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Census

•Church of Ireland records commencing in 1637
•Presbyterian records from 1675 and
•Non-Subscribing Presbyterian records from 1757.
•Roman Catholic records commencing in 1798
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BALLYCUMBER, a hamlet, in the parish of Lemanaghan, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING's county and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (W.S.W.) from Clara: the population is returned with the parish. This is a neat village, comprising 13 houses, pleasantly situated on the river Brosna, over which there is a good stone bridge, and on the road from Clara to Ferbane: it has a penny post from Clara.
Ballycumber House is the handsome residence of J. Warnford Armstrong, Esq.; and about two miles distant is Castle Armstrong. Fairs for black cattle, sheep, and pigs are held on May 2nd and Dec 1st.

The riverside town of Banagher, 12-km north of Birr, is one of the few crossing points of the River Shannon in this area. Going north, the next crossing point is at Athlone, Banagher has some pleasant pubs and restaurants and a busy marina, but is otherwise quiet.

Cuba Ave is named in honor of a local boy, George Frazer, who became governor of that island. There is a tourist information desk (0509-51458) in Crank House on Main St. The post office is farther up Main St near the Brosna Lodge Hotel.

Population: 1,423
Banagher is Offaly's most westerly town and Situated on the River Shannon, and makes it the "main port" in the county.
Full of literary associations, it was home of Anthony Trollope a post office clerk here in 1841, and wrote his first novels here.
The Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, who married Charlotte Bronte, the authoress of Wuthering Heights, who died in Banagher in 1906 spent her honeymoon here, and her husband, the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls, Rector of Banagher, spent the rest of his life here after she died in England.
William Wilde The father of Oscar Wilde, Sir
The Mac Dermots of Ballycloran (1843-7)

Birr is an old market and former garrison town dating to the 1620's.
The early monastery founded in Birr by St. Brendan of Birr produced the Gospels of Mc Regol, named after the Abbot at the turn of the century and now can be seen in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
In the 16th century the O' Carrolls of Ely had one of their castles here and this was granted to Sir Laurence Parsons in the course of the Stuart plantation, c. 1620. Sir Laurence Parsons built most of the structure of the present castle. The castle was twice besieged in the 17th century and one of the towers still shows the scars of the artillery of Patrick Sarsfield, who tried unsuccessfully to take it. The castle still remains the seat of the Earls of Rosse, but as a family home is only open to the public on special occasions.

The Birr Castle Demesne surrounding gardens contain many fine trees and shrubs set in a landscaped park with waterfalls, river and lakes.
At the center is the case of the Great Telescope built by the 3rd Earl of Rosse in 1840's. This was the largest in the world until 1917. Rated with five stars in the official list of gardens of Outstanding Historic Interest in the Republic of Ireland, and double-starred in the Good Gardens Guide, the Birr Castle Demesne has won both Bord Failte's Special Award and Property of the year Award.
To scientists and astronomers, it offers what was, for over three quarters of a century, the largest telescope in the world; to classical purists. It offers the formal gardens and layout including the Box Hedges which are in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest in the world.

Birr Castle Demesne

Most visitors to Birr come to see the castle and grounds, which are among the finest in Ireland. Most of the present structure dates from around 1620 when Sir Laurence Parsons was granted the estate. A later Laurence presided over alterations to the castle in the early 19th century, which left it almost exactly as you see it today. In 1820 the castle was fortified again after a local Protestant woman, Mrs Legge, convinced her brethren that the Catholics were going to rise up and kill them in their beds.

The demesne, which runs north from the castle, consists of 50 hectares of magnificent gardens set around a large artificial lake. The gardens hold over 1000 species of shrubs and trees from all over the world. Of particular interest is the collection from the Himalayas and China, brought back from the 6th earl's 1935 honeymoon in Peking. You will also find the tallest box hedges in the world, which were planted in the 1780s and now stand some 12 meters high. A catalogue of the plant collection is available at the entrance.

Today the castle is the private home of Lord and Lady Rosse and is not open to casual visitors, although group visits may be possible if arranged well in advance. Enquiries should be directed to: Estate Office (0509-20056), Rosse Row, Birr, County Offaly. The gardens are open May to September from 9 am and 6 pm daily, and for the rest of the year from 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 5pm daily.

Birr Telescope

The castle grounds hold one of the most impressive and extraordinary structures in Ireland. The third earl of Rosse, William Parsons (1800-67), wanted to build the biggest telescope in the world. The resulting 'leviathan of Parsonstown', a 72-inch (183-cm) reflector telescope completed in 1845, remained the largest in existence for 75 years, attracting astronomers and scientists from all over the world. The instrument was used to map the surface of the moon, and made a multitude of discoveries including the spiral galaxies. Amazingly, the telescope was built in Birr using local engineering and materials. The Science Museum in London now has the telescope's huge 72-inch reflector, but the massive walls, 22 meters long and 16 meters high, remain. The telescope's 18-metre wooden tube is 2.5 meters in diameter and was controlled by an impressive mechanism of pulleys and cables, none of which remain in place. A detailed model is on hand, though. Also within the enclosure is a small exhibition on the history and achievements of the telescope, with a five-minute recorded talk by the British astronomer Patrick Moore.

This remarkable family (all of whom were educated at home) were not just stargazers. The next earl of Rosse, Lawrence Parsons, was just as bright as his father, and built a device to measure the heat given off by the moon. Charles Algemon Parsons, Lawrence's brother, invented the steam turbine for the earliest British iron battleships, while their mother, Mary Rosse, the third earl's wife, was a pioneer in 19th-century photography.

Visit the Town of Clara Website at:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~clara/
Email: denishackett@eircom.net

Visit the local history of Croghan. Croghan National School at croghannationalschool.com

It was subjected to Viking attacks at the end of the eighth and early ninth centuries and again in the tenth century It was not just the Vikings who attacked, sometimes it was Irish Kings who coveted the wealth of the monastery 

From the twelfth century it began to decline in importance and, finally, in 1552, the place was sacked and looted by English soldiers from Athlone. By the end of the sixteenth century the churches were in ruins. It continued to be used as a burial ground and became of interest to antiquarians

The Nun's Church was originally built in the tenth century and was restored in 1166 by Dervorgilla, whose association with Dermot MacMurrough led to the coming of the Normans The west doorway and Chancel arch are beautiful examples of Irish Romanesque architecture and were restored in 1865. The path leading to the Nun's Church is the start of the Pilgrim's Road, the old route along the ridge of the esker. The crosses erected halfway along the path marked the graves of three thieves who many years earlier were refused burial in the consecrated ground of the graveyard. St Finian's well s about 180 m to the north-west of Temple Finian and St Ciaran's well is about 500 m south-west of the Norman castle, to the right of the Shannonbridge road 

The castle, known as King John's Castle, was erected in 1214 by the English Justicar, John DeGray. 

Edenderry is a market and post-town, in the parish of Castropetre, barony of Coolestown, King's county, and province of Leinster, 9 miles from Philipstown, and 321 from Dublin, on the mail coach road from Conard, and close to the bog of Allen, containing 1427 inhabitants.

This place, in the 16th century, obtained for a time the name of Coolestown from the family of Cooley, or Cowley, who had a castle here, which in 1599 was defended by Sir George Cooley against the insurgents in the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion, and in 1691 was sacked by a part of the army of Jas. II under Lieut-Col. O'Connor. It is near the right bank of the Grand Canal, from which a branch has been carried for nearly half a mile close up to the town.

A coarse kind of worsted stuff is made here, affording employment to 30 families, and there are a tanyard and a brewery. The market, in which considerable business is transacted, particularly in the corn trade, is on Saturday ; fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, the Thursday after Whitsuntide and Nov. 4th.

A constabulary police force has been stationed here, and petty sessions are held on alternate Saturdays. The town-hall, a handsome building of stone, recently erected at an expense of £5000 by the Marquess of Downshire, proprietor of two-thirds of the town, affords in the lower part accommodation for the corn-market; and the upper part contains a large handsome room for assemblies and public meetings, with several offices, and in which the sessions and other courts are held.

In the town is the parochial church, also a place of worship for the Society of Friends; and about a mile distant is a R. C. chapel. There are some remains of the old castle, and about half a mile from the town are the ruins of the old abbey of Monasterorls, formerly a place of great strength; it held out for a considerable time against the Earl of Surrey, in 1521.

Immediately south of the town is Blundell's Castle which was acquired by the second Marquees of Downshire,
married to a Blundell.
Most of the town was built by the Downshires, including the Corn Market (Court House) dating from the 1830's.

There are many border castles in the area around Edenderry, which stands near the edge of the English Pale, some of which belonged to the Bermingham family.
Three miles north of Edenderry the remains of the medieval Bermingham church and castle of Carrickoris stand on Carrick Hill. The road to Enfield crosses Cadbury Hill (4 miles East) from Edenderry where there is a mote.
In the 14th century the castle and district were acquired by the Birminghams, but in the 15th century it was granted to ancestors of the Duke of Wellington and they built the Tudor-Jacobean stronghouse.
Sir John Bermingham, Earl of Louth founded a Franciscan friary in 1325 two miles west of Edenderry in Monasteroris.
The overgrown ruins of the friary, a dovecote on a mote and a small parish church still remain.
A modern cross commemorates Fr. Mogue Kearns and Anthony Perry who were hung at Edenderry for their part
in the 1798 Insurrection.
Remains of the Bermingham castle of Kinnafad which commands a ford of the Boyne, lie three and a half miles North West of Edenderry.

Ferbane is situated on the Clara-Cloghan road, and within about a Half mile south on the south bank of the Brosna stands Gallen Priory (now the Convent of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny).
The Priory is said to get its name from St. Canoc, who was born in Wales and who formed a monastery called Gallen of the Britons.
In the middle Ages the monastery became an Augustinian priory.
The ruins of a 15th century parish church is situated a short distance south of the convent and an early carved slab and cross-slabs are displayed. In fact, at Gallen and Clonmacnois are a large number of early Christian slabs
Offaly has some 400 of the 1,000 recorded.
Six miles north of Ferbane are the remains of Doon Castle, with a carved figure called a "Sheela-na-Gig.

Geashill is a post-town and parish, partly in the barony of Upper Philipstown, but chiefly in that of Geashill, Kings county, and province of Leinster 4 miles from Philipstown, and 51 from Dublin, on the road from Portarlington to Tullamore; containing 13,1253 inhabitants, of which number, 467 are in the town.

The castle, of which there are some remains, anciently belonging to the O'Dempseys, from whom, with the surrounding territory, it passed to the Fitzgeralds, and in 1620, by marriage, to Sir Robert Digby, whose lady surviving him was besieged in it for several months, but was relieved in 1642.

The town contains 87 houses arranged in a triangular form, most of which are thatched. It is a constabulary police station, has a dispensary, a patent for a market which is not held, and fairs on May 1 st, Oct. 6th, and Dec. 26th, which is one of the largest pig fairs in the kingdom; fairs are also held at Killeigh.

The parish comprises 34,630 statute acres, and is the property of the Earl Digby; the soil is a deep clay, with a substratum of limestone gravel : there is a large extent of bog and some building stone, and the Earl Digby has large nurseries of forest trees ; agriculture is but little improved. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Kildare, forming the corps of the prebend of Geashill in the cathedral of Kildare, and in the patronage of Earl Digby: the tithes amount to £1292. 6. 11. The glebe-house is a quarter of a mile from the church, and there are two glebes, comprising 82 acres.

Kilcormac is a small town on the Tullamore-Birr road, at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains. There is a missal preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, which belonged to a 15th century Carmelite priory in the town.

There's a treasure here well worth breaking a journey to stop off and see, it is the 16th century Pieta which is kept in the parish church, just off Main Street.
The Pieta is a statue of Our lady holding the body of Jesus after he had been taken from the Cross. The scene was a very popular subject for sculptors in the in the middle ages in Europe, the most famous one that exists to this day
by Michaelangelo in St. Peter's in Rome. But the Kilcormac Pieta is different, being carved from a block of solid oak and measuring 5 ft. x 3 ft.
It is a very beautiful carving and is thought to be the only one of its kind and era in Ireland. It is a subject of great devotion in the area and the wonderful story of its survival, which was passed on by word of mouth for generations was finally written down by a former parish priest of Kilcormac, the late Father Andrew Shaw.
It is thought that the Pieta is of Spanish origin and according to tradition, it was donated to the parish by a rich lady
in the 16th century. It was placed in the parish church, which at that time was in Ballyboy, about 1 mile from Kilcormac. There it remained until 1650 when Oliver Cromwell's army was reported approaching from the direction of Cadamstown. Everyone gathered up their possessions and prepared to flee to the woods when two women thought of the Pieta. They rushed to the church, carried the Pieta outside and buried it in a heap of rubbish. Later, under the cover of darkness, a number of men brought it out and re-buried it in a bog, where it was to lie for over sixty years.
Had the Pieta not remained safely preserved in the bog for those years, it is unlikely that it would have survived to this day.  The Pieta, it is thought that sometime between 1700 and 1720, only one man remained alive who knew where it was buried, and according to tradition, he was carried on his deathbed to point out the spot.
The carving was carefully recovered and when it was examined it was found to be in perfect condition.
It was then placed in the church that had recently been built in Kilcormac, the whole parish was overjoyed to have their valued Pieta among them again.
It almost left the parish some years after that when a priest, who was moving to Borrisokane , took it with him!
However, the parishioners brought it back and it has remained in the parish church of Kilcormac to this day.
So if you travel through Kilcormac some day, visit the church and see for yourself this wonderful sculpture.

The town of Kilcormac (Cormac's Church) where the oak-carved Pieta now rests was called Frankford for some 400 years before reverting to its ancient title. Frankford would appear to relate to Francis Magawley who founded the town on a ford across the Silver River. When traveling on the road to Kilcormac make a detour to visit Rathlihen Cemetery, a pre Famine graveyard and medieval church ruins which are well worth a visit. Turn left off the main road about a mile from Blueball towards Mountbolus. The road to Rathlihen is signpost on the right hand side. The graveyard has been brought to its present beautiful condition by Mrs Daly of Ladywell. Three miles north west of Kilcormac, excavations in Lough Boora uncovered the earliest known traces of human activity in the Midlands. These dated from about the 8th millennium B. C.. Stonework which was discovered indicated a temporary fishing and hunting community.