 | | | | | | | Henry McFadden
commented on person Charles McGarvey (Parkmore)
:  "The fine stone flags that now pave the kitchen of the McGarvey home in Parkmore, Marble Hill were from the kitchen floor of the old Ards House."  |
| Henry McFadden
commented on person Catherine HcDonald(London) (born McGarvey (Parkmore))
: Catherine McGarvey from Parkmore, Marble Hill, was admitted to Ards House as a housemaid in 1907, at the age of 15.
The housemaids worked from 6 am to 9.30pm seven days a week, with no days off and no holidays.
Catherine saw her parents for a fleeting moment on Sundays when she went to Mass at Doe Chapel.
The maids were as housebound as an enclosed order of nuns.
They could not leave the house even for a walk around the grounds.
Never once did Catherine go in or out the front door.
Apart from these restrictions, the maids were well treated and shown much kindness by both Lady Ena and Sir Pieter.
They had good food and good sleeping quarters - the garret.
They had their own recreation room: the large basement hall with flagstone floor right under the ballroom. There they could have even dances.
The maids were immediately under the direction of the house-mistress, Maggie O'Brien, wife of Paddy O'Brien who was the butler.
Guests were coming and going all the time - shooting parties in winter, fishing, swimming, horse-riding and tennis in the summer. The spacious room with fine oak floor, which later became the Capuchin choir was the dining hall. It had one long table, at one end of which sat Lady Ena and at the other, Sir Pieter. The equally large room across the flagged hallway (the room which later became the Oratory) was the drawing room or ballroom. What later became the sacristy, with three large curved plate-glass windows looking out on the Bay, was called the "smoke room", where the men retired for a smoke after dinner, before joining the ladies in the drawing room. In those days men did not smoke in the company of ladies.
On Sunday mornings the staff were driven to Mass at Cashelmore in a two-horse, four-wheeled covered wagon with glass panelling. From the early part of the century the House had a chauffeur driven motor car. At one stage it was a Rolls Royce. The chauffeur was Henry MacDonald. Each year at Christmas, Sir Pieter visited all the houses on the demesne and in each house he left a present of money. In the Big House there was annually a Christmas party for all the children - about 100 of them.Ards House from the sky.jpg (13904 bytes) In the dining room there was a big Christmas tree about 12 ft. tall, with presents for all the children, hanging on the tree. The presents were distributed by Maggie and Paddy O'Brien. In the Summer there was a day of Sports on the grounds for the children with prizes for the winners. |
| Henry McFadden
commented on person Rev Canon James McFadden (Claggan)
: Just some details for now. Much more to come!
Sagart Aroon or Gombeen Priest?
After serving in Dubhchoraidh he was made curate in Gaoth Dobhair in 1873 and Parish Priest there in 1875.
In the 1876 Landowners list for Donegal there is an entry . . .
Rev James McFadden, address Cashel, Falcarragh, owned 12 acres
Fr. McFadden owned some land in the townland of Stranacorkragh [nr. Gweedore], for which the rent was £1. 2s. 6d. per year. He sold this, in 1882, to Daniel O'Donnell, a returnee from America for £115. , the equivalent of 100 years rent.
He levied a 'priest's tax' of five pounds per family for the building of the priest's house. This included the famous 'lav-ha-thury' costing two hundred and fifty pounds.
Healy: 'His parish was the most barren and hunger-stricken I ever visited. He had been refused a site for a chapel by the landlord, and therefore built one across a stream in a glen on a selvage of No Man's Land. A few summers later on Sunday 15th August 1880 the brook swelled to a torrent, and during Mass flooded the chapel, drowning five of the congregation. No vestry or sacristy was attached to it, and Father McFadden had to put on his vestments in his own cottage near by, and disrobe there after Mass.'
He was known as An Sagart Mór (The Big Priest), despite his stocky build, because of his strict attitude to poitín-making, dancing and other traditional customs.
He ruled his parish strictly, built schools and selected the teachers, and put down crossroads dancing and merrymaking, principally because of the poitín-drinking that accompanied these amusements.
He was not averse to fisticuffs or to using his blackthorn stick in encounters with transgressors, and once made a group of children walk barefoot to school for a week in winter as a penance. [this may have been so but not that many children would have had shoes anyway]
He earned the name of 'the fighting priest of Gweedore' for his defence of the small farmers of Gaoth Dobhair against rackrenting landlords and evictions.
In 1888 he was consigned to Derry Prison for an agrarian speech. After his release the local Resident Magistrate ordered him to be again arrested.
District Inspector Martin, a "ranker" in the R.I.C., was deputed to re-arrest him after his next Mass. He was saying Mass in Doirí Beaga chapel on 3 February 1889 when the force of RIC under Martin arrived, escorting a number of bailiffs. The priest in his vestments and biretta, bearing the chalice in his hand after the Holy Sacrifice, was proceeding from the chapel to unvest at home when Martin rushed at him with a drawn sword.
Some of the dispersing congregation shouted in Gaelic, "Wul shay an sogart lesh an claiv! (He struck the priest with the sword) and fell on Martin as the perpetrator of a sacrilege. Rooting up the palings from the priest's garden, they battered in Martin's skull. The Constabulary escort took to their heels and did not return until long after the crowd melted away.
Some of the men who were present escaped by taking to the mountains and bogs, where they eluded the police; others walked to Derry and took passage to America.
The RIC came back later and made Father McFadden prisoner, accused of" illegal assembly."
Thirty men, including McFadden, were arrested and lodged in Maryborough (Port Laoise) Jail.
To try them the venue was changed, under the Coercion Act of 1887, from Donegal to Queen's County, a hundred miles south.
On 18 October 1889 the trial of the priest and twelve others began, the chief charge being the murder of Martin. The prosecutor was the Attorney-General, Peter O'Brien, 'Peter the Packer', and the jury was selected from neighbouring rich landowners and merchants.
The first prisoner arraigned was convicted.
His [? Fr McFadden] defence was conducted by the MacDermot and Dr. Houston, Q.C., seniors of experience.
After the trial had proceeded for two weeks an arrangement was made between Healy and O'Brien that all should plead guilty, that nobody should be condemned to death, and that Father McFadden should be released immediately. The others received sentences of up to thirty years, and in a bitter article the Freeman's Journal accused Healy and McFadden of reneging on them.
The outcome seriously damaged Fr McFadden's standing in the community.
Tim Healy was counsel for the defendants.
Healy wrote ' . . . On the trial of the second prisoner the MacDermot asked me to reply to the Crown case. I did so, and stressed the fact which impressed Judge Gibson, that as it is "high treason" to strike a judge in his robes, the indiscretion committed by Martin in raising his sword over the head of a vested priest with the sacrificial chalice in his hand, was to the Donegal peasantry a treason to religion. The judge was affected, his charge was clement, and the jury disagreed. The Prosecution then told MacDermot that, if the prisoners would plead "guilty," mild sentences would be passed, and we met to consult on this offer. I had only been four years at the Bar, and opposed the plea. My seniors were men of over 20 years experience, and I was overruled. The late Father McFadden was present, and consented to plead guilty on a minor count. Next day the plea was put in and the priest was set free under a rule of bail, while the other accused received sentences of varying degree.'
Canon McFadden was later made Parish Priest of Iniskeel (Glenties) where he became involved in a dispute with Patrick MacGill. The 'Navvy Poet' over his portrayal in MacGill's semi autobiographical books.
He died there in 1917. |
| Henry McFadden
commented on person Margaret Shiels (Downings) Pg131 (born Herraghty (Derryhassan More))
: Census 31st March 1901
Downies
Household #9; Landholder #15 - John Sheals
Private Dwelling; Stone; Thatch; 3 Rooms; 3 Windows; 2nd Class; 5 Outbuildings
Stable; Cow House; Piggery; Fowl House; Barn
John Shiels, Head; Age 60yrs.; Farmer; Widower; Born - Co. Donegal
Edward Shiels, Son; Age 34yrs.; Farmer's Son; Married; Born - Co. Donegal
Madge Shiels, Daughter; Age 29yrs.; Married; Born - Co. Donegal
Bridget Shiels, Niece; Age 4yrs.; Scholar; Born - Co. Donegal
Bridget Shiels, Niece; Age 13yrs.; Scholar; Born - Co. Donegal |
| Henry McFadden
commented on person Catherine (Kitty) Gallagher (born Gallagher (Glebe))
: Clontallagh 31st March 1901
Household #13; Landholder #1 - Michael Gallagher
Private Dwelling; Stone; Thatch; 2 Rooms; 2 Windows; 3rd Class; 5 Outbuildings
Stable; Cow House; Piggery; Fowl House; Barn
Gallagher; Michael; Head; RC; Can't read; 58; Farmer; Married; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Catherine; Wife; RC; Only reads; 30; ; Married; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Patrick; Son; RC; Can't read; 25; Farmer's son; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Annabella; Dau; RC; RW; 17; Farmer's dau; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; John; Son; RC; RW; 16; Farmer's son; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Ellen; Dau; RC; RW; 13; Farmer's dau; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; James; Son; RC; RW; 11; Farmer's son; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Roseann; Dau; RC; RW; 9; Scholar; Single; Donegal; IE
Gallagher; Edward; Son; RC; Only reads; 7; Scholar; Single; Donegal; IE
Clontallagh 2nd April 1911
Household #1; Landholder #1 - Michael Gallagher
Private Dwelling; Stone; Thatch; 2 Rooms; 2 Windows; 3rd Class; 5 Outbuildings
Stable; Cow House; Piggery; Barn; Shed
Michael Gallagher, Head; Age 77yrs.; Farmer; Born - Co. Doinegal
Catherine Gallagher, Wife; Age 65yrs.; Married 41yrs.; 11 Children Born, 9 Living; Born - Co. Donegal
Patrick Gallagher, Son; Age 40yrs.; Farmer's Son; Single; Born - Co. Donegal
James Gallagher, Son; Age 24yrs.; Farmer's Son; Single; Born - Co. Donegal
Roseann McFADDEN, Daughter; Age 22yrs.; Married 1yr.; 1 Child Born, Living; Born - Co. Donegal
Edward Gallagher, Son; AGe 19yrs.; Farmer's Son; Single; Born - Co. Donegal
Charles DOHERTY, Grandson; Age 2yrs.; Born - Co. Donegal
Sophia McFADDEN, Granddaughter; Age 1mth.; Born - Co. Donegal |
 | |
|
|
|
|
| | | |
| | |