Rathbeagh, Parish of Lisdowney.Part 2. The Purcells of Lisdowney, Clone, Lismain, Knockroe and Foulkesrath

Amongst the many interesting memorials here at Rathbeagh are 12 stones erected to the Purcell family.  Some of the very earliest,  beautifully carved and therefore historically very important to us, are unfortunately broken and damaged.  Sometimes these are only parts of memorials, with pieces broken off,  and the damage must have been done centuries ago, perhaps when these stones were removed from their original place inside the church to make room for other and later memorials.  We have transcribed these stones and photographed them and Bernie has also done the most exquisite rubbings; the rubbings show up much of the intricate carving and design.   Some have suggested that No 117 and No 192 are part of the same stone and in fact the two ends of the same stone; the measurements and proportions, such as the thickness, are the same.  Stone No 54 which has no date and could be an end panel to a 17th century tomb may have come from a Purcell tomb.  This stone, now used as an anonymous grave marker, has become totally separated from its parent memorial and is most beautifully carved.  It has an elegant crucifixion scene with two supporting figures, in strange attire, on either side of the cross and a weeping woman with a child sitting at the base of the cross.  This was expensive and high class work and we have not previously found such an unusual crucifixion scene in any of the many graveyards we have surveyed in county Kilkenny.

Notice the skull at the base of the cross

Some of the Purcell memorials include:-                        

No. 111.  A Forward leaning stone decorated with and IHS, 2 ciborium and a Gloria scroll. “Here lies the body of Mary Campion als Purcell who depd this Life Decr the 13^th 1801 aged 60”.  This lady was therefore born in 1741.

No.117. Part of a broken Purcell tomb used as a marker on another unnamed grave.  This part stone is very early from the 16^th century and has some passion symbols visible. According to Carrigan there was (circa 1900) a piece of a floor slab in the graveyard with raised roman capitals reading “PATRICII PVRCELL DE LISMEANE and the initials K.P. and T.P”.  Patrick Purcell of Lismain was pardoned in 1571; he had a son called Peter or Pierce. He must also have had a son Theobald or Thomas to whom this monument was erected.

No . 143. Old stone leaning forward decorated with and IHS and a cross. “Here lieth the body of Richard Purcell; he died Augst 3^rd 1810 aged 30 yrs. Also Judith his sister; she died Sept 18^th 1804 aged 23 yrs.”

No. 145. Very old stone sunk deep into the ground decorated at the top with an IHS in a circle, a Gloria scroll and 2 ciboriums, one on each side of the IHS. “Erected by Phil Purcell in memory of his ......”(rest buried underground).

No. 162.  Very old stone also sunk deep in the ground. This is a very thick stone and decorated with a pierced heart, a beautiful IHS in relief and little skulls on top of hourglasses.  Note the spelling of daughter as dater  “Here lies ye Body of Toby Purcell who dyed Sepbr ye (T with the letter m through it; could this mean 10th?) in the year of 1760 aged 86 & Mary Purcell, dater (sic) of Patrick Purcell who dyed August ye 29^th 1756 aged 15½”.   Rest buried.

No 164. Old stone leaning forward and decorated with a beautifully carved IHS in a corona, a Gloria Scroll and 2 ciboriums. “Erected by Michl Purcell in memory of his father John Purcell of Clinstown....” Rest buried.  Note: Clinstown is in the Parish of Conahy as is Lismaine.. The whole townland belonged to the Mountgarret family.

No 192.  Fragment of a large Purcell altar tomb from the early 17^th century which is inside the ruined church and to the right of the  large altar tomb erected to the Caulfeilds . “Hic Jacet Theobald Purcell de Clone.....obi....no Domine (year uncut) et Uxur eius Kathari (na).....Purcell qui obit et qui hoc opus fieri. Fecerut ..(n) ano dni 16...” According to Carrigan this year should read 1613.  He says this stone was erected by Theobald Purcell in 1613 and who died 1631/32.   This stone is decorated with the sun and the moon, an IHS and the remains of 2 shields, one with boars heads.  The boars head is a heraldic symbol of the Purcells - a play on words perhaps  as porc (porcell)  is French for pig.  Note we have more details on this on this stone.

A rubbing of the Theobald Purcell of Clone memorial inside the ruined church.   The rubbing  enables us to see all the carving and lettering in detail which may not be obvious to the naked eye.  The rubbing, done with newspaper print paper and a soft sponge does not damage the stone

The above Purcell stone before a rubbing was taken. 

No. 196.  Broken part of a stone leaning against the south interior wall of the church ruin. “Underneath this tomb are deposited the remains of the Rev James Purcell who at an early age became a patient victim of a fatal but lingering disease which terminated a well spent life on the 8^th May in the (3)0 year of his age And of his redemption 1795. May He Rest In Peace”.

The stones below are recorded by Carrigan as in the church but are not currently visible and are probably well buried beneath the soil:-

197.Here lieth the body of Theobald Purcell of Clone Esq., of Mr Jas Purcell of Knockroe his son and Ellin wife of James who died 10^th Augt 1766 aged 95, also Ms Mary Purcell daughter of Jas & Ellin who died the 25^th Sept 1766. RIP.

198.Here lieth the body of Theobold Purcell of Lisdowney son to James Purcell of Knockroe, grandson to Theobald Purcell of Clone and John Purcell of Lismain Esqr he died the 9^th of Decr 1767. Also Margaret his wife died February the 27^th 1772.

199.The body of Thomas Green of Foulksrath is deposited here, he was the son of Mr George Green & Anastice Purcell who was daughter of John Purcell of Lismaigne Esqr., He dyed the 30^th day of March 1761 in the 67^th year of his age. The Lord Have Mercy on His Soul.  Here also is interred the body of his spouse Mrs Bridget Green, daughter to Sir Robert Harpole of Shrewel. Bart., she departed this life the 19^th of July 1761 in the 87^th year of her age.

This apparently blank stone standing against another sunken but complete altar top memorial is in fact highly decorated and carved with instruments of the Passion and from its style dates from the late 16th to early 17th century.  We feel this is most probably an end stone, or part of a side panel from one of the damaged Purcell memorials.  It is upended and standing on its side.   See below for a rubbing done of this stone.

The stone is highly decorated with a cock crowing on top of a pillar, flails, pincers, lamps, a pierced heart, hands and feet representing those of Christ on the cross.   All typical carvings found on late 16th and early 17th century funeral memorials in county Kilkenny such as at Kilree,  Knocktopher, Dungarvan and Gowran

Patrick Purcell of Lismeane (sic) Castle as per stone 117 above, received a pardon in December 24^th 1571.  His son called Peter or Pierce Purcell of Lismaine  was one of the Constables of Fassadinin in 1608 and he died February 10th 1623/24.  Patrick’s father was James fitzPhilip Purcell of The Garrans and who held this land at Lismaine amongst other lands and manors in the Barony of Fassadinin, Kilkenny.  James married Johanna Shortall, daughter of James Shortall, Lord of Ballylorcan and captain of his nation.    The above James FitzPhilip Purcell and Johanna Shortall had nine sons:- William Roo Purcell of Muckalee, Patrick Purcell, Thomas Purcell, Robnet Purcell, Philip Purcell, Redmund Purcell, Geoffrey Purcell, Theobald Purcell and Richard Purcell.   James fitzPhilip Purcell died 11^th October 1552 and was buried in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny with his wife Johanna Shortall. 

Peter/Pierce Purcell’s (died 1623-24) son and heir was Richard Purcell of Lismaine (died September 18^th 1635) in turn had a son John Purcell (born 1625) of Lismaine who was only 10 years of age at the time of his father’s death and who at the time of the Down Survey in 1656/58 held 186 acres at Lismaine including a castle, a mill and a house with a chimney.   This John Purcell was transplanted to Connaught but regained his lands at the time of the Restoration and managed to keep these lands after the defeat of James II; he had three daughters and one son but this son, another John Purcell, was outlawed as a Jacobite and nothing more is known of him.   His three daughters were :-

1)    Joan/Jone (d. 1719 aged 66 yrs) married Martin Dormer of Ballymartin Castle (He died 5^th May 1701 aged 70, and she returned to her father’s castle at Lismaine where she died.). They were succeeded at Ballymartin by Major Toby or Theobald Purcell (died Kilkenny 1747) and his wife Alice Tirwhit.(Alice descended from Philip Purcell of Ballyfoyle).  Alice died in 1748.   Their only son John Edward Purcell was a Captain in the Austrian Service and died without issue.  But this couple also left three daughters:-                                                  Anne who married Hon. Edward Butler of Lisdowney (afterwards 9^th Viscount Mountgarret), Margaret who married Charles Callaghan and Ellen who married Richard Corr of the city of Kilkenny.

2)    Ellen(d, 1766 aged 95 yrs) married James Purcell of Knockroe, son of Thomas Purcell of the castle of Clone (See stone 197 above). She had three daughters and one son, Theobald Purcell of Lisdowney (died 1767).  Of her daughters Mary Purcell of Knockroe died unmarried in 1766, one month after the death of her mother. Another daughter was Catherine Murphy, and finally the third daughter was Mrs Fitzgerald of Gurteen, King’s county (Offaly) who was mother to Walter Fitzgerald of Gurteen and grandmother to Thomas Fitzgerald of Gurteen. 

3)    Anstace married George Grene/Green.  This couple had two children, Thomas and Catherine.  The son Thomas Grene (died 1761 aged 67yrs) had a lease on Foulksrath Castle from 1747 married Bridget daughter of Sir Robert Harpole, Bart.   Their daughter Catherine married Daniel Brenan of Castlemarket and were parents to James Brenan of Knockroe, Ballyragget and grandparents to Alice Brenan of Knockroe who married Thomas White of Rathcloheen, county Tipperary (maternal uncle of Father Mathew, the Temperance leader).   James White of Knockroe, the only son of Thomas and Alice, had in turn two daughters, Alice and Anne of Knockroe, spinster representatives of this old Purcell line.  Both of these ladies may be found in the 1910 and 1911 census returns for Knockroe, and both are unable to write.  Alice the elder of the two died 11^th April 1914 aged 75 years.  She left £13.12.9d .  Her sister Anne died at Knockroe died 12^th March 1918 at Knockroe.  And thus was the sad end to one line of a fine old Irish gentry family.

Stone No 199 above erected to commemorate Thomas Green of Foulkstown, son of George Green and Anastice Purcell is interesting.  Foulksrath Castle was originally a Purcell possession but had passed out of their hands.   Foulksrath Castle had been in possession of the Bradshaw family but was sold with other property by Joseph Bradshaw, junior, to Ephraim Dawson for £2400 in June 1718. Foulksrath Castle was then let to a man called Moses Henshaw, whose Will was proved in 1722. There were wonderful tales about Moses who it is said had a long gun and that if he stood on a hill called the Eskers and aimed he could hit a tree on a hill called the Scrub nearly a quarter of a mile away.  A deed of lease dated 23^rd February 1747 was signed between the William H. Dawson and the above mentioned Thomas Green, for 31 years, for the castle and lands of Foulksrath containing 215 acres.  The Green family left in 1777 when the lease expired and were succeeded at the Castle by Thomas Wright of Grenan in Queens County (Laois). Supposedly the castle was at this time in ruins but was restored by Stephen, the fifth son of Thomas Wright. When Stephen was undertaking the restoration he found a large hollow cut out of the inside wall of the entrance chamber to the Castle.  Inside was a pot and inside that was a toy lead ship, manned by armed figures with oars and a number of silver coins; some coins dated from the time of Elizabeth, the virgin Queen (1583-1603), and others from the time of Edward 11(1284-1327) and Alexander 111 of Scotland (1241-1286).  According to the Rev William Ball Wright (see details of his article below), Sir Philip Purcell, Knight was one of the Irish magnates summoned to go to Scotland by Edward 111( 1327-1377).  When the restoration of the Castle was proceeding, a quantity of skeletons were found not far from the bawn wall.  Also at the time of the Wright family taking the lease in 1777 they found family of humble farmers named Purcell living in the bawn of Foulksrath but not in the Castle itself.  The Rev. William Ball Wright suggests in his article about Foulksrath Castle, written in 1866, that these may have been the descendants of the unfortunate Philip Purcell of Foulksrath who forfeited his lands in 1641 but who could still be found there in 1664, probably as a tenants on what had formerly been their own property. 

A very evocative black and white photo taken by Marie Lee of the main entrance gate to Rathbeagh graveyard

Bibliography

1.     Carrigan, Rev. William. The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory. 1905.

2.     Horan, Brian Purcell. The Purcell Family in Ireland 1185-1985.  Manuscript in the library of The Irish Genealogical Society, London.

3.     Wright, Rev William Ball.   On Foulksrath Castle and Loughmoe,  their founders and possessors in Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Society of Ireland. Fourth Series. Vol 7. No 66 (April 1888) pages 432-439. Seen online at www.JSTOR.org on 15/12/2018.

This Purcell coat of arms is that of the Purcells of Timogue Castle, Stradbally, county Laois not far from the Purcells of Clone, Lismaine and Foulksrath., although this particular line left for Baltimore, Maryland, USA.   It has been quartered with the arms of the Cowcher family of Dartmouth, England with whom they intermarried in 1878. 

The motto Aut Vincam Aut Periam means Either Conquer or Perish