Bagenalstown Heritage Trail The Royal Oak Bridge
The Royal Oak Bridge provides the main
crossing over the River Barrow at Bagenalstown. Local legend has
it that the name ‘Royal Oak’ comes from the time that King James
11 of England stayed overnight in the area in the aftermath of
his defeat at the famous Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Dudley Bagenal was in command of a
regiment in the King’s army and also represented Carlow in the
Irish Parliament. He subscequently accompanied King James to
exile in France and was his Gentleman Usher until the King’s
death in 1701. The original six-arched, humpback bridge was
replaced by the current bridge in the 1930’s. Source: Irish Blue plaque Village of Royal Oak. Co. Carlow According to Samuel Lewis', A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) ROYAL OAK, is a village, in the parish of KILLINANE, barony of IDRONE WEST, county of CARLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 1 mile (S. W.) from Bagnalstown, on the road from Dublin to Carlow; containing 82 houses and 428 inhabitants. This place is situated on the river Barrow, which is here crossed by a bridge, and derives its name from that of an old and well-known inn in its vicinity, which was established previously to the erection of the village. Royal Oak is situated close to Bagenalstown and was originally an inn at the junction of two roads. The traveller going south could take the left fork to Goresbridge, Graiguenamanagh and to County Wexford or the right fork to Kilkenny and Munster. The Royal Oak Tavern
Another great feature of Bagenalstown is The Royal Oak Tavern, a pub steeped in history. As far back as 1812 there are references to the pub in a book on an archaeologist study of limestone areas in Ireland. Now owned by Matty Byrne, and of course the locals just call it Matty's William Fitzpatrick who was the owner at one time was born in 1879 and died in 1935. We are not sure how he got to own the pub but what we do know is that he was a carpenter by trade and he used the hotel across the road as his workplace. He was evicted from his home in Heath, Currenree (a local area). As far as we know he was an alcoholic and when he died the pub was left to Mary Brennan in 1904. She cleaned the place up a little and did a good trade. Then she married, in 1912, a man called Thomas Byrne. And it has been owned by Byrne's ever since!
He was born in what was then known as Kings Street in Kilkenny, and grew up in an area called Frynes town, and owned a small piece of land in that area. This land was sold in 1927/8. There are also two petrol pumps across the road from the pub, which were put into operation in 1931, which sold petrol at 8½ pence a gallon.
There was also a hotel built in 1740 just across from the current pub, which was knocked down in 1974. This was then owned by Thomas Byrne (Matty's Father),and used to serve as a coach stop to feed and rest the horses. (The coach service was run by a man called Bianconi, who was a stowaway on a ship bound for Ireland, and later made his fortune with his coach service. He Retired in Co.Clare), (see note below) Also a man called William Makepiece Tackery, a writer slept at the hotel as did Daniel O'Connell (around 1800). True story or not? The Royal Oak got its name when King James hid in a tree there. (see article above). There was also a school and town hall here in the Royal Oak village.
Note: Clonmel was the starting point for Bianconi's coach business which began from Hearn's hotel in 1815 and soon became the most successful coach business in Ireland. Annual celebrations to commemorate Bianconi's achievements take place on Clonmel's streets every July 6th. If you want to read more about the history of The Royal Oak and view some great images then you can visit Matty's web site at https://www.mattyspub.ie/ The Royal Oak
Tavern is now known as
Mattys Pub & Accommodation
Source: Matty Byrne [ Page 15 ] [ Page 16 ] [ Page 17 ] Website Link: Parish of Bagenalstown Please report any links or images which do not open to mjbrennan30@gmail.com
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