AGHADOE THROUGH THE AGES

 

In the Barony of Magunihy and in the townland of Nunstown lie the ruined church and churchyard of Aghadoe. Pictures.

 

Aghadoe is pronounced A-had-oe by the local populace. Aghadoe translates as "the field of two yews" (Achadh Da Eo). Yew trees are often found growing in churchyards and cemeteries. The first yew to be planted in a churchyard was usually planted close to the path leading to the entrance of the church. In the shade of this yew tree, the priest and his clerks would receive persons bringing a body for burial. Yews are toxic to man and animals. The Latin name for the yew is taxus. An extract of the Pacific yew, Taxol, is used in chemotherapy to kill cancer cells. The yew tree can live for thousands of years. It sends down branches, which on touching the ground, turn into roots. It is thus forever renewing itself. It is thus possible that the two yews mentioned in the place-name are still growing in the churchyard. The yew tree was sacred to the druids.

 

The druids tended to have their places of worship in stone circles in sacred groves on tops of prominent hills. Later Christian churches were often built on the druidical sites. It is probable that the Aghadoe church was built on an ancient druidical site.

 

There are many examples of the Celtic Cross in the cemetery. The Celtic Cross is believed to be a combination of the druidical symbol, the circle and the Christian symbol, the cross.

 

The church building measures 80 feet from gable to gable and twenty feet in breadth.  The western part of the church is the oldest. It was finished in 1158 by Auliff (Olaf) Mor na Cuimsionach, a member of the Ó Donoghue family, who was buried here in 1166. This church replaced an earlier stone church.

At this time the Ó Donoghues were newly arrived in this part of Kerry. They had been driven out of  west Cork and they subsequently wrested control of the lands around Lock Lein from the Moriartys. They acknowledged McCarthy More , the chieftain of the McCarthies, as overlord and paid tribute to him. McCarthy More had his palace at Pallas until 1519. McCarthy More would have had little or no influence in the day-to-day running of the Ó Donoghue clan. The Ó Donoghues held their Loch Lein lands against allcomers for the next four hundred years i.e. until the late 16th century.

Under the Brehon system, the chieftain was elected by the clan and was all-powerful within the clan lands. With few exceptions , there was no private ownership of land. Land was allocated to clan members by the chieftain for lifetime. However the occupier did not occupy the same land for a lifetime. Every four years or so, there was a general re-allocation and each farmer was allocated a different farm to farm. The farmer/occupier paid a rent to the chieftain who, in turn, provided basic administrative, judicial and defence services. At the death of the occupier, the land reverted to the clan. The scheme was somewhat similar to the present-day public housing Council-house scheme. One of the exceptions to the scheme was Church land. Church land was held in perpetuity by the Church.

The newly finished church at Aghadoe was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St. Mary. It has a Hiberno-Romanesque west doorway with a three-order arch (i.e. three semi-circular sets of inlaid stones), the innermost order plain and the two outer ones bearing Romanesque decoration. The arch is an 11th century Irish version of the Roman arch. The Roman arch was semi-circular in shape. The Goths later introduced the Gothic arch to Europe. The Gothic arch is pointed and was an improvement on the Roman arch.

 

The eastern part of the Aghadoe church was added in the 13th century. It includes an east window which has a head and a flower at the intersection. The church is now divided into two separate compartments or churches by a dividing wall. To date, there has been no satisfactory explanation for this. The dividing wall could have arisen in different ways. It may be that when the eastern part was added, the outer wall of the previous church was not demolished but left in place. Alternatively, the dividing wall may have been added at some date after the extension had been built. It is also conjectured that the eastern compartment may have served as living quarters at some stage.

 

In medieval times, there were no seats in churches. The congregation stood or kneeled during the service. Bearing this in mind, it is doubtful if there would have been standing room for more than 50 worshippers in each section of the Aghadoe church.

 

On top of the south wall of the church is an Ogham stone bearing the inscription BRRUANANN. Ogham writing was in use from the 3^rd to the 6^th century when it was superseded by the Roman alphabet. Also secured to the wall is a sculpture of the crucifixion.  Outside the doorway of the church stands a large bullaun stone (bowl-stone) with a single centrally-placed hollow. A bullaun is a large flat stone with a central hollow. It is not certain what they were used for but the most probable explanation is that they were used for holding holy water.

 

Christian churches were initially set up in the 5^th century in Ireland at the time of St. Patrick's apostolate. Possibly the Aghadoe church may date from this period. Church buildings until quite late were usually constructed from wood or aggregate in Ireland. Stone churches were the exception. The Aghadoe church was closely linked to a monastery in Inisfallen Island founded by St Finian the leper in the 7th century. Leper colonies were often established on islands. According to the Annals of Inisfallen, the monks in Inisfallen eventually adopted the rules of the Society of St. Augustine.

 

Aghadoe is presumed to have been the seat of an ancient bishopric although records are scant. A near townland is called Faranaspig, "the bishops plot". The churchyard is within the townland of Nunstown. In the medieval Irish Church, the bishop was in practice, thought not in theory, subordinate to the abbot of the local monastery. In effect, he was a functionary attached to the local monastery. By the year 1110, Aghadoe had become united with the bishopric of Ardfert. From then onwards, the bishop of the Kerry region was known as the Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe and resided at Ardfert. The title of the Catholic bishop was officially changed to Bishop of Kerry (from Bishop of Kerry and Aghadoe) in 1952. The Church of Ireland bishop still retains the title of Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe but the see has been united with that of Limerick since 1660. When, in the 12^th century, the bishopric was moved to Ardfert, Aghadoe was henceforth in the charge of an Archdeacon. In those times, the Archdeacon  had much greater responsibilities than he does in the Catholic church of today. Apparently both the Catholic and Anglican Churches still appoint a cleric to the office of Archdeacon of Aghadoe.

 

The civil parish of Aghadoe was in use for local government purposes until the beginning of the twentieth century. It comprised some 17,000 acres and extended southwards almost to the foot of the mountains and eastwards to Headford, beyond the present Killarney town. It probably represented the area ministered to by the Aghadoe church in the eleventh century.

 

It is probable that the church building was in use until sometime after the Reformation. The church was in ruins in 1622. The Diocesan Returns for the Anglican Church for 1622 gives us the following: "There is one prebend (Ed. Note: source of tithe) left of the ruined church of Aghadoe ". It is also possible that it may have been reoccupied until Cromwellian times just as Muckross Abbey was. From the Reformation to 1870, Aghadoe churchyard was under the ownership and control of the Established Church but nevertheless it continued to be used by the Catholic community as a burial ground.  It then passed under the control of the local government authority.

 

Until 1838, tithes were paid (usually in kind, when paid at all) to the nominal Archdeacon of Aghadoe by the land-leasing inhabitants of the surrounding countryside.

 

In the 19th century, the landlord of the area west of the Aghadoe churchyard and beyond was Lord Headley. He resided at Aghadoe House which is now the An Óige youth hostel   He let his estate to tenants for an annual rent of 2 pounds to 2.50 pounds per acre. At this time, the wages of an agricultural labourer was 8 pence per day or 24 pounds per year, if fully employed. Samuel Lewiss "Topography of Ireland" published in 1837 has this  to say "On the expiration of the lease of this manor, held under its proprietor, Lord Headley, in 1826, his lordship took the estate under his own management; the farms, previously consisting of small portions of land held under middlemen by cottier tenants, were surveyed and improved upon, an arrangement adapted to the mutual benefit of landlord and tenant, and let on leases of 21 years in portions varying from 100 to 200 acres, with stipulated allowances for building comfortable farm-houses, making fences and drains, and drawing the requisite quantities of lime for the improvement of the soil. Several miles of new road have been constructed, and extensive plantations made solely at his lordship's expense. The hovels formerly occupied by the cottier tenants have been superseded by good farm-houses built of stone and roofed with slate; attached to each are orchards and gardens, and the whole face of the district presents an appearance of improvement." He became notorious in later years for his policy of evicting smalholders in the interest of creating larger land-holdings. See below for the different types of landholding in 1824 and 1853. The last Lord Headley to live in Aghadoe converted to Islam in 1913.

 

The Annals of Inisfallen contain references to Aghadoe church and churchyard, the first for the year 939 A.D. and the last for 1450 A.D.. The following are the references in the Annals of Inisfallen.

939

Repose of Aed, son of Mael Pátraic, abbot of Achad Deó;

1010

Mael Suthain Ua Cerbaill {of Eóganacht}, eminent sage of Ireland, rested in Christ in Achad Deó.

1044

Repose of Maenach Muccruma in Achad Deó.

1061

Ua Cathail, royal heir of Eóganacht Locha Léin, was taken out of the stone church of Achad Deó and afterwards slain.

(Ed. Note: his right to sanctuary in the church was denied to him.The following rulers of the Loch Lein area were slain in the years 1060 to 1077. It would appear that each ruler was slain by the chieftain who succeeded him. 1060 - Ó Flynn. 1061 - Ó Cahill (mentioned above). 1061 - Ó Carroll. 1064 - Unknown. 1064 - Ó Carroll. 1077 - Ó Flynn.

In the 145 years from 1033 to 1178, the Annals record the slayings of 20 kings or rulers of the Loch Léin area and one death by natural causes. From 1033 to 1042, the slain rulers were chieftains of the Ó Cahill clan. From 1046 to 1060, they were mainly chieftains of the Ó Flynn clan. From 1061 to 1077, they were as shown above. From 1086 to 1128, they were mainly chieftains of the Ó Moriarty clan. From 1161 onwards, they were mainly chieftains of the Ó Donoghue clan. The Annals also record that the Ó Donoghues plundered the monastery at Inisfallen in 1180).

1177

Corcach was invaded by the grandson of Domnall Ua Carthaig and by grey foreigners (i.e. Normans), and was besieged by Miles de Cogan and by FitzStephen. One of their companies made an expedition to Achad Deó, spent two days and two nights in it, and from there proceeded again to Corcach. After that they went to attack Port Láirge, but the Gaedil assembled against them to the east of Les Mór, and they were almost all slain.

1231

Aed, son of Conchobor Ó Donnchada, died, and was buried in the old monastery in their [the monks'] own habit..

1282

Great frost in the above year, followed by snow, so that not a single day's ploughing or harrowing was done [...] from Christmas until a week before the Feast of Brigit [February 1].. And there was also very bad weather generally from that on, which prevented any useful work being done to [...] In the same year there was many a violent windstorm, and ricks and many houses were damaged; also the great church of Achad Deó (which had been standing undamaged for six score and four years) (i.e. since 1158), its holy cross, too, being broken which I much deplore.

1308

Feidlimid, son of Donnchad Mac Carthaig, was (mortally) wounded by his own spear in the Glas Lathaige north of Achad Deó as he was gaffing a trout he had seen in the ford.

1450

In this same year died(?) Fíngen Ó Súilliubáin, erenagh of Achad Deó . (Ed. Note: the erenagh in general was the manager of Church revenue and property. The office was often hereditary)

 

 

The McCarthy's Book contains the following references to Aghadoe.

1158

Amhlaoibh son of Aonghus Ó Donnchadha went on a foray to Uaithne; and Ó hIfearnin, Ó Cathail and many others were killed by him.

The great church of Achadh Dá Eó was completed by Amhlaoibh son of Aonghus Ó Donnchadha.

The same Amhlaoibh Ó Donnchadha, high king of Eóghanachta Locha Léin, usurper of West Munster, was killed in Magh Breoghain on the bank of the Suir by Muircheartach son of Toirdhealbhach Ó Briain and [the men of] Thomond, and Mathghamhain son of Mathghamhain son of Mac Carthaigh was killed with him. His own family and his people took the body of Amhlaoibh to Achadh Dá Eó, and he was honourably buried by them with hymns and psalms and Masses on the right side of the church which he himself had built in honour of the Trinity and Mary

 

The Annals of the Four Masters give this description of an engagement in 1581 during the Earl of Desmond's rebellion. "The Earl of Desmond was encamped at Achadh-da-eo; and at that time an English captain, namely, Captain Siuitse, was appointed by the Queen and the Lord Justice to preside over Desmond and Kerry. This captain marched day and night with a party of cavalry to make an attack on the camp of the Earl of Desmond; and it was on a Sunday morning that he arrived at the camp. The Earl and all those who were with him were at this time buried in deep sleep, and profound slumber, for they had remained vigilant and on the watch all the night, and until that time. The captain immediately and alertly attacked all those whom he found standing in the streets, and slew them without mercy; nor did he wait for battle or engagement, but proceeded directly till he reached Castlemain. The following were amongst the freeborn persons slain by the captain at Achadh-da-eo on that day, i.e. Thomas Oge, the only son of Thomas; the son of Maurice Duv, son of the Earl; Mulmurry, the son of Donough Bacagh, son of Mulmurry, son of Donough Mac Sweeny; and Teige, the son of Dermot, son of Cormac of Magh-Laithimh."

The lands of the Ó Donoghues were confiscated following the Earl of Desmond's rebellion.

1790

Archdeacon Leslie of Aghadoe was dismissed from the office of Archdeacon on the grounds that he resided solely in Dublin and neglected his archdeaconry in Aghadoe.  His income appears to have comprised half of all the tithes received from the townlands within five miles of the Aghadoe churchyard but excluding those townlands within five miles to the east. An interesting point is that the names of the townlands are virtually the same today as they were  in 1790. Reference

The earliest headstones in the churchyard date only from the late eighteenth century.  There are no headstones or markers over a large part of the older section of the cemetery. The main reason for this is that no headstones were erected over persons interred in the paupers section of the cemetery.

 

Close to Aghadoe church is the lower portion of a round tower. It is referred to locally as the "the bishops chair". The tower is the remnant of a bell tower and dates from 1026. Could it also have been the somewhat cramped residence of the Bishops of Aghadoe in the 11th century?

 

A short distance south east from the church is an obelisk monument to a much-loved Killarney doctor, Myles Ó Mahony. The inscription on the monument states that the monument was erected "by the gentry and peasantry" of the Killarney area in appreciation of his services to the victims of the Famine in the 1840s.

 

Further down the hill from the church lie the ruins of a round castle, Parkavonear castle, surrounded by a moat. It is sometimes referred to locally as "the pulpit". This name obviously derives from the similarity to a pulpit of the first-floor landing. The castle contains an inner spiral staircase and the remains of a fireplace on the first floor. Recent commentators state this structure to have been a Norman castle. They state that in 1215 Norman invaders erected a wooden structure on this site as they moved across Kerry and that the present stone castle replaced the wooden structure at the end of the 13th century. It is not known on what evidence they base these assertions. It is difficult to fit this version of events into the overall picture of the Norman conquest of this part of Ireland. In 1261, at the Battle of Callan at Kilgarvan, Norman attempts at expansion were stopped. Henceforth their main stronghold was at Castlemaine in north Kerry while south Kerry was Gael-dominated. It is also stated by some commentators that for some time, the ridge at Aghadoe represented the dividing line between the Norman (and descendants)-controlled north and the Gael-controlled south.

 

The road adjoining the cemetery on the west side is known as Boreen-na-Marbh, "the road of the dead". It was in use to bring bodies for burial to the churchyard. A common mode of transporting the dead in medieval Ireland was a dray drawn by two bullocks. The dray would have been followed by "keening" women. The road was also probably the communicating road between the abbey at Inisfallen and the church at Aghadoe for possibly 1000 years.

 

The field to the south of the cemetery is known locally as the "The Glebe". This name can be traced to the early 19th century when the land was set aside on which to build a protestant rectory (which never eventuated) and create an adjoining glebe. "A glebe of 10 3/4 acres, belong also to the archdeacon. There is at present neither church nor glebe-house: the ancient and much used burial-ground adjoining the ruins of the cathedral of Aghadoe has been enlarged by the addition of a slip of ground given by Lord Headley". (Lewis, 1837). Soon afterwards, in 1838, a new church, together with adjoining rectory for the Archdeacon, was built a mile to the west. This church is now in disuse and the rectory is an hotel.

 

In 1903, under a government sponsored scheme, tenants of Irish farms were given the means to buy their farms from the landlords. In 1909, tenants were given the right to compel landlords to sell under the scheme. In essence, the money to buy the farms was advanced by the government and the tenants (now owners) repaid the loan over 68.5 years. In many cases, the loan repayments were less than the previous rent. In time, inflation meant that the loan repayments were negligible.

 

OWNERSHIP OF NUNSTOWN LANDS.

It appears that in medieval times, the ecclesiastical establishment extended from the Aghadoe church eastward to the "Madam's Height". We can glean this from the townland names. Nunstown is obviously a translation from the Irish and indicates the existence of a convent there. Thomas Gallwey in his 19th century Lays of Killarney" has this to say about Nunstown. Its "real name is Killeen-cailaight, or the little church of the nuns; from Killeen (little church) and caillaght (nuns), which word again is derived from caille, a veil or hood". Faranaspig translates as "the bishop's land". The bishop would have lived on the land or close by, possibly in Caher. It must be remembered that the clergy were married in those days and the establishment would have included housing for their wives and children. The church and churchyard remained Church property until 1870. It is not known when the rest of these lands ceased to be Church property. The surrounding land would have been owned by the Ó Donoghues until the late 16th century. It would then have been owned by landlords until the early 20th century. The landlords would have rented out the land to small tenant farmers. We have records of the ownership of the Nunstown lands from the late 17th century onwards. The first record we have states that a Captain Joshua Markham owned the Nunstown lands at the end of the 17th century. Reference43 . Reference. The family of Markham/Marshall/Leeson owned the Nunstown lands until the end of the 19th century. "John Markham, gent." is recorded as owning the freehold of Nunstown in 1736. He also owned an estate of 6,000 acres in Milltown (Calinafercy). John Markham's only daughter married Ralph Marshall. Ralph Marshall was High Sheriff of Kerry in 1709.. Reference. Presumably, Ralph Marshall inherited the Nunstown and Milltown estates. The next record we have states that John Markham Marshall of Milltown and Nunstown died in 1849. He left his Nunstown estate, but not his Milltown estate, to Robert Leeson. Robert Leeson was the second son of the Earl of Milltown and was married to John Marshall's niece. When Robert Leeson inherited the Nunstown estate, he changed his name to Robert Leeson Marshall. Reference. In 1853, it appears that Robert Leeson Marshall was living on four acres of the Nunstown property and renting out the remaining 148 acres to Michael Barrett. It appears that Robert Leeson Marshall eventually sold his property to Michael Barrett. Robert died in 1873. A Robert Marshall is shown in the 1911 census for Caher as living in the Price farm household. It records he was aged 18 and employed as a farm labourer there. Part of the Nunstown lands were owned and farmed by the Kissane family from 1930 to 2008. It is also recorded Morgan Ó Connell of Derrynane was considering buying the Nunstown lands in 1792. Morgan Ó Connell's mother died in 1792. Morgan Ó Connell was then elderly and unmarried and was advised to move from remote Derrynane. His brother Daniel Ó Connell was the last colonel of the Irish Brigade in France.The Brigade were ardent supporters of the French King. The Brigade was disbanded after the execution of the French king by the revolutionaries during the French Revolution. The remnants of the Irish Brigade transferred to the British and formed a British regiment under the command of Daniel Ó Connell. Daniel wrote the following to his brother in Derrynane in 1792 "I had yesterday the pleasure of a visit from Counsellor Dom. Rice, who told me that he should soon conclude with you about the purchase of a place called Nunstown, part of the concern in Aghadoe. This would afford me singular satisfaction...". Reference. It does not appear the Morgan Ó Connell proceeded with the purchase of the house and land at Nunstown. The following persons are the recorded owners, leaseholders and residents of the Nunstown townland from 1824 to 1926.

 

 

TITHES OCTOBER 1824

 

 

 

 

 

GRIFITHS PRIMARY VALUATION OF TENEMENTS 1853

                                   

                       

 

From the above, it appears that the Archdeacon owned the churchyard, adjoining house and glebe in freehold. (17.77 acres). The remaining 152.93 acres in Nunstown appeared to have been owned in freehold by Robert Leeson Marshall. Robert lived on 4.075 acres and rented out the remaining 148.86 acres to Michael Barrett who actually farmed the land. The measurements are probably in Irish (plantation) acres and not in statute acres.

 

 

1901 CENSUS

Nunstown, Aghadoe Parish

                                                                                                                                          

(For all persons listed below, birthplace is County Kerry)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CENSUS OF IRELAND 1901--NUNSTOWN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CENSUS OF IRELAND 1911--NUNSTOWN

 

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

1926 REGISTER OF ELECTORS

                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 (Revision 09/06/10)

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