in the reign of Eithrial, son of Irial the prophet, son of Eremon, who fell in battle in A.M. 3549, that Magh Geisille (the plain of Geashill) was cleared of wood by the Offalians. (Four Masters.)
Conmael, son of Emer, who fell in the battle of Emania, in A.M. 3579, is recorded to have fought a battle at Geashill, in which fell Palaph, son of Eremon (ld). And in comparatively modern times, viz., “A.D. 596, Suibhne, son of Colman-Beg, Lord of Meath, was slain by Aedh Slaine at Bri-damh” (identified by O’Donovan as in the parish and barony of Geashill). Adamnan distinctly notes this killing of Suibhne by the King Aedh Slaine, in his Life of Columbcille, lib. c. 14, where he states that St. Columbkille had forewarned him that his reign should be but a short one, unless he refrained from the guilt of fratricide.
It was at a Synod held, most probably, at Geasliill, about the year 550, that sentence of excommunication is related to have been passed on St. Columba. Dr. Lanigan (Eccl. Hist., II, c. II) ridicules the old story of the saint’s quarrel with his fellow-saint, Finian, about the copying of his book, and of the very unsaintly conduct attributed to him which led to the battle of Culdremni. Lanigan gives cogent reasons for disbelieving the whole story; amongst others, that the said battle did not take place till several years later. The following is from Life, by Adamnan :—“ A certain synod,” he says, “had issued a sentence of excommunication, not justly, as afterwards appeared, against Columba, on account of some venial and excusable proceedings. On his arrival at said synod, Brendan, who had seen him at a distance, rose up and saluted him with great respect, and embraced him. Some of the elders then, taking Brendan apart, expostulated with him for his having shown such attention to a person whom they had excommunicated. He replied: ‘If you had seen what the Lord has been pleased to make manifest to me this day concerning this elect of His, whom you are dishonouring, you would have never passed that sentence, whereas the Lord does not in any manner excommunicate him, in virtue of your wrong sentence, but rather still exalts him more and more.’ On their asking how this could be, he told them that he saw a luminous pillar advancing before this man of God, when on his way, and holy angels accompanying him through the plain. ‘Therefore,’ he added, ‘I dare not treat with contempt him whom I see pre-ordained by God as a guide of nations to life.’ Upon which the proceedings were withdrawn, and the whole synod paid him the greatest respect and veneration.” This synod was held at a place called Hiseilte, or the district of Scilte, which Colgan conjectures, with every appearance of justice, to have been the same as Maggesilde in Leinster, afterwards contracted into Geisille, now Geashill.
In the year 1306, a great slaughter was made in Offaly, near to the castle of Geashill, the 13th day of April, upon O’Connor and his friends by the O’Dempseys, in the which were slain a great number of men. (Holinshed’s Chronicle.) In the year 1307, the robbers that dwelt in the parts of Offaly, razed the castle of Geashill. (ld.)
On St. Valentine’s day (1317), the Scots, under Edward Bruce, are at Geashill, in Offaly, suffering greatly from hunger, so that many perished. (Grace’s Annals.)
The extensive estates formerly belonging to the Irish princely family of O’Conor Faly, came into the possession of the present proprietor, Lord Digby, by the marriage, on the 8th July, 1615, of Sir Robert Digby, of Coleshill, Warwickshire, to the Lady Lettice, daughter and heir to Gerard, Lord Offaley, who died before his father, Gerald, eleventh Earl of Kildare. She was created Baroness of Offaley for life, and brought into this family the barony, lordship, manor, and territory of Geashill, with the monastery of Killeigb, the rectory and prebend of Geashill, and all the hereditaments within the said barony, which were the inheritance of her grandfather, Gerald, Earl of Kildare, the same being confirmed to her and her heirs by the award of King James I., bearing date 11th July, 1619. She had seven sons, of whom Robert, the eldest, was created Lord Digby of Geashill. This lady, who survived her husband, sustained a siege of several months’ duration in her castle of Geashill in 1642. It was conducted by Lewis O’Dempsey, Lord Clanmaliere, and his followers.
In the first attempt Henry Dempsie, brother of the Lord Clanmalier, and others, subscribed and sent her the following summons:-
“We, his Majesty’s loyal subjects, at the present employed in his Highness’s service for the sacking of this your castle, you are therefore to deliver unto us the free possession of your said castle, promising faithfully that your ladyship, together with the rest within your said castle resiant, shall have a reasonable composition; otherwise, upon the non-yielding of the castle, we do assure you that we will burn the whole town, kill all the Protestants, and spare neither man, woman, nor child, upon taking the castle by compulsion. Consider, Madam, of this our offer, and impute not the blame of your own folly unto us. Think not that here we brag. Your ladyship, upon submission, shall have a safe convoy to secure you from the hands of your enemies, and to lead you whither you please. A speedy reply is desired with all expedition, and thus we surcease.
“Henrie Dempsie, Charles Dempsie, Andrew FitzPatrick, Conn. Dempsie, Phelim Dempsie, Ja. MacDonnell, John Vicars.”
To this summons she returned this answer:-
“I received your letter, wherein you threaten to sack this my castle by his Majesty’s authority. I have ever been a loyal subject, and a good neighbour among you, and therefore cannot but wonder at such an assault. I thank you for your offer of a convoy, wherein I hold little safety; and therefore my resolution is, that being free from offending his Majesty, or doing wrong to any of you, I will live and die innocently, and will do the best I can to defend my own, leaving the issue to God. Although I have been, and still am desirous to avoid the shedding of Christian blood, yet, being provoked, your threats shall no whit dismay me.”
After two months, the Lord Viscount Clanmalier brought a great piece of ordnance (to the making of which, as it was credibly reported, there went seven score pots and pans, which was cast three times by an Irishman from Athboy before they brought it to that perfection in which it was at Geashill) and sent another summons to her Ladyship in these words:- “Noble Madam, it was never my intention to offer you any injury, before you were pleased to begin with me, for it is well known, if I were so disposed, you had not been at this time at Geashill; so as I find you are not sensible of the courtesies always expressed unto you, since the beginning of this commotion: however I will not thirst after revenge, but out of my loving and wonted respects still towards you, I am pleased and desirous to give you fair quarter, if you please to accept thereof, both for yourself children, and grandchildren, and likewise for your goods. And I will undertake to send a safe convoy with you and them, either to Dublin, or to any of the next adjoining garrisons, either of which to be at your own election. And if you be not pleased to accept of this offer, I hope you will not impute the blame unto me, if you be not fairly dealt withal, for I expect to have the command of your house before I stir from hence. And if you please to send any of your gentlemen of your house to me, I am desirous to confer thereof at large. And so expecting your speedy answer, I rest your loving cousin,—Lewis Glanmaleroe.
“P.S.—Madam. There are other gentlemen now in this town, whose names are hereunto subscribed, who do join and unite themselves to this mine offer unto yon. Lewis Glanmaleroe, Art. O’Molloy, Henry Dempsie, Edwd. Connor, Cha. Connor, Daniel Doyne, John Mac-William.”
To this letter Lady Offaley sent the following answer:-
“My Lord,—I little expected such a salute from a kinsman, whom I have ever respected, you being not ignorant of the great damages I have received from your followers of Glanmaleroe, so as you can’t but know in your own conscience, that I am innocent of doing you any injury, unless you count it an injury for my people to bring back a small quantity of mine own goods where they found them, and with them, some others of such men as had done me all the injury they can devise, as may appear by their own letter. I am offered a convoy by those that formerly besieged me, and I hope you have more honour than to follow their example, by seeking her ruin that never wronged you. However, I am still of the same mind, and can think no place safer than my own house, wherein, if I perish by your means, the guilt will light on you, and I doubt not, but I shall receive a crown of martyrdom, dying innocently. God, I trust, will take a poor widow into his protection from all those which, without cause, are risen up against me. Your poor kinswoman, Lettice Offaley. “If the conference you desire, do but concern the contents of this letter, I think this answer will give you full satisfaction, and I hope you will withdraw your hand and show your power in more noble actions.”
After his Lordship had received this answer, he discharged his piece of ordnance against the castle, which at the first shot broke and flew in pieces; but his men continued with their muskets and other arms, to fire until the evening when they took away the broken ordnance, and marched off in the night. But before his departure his Lordship sent the following letter:-
“To my noble cousin the Lady Lettice, Baroness of Offaley. Madam,—I received your letter, and am still tender of your good and welfare, though you give no credit thereunto. And, whereas, you do understand by relation, that my piece of Ordnance did not prosper; I believe you will be sensible of the hazard and loss you are likely to sustain thereby, unless you will be better advised to accept the kind offer which I mentioned in my letter unto you in the morning; if not, expect no further favour at my hands, and so I rest your Ladyship’s loving cousin, Lewis Glanmaleroe.”
To which my Lady returned answer by one of her own men, who was kept prisoner:
“My Lord,—Your second summons I have received, and should be glad to find you tender of my good. For your piece of Ordnance I never disputed how it prospered, presuming you would rather make use of it for your own defence or against enemies, than to try your strength against a poor widow of your own blood. But since you have bent it against me, let the blood which shall be shed be required at their hands that seek it; for my part, my conscience tells me that I am innocent, and wishing you so, too, I rest your cousin,—Lettice Offaley.”
Notwithstanding all these menaces and attacks, she held out with great spirit until fetched away safe by Sir Richard Grenville, in October, 1642. (Archdall’s Peerage, Vol. 6, p. 280.)
The church of Geashill was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is so given in Dr. MacGeoghegan’s list, and in the Chancery Rolls, Henry VIII. and Edward VI. ln an Inquisition taken at Castlegeashill, 23rd October, 1612, it is styled the church of St. Brigid; but this appears to be erroneous. The Four Masters record the death, in 1523, of John O’Mooney, “who was parson of Geashill, and a canon chorister of Kildare, a clergyman of the greatest fame and renown in the upper part of Leinster.” Reference is made to him in the Rental Book of Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, 1518 :—“ Shan O’Mony, p’son (parson) of Geisill, yerly vi. melsh kyne.” The successor of Father O’Mooney, would appear to have been Gerald Whash. We find in the Patent Rolls, circa 1541, the Presentation of Thomas FitzGerald to the rectory of the parish church of B. V. Mary of Geashill, in Offaly, vacant by the death of Gerald Whash, and belonging to the King’s presentation, pleno jure.
(Cluan,-na-Gamhan i.e. “the pasturage of the calves”), in this parish, was one of the residences of the once powerful family of O’Dempsey. The Four Masters record at the year 1576, that “Owny, the son of Hugh O’Dempsey, was treacherously slain in his own residence of Cluain-na-n Gamhan.” The same is found in Dowling’s Annals, under date 1577 :—“ Eugenius McHugh O’Dempsie, do Clonagoony, miles ac dominus do Glanmolyra, fuit, in castro suo ibidem, interfectus per Lysac McNeill y Moardha.”
Dr. Ross MacGeoghegan, whose mother was daughter of Dempsey, Lord Clanmaliere, was born at Cloneygowan, in 1580; this was also the birthplace of Dr. Edmund Dempsey, Bishop of Leighlin.
From the Registration of Parish Priests, made in 1704, it appears that: EDWARD F0X, residing at Shranure, aged 54, ordained in April, 1680, at Balyna, by Dr. Forstall, Bishop of Kildare, was Parish Priest of Geashill, Ballykean, and Killaderry; his sureties were Owen Fox of Shranure, and John Dunne of Ballymacrossen, gents. The time when Father Fox died is unknown. EDWARD KAVANAGH most probably succeeded. He lived to be 80 years of age, and died on the 8th of October, 1769, and was buried at Urney. WILLIAM KENNEDY was the next PP. He died on the 8th September, 1795, aged 69, and is interred at Raheen.
JAMES DOWLING succeeded. He died on the 15th August, 1825, aged 75 years, and was buried at Ballinagar, where a very fine church of Gothic design has been erected, and where a tablet bears the following inscription to his memory: “Rove-rendi Jacobi Dowling, septuagenarii, qui XV. Augusti die, Salutis Anno MDCCCXX V., in Domino obdormivit, quod mortale fuit, hic impositum, jacet. Parochianis de Geashill et Killeigh suae commissis curae plusquam triginta annos, exemplum praestitit, ut qui bene munus sacrosanctum sibi in fidem, a Christo Domino delegatum, perceperit, et studiose coluerit.”
REV. JAMES KINSELLA was appointed P.P. in 1825, and died June 24th, 1859, aged 66.
The REV. JOHN NOLAN, succeeded, and was translated to Kildare, July 27th, 1867.
REV. MARCUS DOWLING was next P.P. He died September 9th, 1873, and was succeeded by
The REV. HUGH MAHON, who was translated to Portarlington in March, 1875, and was succeeded by
The REV. JOSEPH DONOHOE, the present respected P.P.