NEW 'DEVICE!!!

A new unwanted  'DEVICE' has now appeared suddenly among text on this site, and other blogs.  Certain words are highlighted in colour and underlined. If you move the cursor over them, various adverts will appear, from gambling opportunities to Russian women!  I have no idea how this unwelcome intrusion has occurred.  If YOU know, I would appreciate hearing from you. 
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Today, August 2nd, the device mentioned above has disappeared!

"IDLE HANDS . . . "

"Idle hands are the devil's tools", said a bystander as I took this picture. The cones, used to mark a nearby danger spot on the road, taken during the hours of darkness and placed on the still-unfinished fountain. The culprits should realise that these cones were in situ to prevent accidents.

The proverb/phrase attributed to Chaucer from  circa 1386, I've been told.

Local barber, Liam, not the culprit, just surveying the scene on July 3rd last.  

CURRAGHMORE GATE-LODGES

The Coe family re-union in the previous post, at what is now known as Coes' Lodge in Curraghmore estate,  prompts me to show further pictures of the same building and other gate-lodges. To start with, I am showing more pictures of the same building, which is quite photogenic, is located in beautiful surroundings,  and looks somewhat different every time one views it. The lodge is located between the Carrick Gate lodge and Farm Lodge.

Speaking to a German biblical scholar back in 2000 approx., who lived for some time at Tower Hill cottages, which overlook Coes' Lodge, when he invited me up to tea one evening, I remarked that it was quite a lonesome place to live, and that he didn't even have TV for entertainment. His response . . . 'That's my TV screen out there (looking out towards the lodge and the Comeragh mountains), and the picture is changing every minute!. What more could a man want?'  How true his remark was . . . a different 'look' to the scene almost every minute, due to the changing light, and then the different look during the changing seasons.  The building in question also presents a different image every few metres  from the Clonagam road due to the changing position of trees, walls, animals, etc.

 

The above picture was taken less than twenty-four hours after that shown in the Coe Family Reunion article!

 The above image,  taken on a winter's day in 2010, is my favourite, the sheep, the colour of the grass, and the bare trees, making it somewhat memorable.  The fine double tree to the right of the lodge here, fell down just about a week prior to the family reunion, and has since been  sawn and carted away!

This was the scene two days after image No. 558!

Located beside this attractive oak tree, the above gate-lodge has been the dwelling-place of  individuals or families who looked after the estate entrance on the road to Carrick-on-Suir for many generations.

The same lodge looking SW on a November day

with slight frost showing on the mountain top.

Same lodge, towards mountains, from the polo field.

A February day in 2012.

The lodge at what is called Kellys' Gate, taken in July of this year.

The lodge as seen in June of this year with current tenant, Mr Stephen Delaney, working in the adjoining garden.

Same premises in the snow of January 2010.

Further images to follow in this section.

COE FAMILY REUNION - June 12th, 2013.

A unique and rainy family reunion took place recently  at a now-defunct gate-lodge on Curraghmore estate, Portlaw, when distant relatives from California and Washington state, USA,  in addition to members of the Portlaw Coe family, visited Coes’ Lodge , Curraghmore house and garden, and numerous other places throughout the county. The entire group, over a five day period,  also visited Guilcagh cemetery to pay their respects at the Coe family grave there, also Coe relations at Fenagh, County Carlow. 

Pictured here, left to right, are: back row – Brian Lavis, Margaret Coe, Mary Coe,  Anne Coe (wife of Liam Coe), young Caroline Vo (partly concealed), Amy Coe, David Coe and Liam Coe;  front row – Rosanne Coe, Emma Coe, Christopher Lavis, Anne Coe (daughter of Mary Coe)), Wendy Lavis  (wife of Brian Lavis), Brenda Lavis-Vo, and her husband – Jack Vo.  Missing from the picture are Richard, Sarah and Thomas Coe – other children of Liam Coe. 

The picture, held by members of the group,  shows the late Frances Coe, who emigrated from the gate-lodge in the background, to Cardiff in 1943, and married Welshman,  Christopher Lavis (under the blue umbrella), now aged 89,  and now making this nostalgic visit with some members of his family. Christopher and Frances later emigrated to California, and in more recent times to Seattle, Washington state.  The late Frances Coe was a first cousin of the late Dick Coe (husband of Mary) of Brown Street, a prominent member of the Church of Ireland in Portlaw, and for many years a member of the Select Vestry.  Mary Coe is a member of the Brennan family from Main St.,  Mooncoin.  The Portlaw Coes were descendants of Coes from Wexford, and Tennants from Fenagh, Co. Carlow.   

Thanks to John Brennan, brother of Mary Coe, for protecting me and my camera from the rain while taking a series of pictures at this venue! 
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A single left click on the image will show a larger version on a black background. 

The ROSENALLIS CONNECTION

Twice in the past 35 years I have briefly visited the Quaker cemetery at Rosenallis, County Laois (formerly called Queen’s County), while enjoying the picturesque and historic Sliabh Bloom mountains area. However, there never was time to to take some photos of the place. On this visit, in May 2013, I was determined to stay a little longer at this place, which has important Quaker links, as I remembered that it seemed to have Portlaw , or certainly Waterford city connections.  However, my  camera  was having focusing problems, but the results here are adequate to convey a reasonable depiction of the scene. 

ROSENALLIS, also known as ROSSINALLIS, is an anglicized version of the Irish – Ros an Fhionnghlaise, meaning wooded height of the clear stream.

Inside the main gate was a charming, small, wooded area with some fine trees and a more impressive further entrance gate.

The above sign at this gate, shown above, is quite self-explanatory. 

The Quaker movement, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, was founded in England by George Fox in the mid-1600s. He, not yet  a Quaker, first came to Ireland circa 1654 to visit some Quaker families in the townland of Tineil/Tinneel/Tinneely, County Laois, location of this particular cemetery.

The grounds are kept in excellent condition, and contain a number of trees, flowering shrubs and heathers. All headstones are of a similar, plain style, and are of a uniform height, except for three approximately on the surrounding wall.

Possibly the most important one is that pictured above, which bears the inscription:

Near this spot is buried

William Edmundson,

the first member of

The Society of Friends, 

who settled in Ireland.

Died 31st of the 6th month 1712 (old style)

Aged nearly 85 years. 

The above stone at the farthest end of the cemetery from the entrance gate, will be of interest to Portlaw people, who are familiar with the inscription over the front door of currently-defunct Woodlock House, a former Malcomson House,  then a convent and nursing home from the 1909 until closed by HIQA in 2012. The inscription reads:

To the Glory of God

And in memory of

George Pim Malcomson

And Emilie Maud, his wife.

The above Pim memorial inscription reads:

John Pim

Of Lackagh & Rushin, Queen’s Co.,

Son of

William & Dorothy Pim of

Castle Donington

Leicestershire,

Came to Ireland 1655,

Joined the Society of Friends 1657.

Died 1718 Aged 77.

His wife Mary

Daughter of William Pleadwell

Died 1726 Aged 81.

They and about 30 of their

Descendants are interred

In this burial ground.

 

The above useful  map, also a further physical map showing the river valleys and walks in the nearby Sliabh Bloom mountains, can be found at a junction to the left in Rosenallis village, as one travels from Mountmellick to Clonaslee. The location of the Quaker cemetery is shown, in case you missed it as you approached the village.

No, not our accommodation in Rosenallis, but something to 'dress up' the little green on the Clonaslee side of the village!

Ballitore Library & Quaker Museum.

Directly east  of Rosenllis in County Laois,  lies the Quaker village of Ballitore in County Kildare. . Many Quaker families settled in Ballitore in the 1720s.  Although the first Meeting House there had been erected in 1708, it did not come into use until the 1730s.  Among those early  arrivals was Abraham Shackleton, who set up a boarding school, from which some famous scholars emerged.

One of Ballitore’s best known residents was Mary Shackleton-Leadbeater, who was born in 1758 to the local schoolmaster, Richard Shackleton.  In her early thirties, she married a teacher at the school, William Leadbeater, and then some further years later was made first postmaster in the village. The former post-office now houses the local library and a small museum devoted to Quaker artefacts, and mementos. The village and museum are well worth a visit, if you want to learn more about Quakers (the Society of Friends) in the area. 

Mary Leadbeater began writing what later became known as the Annals of Ballitore in 1766,  which consisted of accounts of local people and happenings, something which she continued until 1824. She died two years later in 1826. Included in that writing were her comments on the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion in the area.

She is still widely spoken of in the area, and a life-size bronze effigy of her stands  behind the Library-cum-Museum.  A number of important buildings from that era are all well signposted.  Other villages in Ireland would do well to likewise flaunt their historical assets.  The building is open to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday, from 12 noon to 5.00 pm, but is closed on Sundays and Mondays. 

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In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out the relationship between the Portlaw Malcomsons, the Pims, the Bewleys and maybe even the Waterford city Jacobs of biscuits fame. And, did you know, the first ever 'Cream Crackers' were produced by Jacobs in Waterford?

N.B. Notice the second 'L' in the Malcomson name on image 551.  

ERRORS & OMISSIONS EXCEPTED.