Memorial to the men of '98.
"Croppy Hole, 1798"
- The foundation stone laid at Carlow-Graigue.
- Imposing Demonstration.
On Sunday 24th July 1898 the foundation stone of the
memorial to the men who fell in Carlow in 1798 was laid by the Rev.
Daniel Byrne, P.P. assisted by Mr J.J. Clancy, M.P. in the presence of
about 5,000 spectators. The ground, where the victims of the massacre
perpetrated in Carlow in 1798 by the British soldiers and Yeomen were
buried, has been for years waste land and derelict until about a year, ago a
movement was initiated by the Gaelic Clubs of Carlow and Graigue to have
it suitably enclosed and preserved from future desecration.
Some preliminary difficulties with regard
to a formal acquiring of the plot having been surmounted a beginning was
made about a month ago to level the ground and excavate the foundations,
and more recently a contract was taken for the building of the wall.
During Saturday, to a late hour at night,
the people of Graigue were busy preparing for the ceremony. They
laboured with untiring zeal to do honour to the occasion.
The cross monument was unveiled on Sunday 24th July 1898
to celebrate the centenary of the Rebellion. This is the
work of James Walsh, a local sculptor who lived on
John Street. The cross is made of limestone, which was excavated
nearby in the Carlow Graigue quarries. This impressive monument has
a total height of fifteen feet. The arms are four feet in diameter.
The inscription, which is in both Irish and English, reads: In
memory of 640 United Irishmen who gave their lives for their homeland
at the Battle of Carlow on 25th May 1798.
This monument is a Celtic Cross a form of the
cross, known for centuries to followers of pre-Christian religions, in
which the four-pointed cross is placed in a circle, symbolizing Celtic
wreaths, so-called ruta. Today (despite its pre-Christian origin) the
Celtic cross is one of the forms of the cross accepted by the Catholic
Church as a religious symbol of Christians.
(https://mycarlow.eu/croppies-grave/)
Festoons of evergreen spanned the
streets. Emblems and mottoes in green and gold, such as "REMEMBER '98"
"REMEMBER MITCHELSTOWN" interspersed with pictures of the Irish leader,
the Grand Old Man, John Dillon, and William O'Brien and other prominent
politicians were to be seen in Maryborough-street, Chapel-street,
'98-street, Henry-street and Sleaty-street; whilst almost every house
was decorated with boughs of evergreens. Castle Hill too was decorated
with arches, suspended from which were portraits of prominent Irish
leaders.
Everywhere the people showed that their
heart and soul was in the celebration. The platform, erected on the
Western end of the ground marked out for the enclosure, was a very
substantial structure. It was ornamented with the splendid banner of the
Carlow, Tinryland and Bennekerry League and by the Irish and American
flags floating above it. Right over the front was the motto in gold
letters on a green background "HONOUR YOUR MARTYRED DEAD".
It had been arranged that the procession
should start at one o'clock from Potato Market and march over to the
ground at Carlow-Graigue. At this hour an immense crowd had assembled in
the Square, comprising large deputations from the Gaelic Clubs of
Carlow, Queen's County and Kildare and an immense number of the
inhabitants of the town.
The Arles Brass Band, in their handsome
uniform deserve every credit for their contribution of National music
played in excellent style. Preceded by the band, the procession started
and presented a very imposing appearance as it passed through
Tullow-street, Castle-street, Coal Market and Castle Hill. A remarkable
feature of the gathering was the presence of a fine body of Gaels, the
members of the Arles Gaelic Club, in uniform.
On arriving at Ninety eight-street
preparations were made for laying the first stone, a finely cut block of
granite, which was suspended from a windlass adjacent to the footpath.
Mr. Clancy read from a document, which was then sealed and placed in a
bottle, and deposited in an excavation in the stone.
Mr Clancy then requested Father Byrne to lay the stone.
Mr Byrne B.S.
then handed Father Byrne a silver trowel and the stone was lowered to
its resting place amidst loud cheers. Immediately afterwards the public
meeting commenced.
[Note added 2011. This introduction is followed by nearly two full pages
of reports of the speeches delivered on the day, I will only transcribe
the following items as they may interest some readers and Michael
Brennan in particular !
At the end, I add a short extract of the
speech delivered by Mr J.J. Clancy, most of the speeches were delivered
in this style (in what used to be called "a tobacco spits and cheers
speech" with little regard to historical facts! resembling the kind of
stuff that I heard from the Christian Brothers 60 years later in the
C.B.S in Carlow.]
The Following Deputations Attended:-
Arles, Ballylinan and Killeen National League: -
Joseph Purcell, Laurence McLoughlin, John
Byrne, Michael Byrne, Joseph Dempsey, Nicholas Bolger, Edward Fenlon, B.
Duggan, T. Nolan, J. McDonald, J. Kelly, M. Deegan, W. Kelly, M. Dunne,
Thomas Scully, T. Ryan, J. Lawlor, M. Deegan, T. Burke,
M. Brennan, James
Haydon, J. McDarby, J. Kavanagh, P. Byrne, Mathew Byrne, James Brennan,
(Woodlands); Denis Lawler, P. Coogan.
Arles Gaelic Club:-
T. Fenlon, P. Costigan, J. Mooney, P.
Murphy, P. Price, M. White, J. Dunne, E. Byrne, James Scully, J. Nolan, Michael Scully, T. McDarby, J. Brennan, J. McEvoy, P. Storey, J.
Fahy, W. Fahy, J. White, James Tobin, J. Coogan, G. Coffey, M.
King, T. Farrell, J. Farrell, J. Kane, J. Browne, P. McEvoy, J.
Costigan, W. Murphy, G. Cooper, P. Coady, W. Coady, M. Deegan, T. Burke,
J. Murphy, P. Byrne, W. Nolan.
Killabbin Gaelic Club:-
Peter Moore (Captain), Dominick Moore,
Joseph Lawler (red), William Lawler, Hugh Lawler, Peter Gorman, Pat
Gorman, Thomas Gorman, Michael Gorman, James Julian, James Muldowney,
Pat Walsh, James Walsh, Peter Byrne, Peter Warren, Nicholas Connolly,
Michael Keefe, Michael Kelly, Christy Barron, James Deegan, John Moore,
William Dunne, Bernard Moore, Thomas Whelan, Martin Hurley, Pat Gorman,
John Moore, Pat Walsh, Dan Kavanagh, Michael Lawless, Tim Murphy, Edward
Murphy, Edward Connolly, Michael Abbin, Richard Warren, Michael Foley,
John Foley, Pat Dooley, Joseph Dooley, Joseph Lawler (long), Pat Byrne,
Laurence Byrne, Pat Kelly, and Larry Ryan.
[A short extract from J. J. Clancy's
speech follows]:-
Mr Clancy -- And may I remark that in the
county of Wexford - Catholic Wexford - where the bulk of the insurgents
were Catholics, the commander-in chief was a Protestant gentleman - the
illustrious Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey - (crowd-- cheers).
My friends, was this a rising without a
cause? (crowd-- no , no).
They rose - those men of '98 - against
the most diabolical oppression ever practised in any age in any country.
Let me tell you what they rose against.
They rose against the transportation of men without trial; they rose
against the inclusion of torture in the manufacture of informers; they
rose against the burning of peasants' homes; they rose against the
brutal violation of the honour of the women of Ireland.
What else did they rise against? against
the practice of singeing which consisted in pouring gunpowder on the
hair of the head and lighting it with a match.
(A Voice shouts - Where are they now?)
(Another Voice shouts - Singeing
themselves (laughter).
Mr Clancy -- They rose against the
practice of picketing persons suspected to be disaffected. What was
picketing? Picketing was suspending the body by the hands or wrists at
full length and leaving a small spike for the foot to rest on beneath.
They rose against pitch-capping for the
crime of being Irishmen and Papists. And what was pitch-capping? it was
taking a canvas cover for the head, filling it up with boiling pitch,
and putting it on the closely cropped head, and when it was firmly on
removing it, hair and scalp and all (crowd; sensation).
(A Voice shouts- They're boiling in pitch
now).
Mr Clancy -- They rose against the
triangle, and what was the triangle?, the triangle was for flogging
suspected persons, and they were flogged to death in the riding school
of John Claudius Beresford, of infamous memory (crowd - groans), and in
other human shambles of that kind.
They rose against the practice of putting
salt into the open wounds of the men, who had been flogged, the more
easily to extort confessions from these unfortunate men, and make them
inform on their neighbours.
Ah, my friends! the men of '98 we praise
them and extol them.................. They were not equipped as well as
the other side. The other side had armed men equipped with guns - they
had only pikes.
(A Voice - They worked their way
(cheers)..........Mr Clancy -- where are now the yeomen? where are the
horde of bloodthirsty and blustering yeomanry who tortured the people of
'98 by day and burned their bodies by night?, so far as I can find out
they are only represented by the gangs of drunken emergency men -- that
horde of drunken bravoes that are to be found on the estates here and
there through the country.
(A Voice-- Luggacurran (groans).
Mr Clancy -- Where are the proud and
haughty gentry who led these fends? they are so weak, so despicable and
so poor, that they are going to the English Government to ask them to
lend them money at half the usual rate to pay their debts
(crowd-laughter).
Day by day the power of the people whom
they thought they had crushed 100 years ago is growing greater and
greater, and in the same proportion the power of the wretched faction
that represents the yeomanry is vanishing out of existence, and God be
with them.
I will not delay you any longer (crowd
cries - "go on, go on)
[Indeed he does go on and on and on, but
I can't, should you need to learn more about this event check out the Nationalist and
Leinster Times on microfilm at Carlow County Library. ........Good Luck,
Mick!]
-
Source Michael Purcell and PPP.
- Published Nationalist and Leinster Times, June 1890.
The Ninety-Eight Memorial, Graigue.
The Nationalist Editorial of the day finished with the comment:
"The most striking feature of the demonstration in Carlow on
Sunday last was the order, sobriety, and good conduct of the people
throughout the day. Although thousands of people took part in
celebration there was not a single one arrested for drunkenness either
by the Carlow or Graigue police". !!!
Location of some of the Memorials of 1798 in County Carlow
- Muinebheag 98 monument in Market Square.
- Kilcumney Hill, Co. Carlow
- 1798 Memorial, St. Mullin's
- Clonegal on the Carlow-Wexford-Wicklow border.
A monument was
unveiled to the memory of Michael Connors and Myles Doyle.
- Ballinkillen Cemetery near Muinebheag in memory of Teresa Malone.
- Hacketstown village '98 monument was rededicated.
- The Liberty Tree sculpture was unveiled in Potato Market, Carlow.
- Kilcumney (near Borris) A memorial and plaque were unveiled.
- Castlemore - new memorial was unveiled.
- Tullow Square in Tullow where there is a monument to Fr. John Murphy.
- Myshall village a plaque was unveiled at Croppy Road.
- Royal Oak near Muinebheag a monument was unveiled to the memory of
John Moore.
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Memorials of 1798 in County
Carlow
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