Kilmoganny Church of Ireland Graveyard, Kilmoganny, county Kilkenny

This is a relatively small walled graveyard surrounding the very pretty St Matthew's Church of Ireland Church which was built in 1830 with a grant of £750 from The Board of First Fruits.   There are 22 memorials but other named people are buried here without headstones of any kind, as we shall see.   The graveyards contains both Protestant and Catholic burials.    Many burials relate to close and extended members of the Reade family of Rossenara House who were the big landlords in this area.   Kilmoganny also has a Catholic graveyard which may once have been part of St Matthew's Church graveyard; the road now divides the two burial grounds.   Bernie and I have surveyed this Protestant graveyard, and the Catholic one which we will be posting soon, and the memorials inside the Protestant church which will also be posted soon.   There is another modern Kilmoganny graveyard which we have not yet had a chance to survey but it is on the list, as they say.  This has been a very interesting graveyard to survey.  Some of the Reade family converted to the Catholic church in the 1830s, there was also a divorce in this family circa 1807, and there appear to have been many acknowledged natural Reade children.    The graveyard is kept in very good order.  Stones no 7 - 14,  most originally upright, appear to have been removed from their original place marking burials and placed in a single row lying flat and thus very much exposed to the weather making some of these memorials now very difficult to read.
Note: 21st November 2016,  After posting this entry about Kilomoganny Church of Ireland graveyard we have been given further information about 2 burials here but without headstone or memorial.  Dr Richard Speare Peile (1801-1849) ran the Dispensary at Rossenara House and is buried here together with his wife Margaret who also died in 1849.  He is buried beside her.  Both died of the Cholera.  .Many thanks to John O'Meara for sending us this information and for further family information and also to Thomas Reade-Duncan for additional information about the Peile family.  There are additional Peile burials in this graveyard but alas no headstone. 

List of names appearing on the memorials
Adams, Bourk, Bradley, Candler, Coughlan, Coughlin, Dowley, Duncan, Evans, Hackett, Hillas, Malone, McCheane, McManus, Morris, Murphy, O'Connell, Reade, Ryan, Scully, Somers, Sutton, Young.


List of places appearing on the memorials
Callan, Clincaun, Clonmel, Croan House, Curraghmore, Cussan,  Dublin,  Dunnamaggan, Goodwinsgarden, the Green, James Green, Kilkenny, Kilmaganny, Kilmoganny, Mount Pleasant, Ormonde Slate Quarries, Rogerstown, St Nicholas Without,  Sheepstown, Whitechurch.


List of occupations appearing on the memorials
Curate, Doctor, Lieut Colonel, MRCSE (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh), Rector, Reverend, RIC.


List of Masons who have signed the memorials
Hoban of Kilkenny, Molloy, O'Dwyer of Kilkenny and O'Shea of Callan.

 No 2. The square obelisk commemorating the Adams family

Memorial No 9  reads "Here lie the remains of Mrs Jane Sutton, wife of the Rev Thos Sutton of Kilmaganny who departed this life on the 23rd day of Decr in the year or Our Lord 1811 aged 66 years".    In 1778 Thomas Sutton was the Curate of Kilmaganny and Knocktopher.  In 1800 he wrote in the Visitation Returns "I have served the curacy for 22 years and am now 25 years a curate and the Great God only knows the hardships I have laboured under".   He then had £50 a year". (Leslie: Ossory Clergy and Parishes 1933).  

No 16. A beautifully carved stone erected by James Bourk in 1805.  There are two decorative angel faces, both with feathered wings, on this headstone.  Note the handsomely carved IHS and cross above it.

Memorial No 22 reads "Here lie buried the remains of William Morris of Rogerstown, Kilmoganny who died 20th Sept 1902 aged 91 years and his wife Frances Morris who died 19th December 1902 aged 81 years"   Also of Richard, son of the above who died 7th February 1907 aged 49 years. Waiting for the Resurrection, for the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. 1st Cor.XV 52.  Death and darkness and the tomb only whisper till he come".    This William Morris of Rogerstown was born circa 1811 the natural son of William Morris Reade of Rossenara by  Martha, daughter of John McCulla, a coachmaker in Waterford.  He married Fanny Nicholson circa 1841.   

No 16,  The Bourk headstone 1805.  The second carved angel's head with feathered wings. This stone commemorates James Bourk's wife, Barbara Dowley of Callan and his mother Catherine Coughlan.  Perhaps an angel's face with feathers wings for each of them?

Against the back wall and clearly not in its original place is a very broken and seriously damaged stone with some parts completely missing. This is Memorial No 20 on our list. ".......of his....and only child of the Revd Annesley T Hillas, Rector of St Nicholas Without who died at Kilmoganny Rectory Oct 23rd 1880 aged 67 years.    In loving memory of Charity Blake widow of Monckton Somers Esq., of................illegible."    At first it was not at all clear that all the broken parts and scraps came from the one headstone but after some considerable research it became apparent that they did.
The marriage of Monckton Somers and Charity Blake Hillas took place in St Luke's Church of Ireland Parish in Dublin in 1836. Monckton Somers Esq., was a Brewer by occupation and also a Church Warden of St Lukes; they had at least nine children, four of whom died young.  One, George Somers died in 1849, of what is described as malignant scarlatina.   Another son, Annesley Thomas Somers, born in 1840, became Vicar of Kilmoganny from 1874-1883; this explains why his mother was buried here in this graveyard.  Monckton Somers Esq., died 22nd August 1856 in Kingstown, Dublin but was buried in St Luke's.     The Revd Annesley T Hillas, born 1768,  was the son of Wynne Hillas of Dublin and Miss Cherry (sic - but surely a misprint for Charity?)Blake.   The Revd Annesley T Hillas married Sarah Margaret Dowling in St Anne's Soho, London in November 1806.   There has been frequent mis-transcibing of Sarah's name as Douling but it is definitely Dowling and she herself signs the marriage register as S.M. Dowling.  The witnesses to this wedding are Edw. Dowling and M. Dowling.   The genealogy of the family of Hillas of county Sligo by Celeste Byrne has been published in The Irish Ancestor No 1. 1972.  This genealogy includes the above Rev. Annesley Hillas whose mother was Charity Blake; he appears to descend from a Robert Hillas of Donecroy, Templeboy, Sligo.
Quite a lot of information was eventually gathered together about this family and if anyone is interested we do have further information about the history of this family.

A view of St Mathew's Church from the back showing plot No 15. The large anonymous plot belonging to the Morris-Reade family

No 15 on our list is a large plot with a surrounding small raised wall which once had iron railings.  Currently there are no inscriptions and no names.  
We have been contacted by Thomas Reade-Duncan, co-author with Henry Morris, of the two articles about the Reades of counties Tipperary and Kilkenny which appeared in The Irish Genealogist, with further information about this plot.   He advised us that the plot is a Morris-Reade plot with burials containing the following members of the Morris-Reade family.   William Morris-Reade (1788-1847), his wife Elizabeth Maitland (1808-1884), their son Frederick Richard (1833-1898), their daughter Anna Maria (1829-1879), William's brother Rev Benjamin O'Connor Morris (1791-1846) and his wife Elizabeth O'Connor of Mount Pleasant, Queens County  The fine railing were stolen about twenty years ago.  We are grateful to him for this information.


It was understood that this plot was used to for the burial of members of the constabulary who were killed at the Battle of Carrickshock on Wednesday 14th December 1831.   These members of the constabulary are presumably somewhere else in the graveyard in an unmarked plot.     The names of the 11 dead sub-constables are:- John McGlennan, John or Joseph Whitaker, Edward Boyle, James Dixon (also spelt Dickson), Thomas Egan, William Budds, John Wright, Robert Fitzgerald, John Fitzpatrick, Charles Carroll and John Prescott,   The Chief Constable, Captain James Gibbons, a veteran of Waterloo, was also killed and is presumably buried here. Another unnamed sub-constable died of his wounds but it not recorded with precision where he was buried.  The process server, Edmond Butler, a man of  questionable reputation and hugely unpopular, died the day after the battle; it is unclear if he is buried here or not. 
Further reading:.
 1.  Richard Lahert. The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Dunnamaggan  in the
      Diocese of Ossory. 1956


Footnote:  Rev Hans Hamilton died in Leamington, Warwickshire, England on 8th February 1839. 

Some headstones are not that easy to get at.   This one, No 17,  engulfed by the shrubbery and trees is dedicated to Marianne Bradley who died December 11th 1865 aged 27 years.

Grannagh (Granny) or Grandison Castle, Parish of Kilmacow, county Kilkenny

This is one of the funniest stories ever about belief, burial, inheritance, eccentricity and sheer greed.  The Ordnance Survey Letters for County Kilkenny by John O'Donovan (1806-1861): Four Masters Press, 2003,  reported the following scroll painted on a board and nailed to a wall of the old ruined castle - 

The interior enclosure of the Castle. You can just see the slab towards the bottom and to the left of the tower.

" The ancient Castle of Grannagh  in the Barony of Iverk, County of Kilkenny, is supposed to have been built 500 years ago; it was formerly a strong fortress and the residence of the proud and puissant Earls and Dukes of Ormond who there held their Baronial Courts and lived in all the pomp and splendor of fewdal(sic) magnificence. This venerable fabric was in part demolished during the civil wars of unhappy Ireland and the spoliating hands of a thoughtless neighbouring peasantry had nearly completed the destruction when George Roache (sic) Esq., a native of the City of Limerick, the present inheritor and proprietor of the estate, whose opinions on the subject of antiquities were at complete variance with those of his elder brother, the late John Roache (sic), repaired the walls in 1837".  This wooden board has long since disappeared but was replacde by a slab fixed to one of the inside walls of the ruin.  This slab still exists but is very difficult to read. However it was transcribed circa 1907 or 1909 and the transcription appeared in The Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead Vol VII.   The wording is somewhat similar but perhaps more diplomatic though not entirely so:-
"The Ancient Castle of Granagh(sic) in the barony of Iverk, in the county of Kilkenny is supposed to have been erected about 500 years ago; it was formerly a strong fortress and the residence of the proud and puissant earls and Dukes of Ormond, who held there their baronial court, bred in all the pomp and splendor of feudal magnificence.  This venerable fabric was in part demolished in the civil wars of unhappy Ireland and the spoliating hands of the thoughtless neighbouring peasantry had nearly completed its destruction when George Roche Esqr ..........(some lines deliberately obliterated here)............. being desirous of preserving from total ruin the feeble remains of this once proud monument of the architectural skills of the ancient Irish caused this new wall on the other side to be built at considerable expense and all the breeches in the old one to be filled up under the superintendence of Edward Rorke, a mason of the city of Waterford,  24th December 1827".
This second notice on the walls of the ruin is somewhat at variance with the original wooden notice although we have no idea of what the erased lines on the stone might have said.  At least the spelling of this particular Roche family is correct on the stone slab but the dates vary.

The stone slab attached to one of the inside walls of Grannagh Castle, now difficult to read. However the erased and obliterated section is clearly visible in this photograph. What on earth did it say to cause its removal?    Probably we shall never know now but.it obviously offended someone.  Possibly the long suffering George Alexander Waters, executor of George Roche.

John O'Donovan made enquiries concerning the above named brothers and found them to be both brothers of William Roche Esq., Member of Parliament for Limerick and the difference in their opinions on antiquities amounted to this, that John, whilst amassing a fortune of nearly quarter of a million of money neglected to prevent the dilapidation of Grannagh Castle, whilst George who succeeded him in this part of the property made some trifling repairs in and about it.  


That however is not quite the whole story.

View of Grannagh Castle from the banks of the River Suir

John Roche's will was proved in 1826 and in it he left his brother George what amounted to £8000 including this estate in Kilkenny.   This Roche family was based in Limerick but had claimed the ancient Fermoy peerage.  It was Thomas Roche, uncle to both William, John and George Roche, who had acquired the Grannagh estate originally.  Thomas had been sent out work in Rotterdam as an agent for his merchant family in Limerick at the tender age of 20 years   He registered as a Burger in Rotterdam on 2nd December 1756; this enabled him practice a trade or profession in that city.  The very same day his first venture was to send a cargo of wine to Limerick and to arrange for a return cargo to Rotterdam of 135 tons of Irish beef, butter, tallow and hides.  He was extremely successful and became a very wealthy man. When he died unexpectedly in 1788 he had just purchased two estates in Ireland, taking advantage of The Catholic Relief Acts which allowed Catholics to purchase land on leases for up to 999 years; one of these estates was Grannagh castle and lands, which eventually his nephew George Roche inherited.

George Roche, the subject of the slab at Grannagh,  had been educated in Revolutionary France  and had been influenced by those ideas and had become somewhat eccentric.  On his death bed his old friend, bosom companion and distant cousin, retired naval surgeon George Alexander Waters said to Roche "Sir I can do no more for you, you must now look to your Saviour" and got the reply "That is all Leather and stuff" (a nineteenth century phrase along the lines of "stuff and nonsense" or meaning "that is all rubbish").  George Alexander Waters, executor of his Will, also managed Roche's finances and said of him that he found it difficult to stretch his £2000 a year income, a very considerable sum of money in those days for a bachelor, from one year's end to the other,  so you may imagine he lived in some style.  In his Will, George Roche provided for his house to be maintained in perpetuity, with his body in a glass fronted coffin, placed upright in the hall of his house to prove to all comers that there was no such thing as the Resurrection.  His executor ignored this and had him decently buried but not before the footman and butler had cleared the house of all valuables and money and had made it hot foot to Cove to board the next ship to America.   That ship was never heard of again and was believed to have been burned at sea with loss of all hands.  

Interior view of one of the ruined towers

Although this is somewhat outside our intentions for this blog there is what purports to be a true  ghost story attached to George Roche of Grannagh Castle.  After Roche's death his house at Tramore, Waterford, called Sweet Briar Park was been let to some sisters, ladies of reduced circumstances,  who kept a small school there.   After the death of the executor, George Alexander Waters himself, his daughter, Eliza, met the eldest of these ladies, a Mrs Goodwilly,  and after the customary platitudes, she asked how they were getting on at Sweet Briar Park.  She was taken aback to hear,  "Oh Miss Waters, you no doubt know everyone hereabouts; can you tell us who is the old fashioned gentleman we see at times in the dusk in our greenhouse?  When we come in he raises his hat, and goes out without a word.  We do not quite like it, but he is so polite and does us no harm".  Miss Waters reported as a most matter-of-fact and level-headed woman,  asked for the description of this intruder and recognised it, including the colour of the coat, the vest and knee-breeches, as an exact description of the late and eccentric George Roche. Not wishing to alarm the ladies and with admirable savoir-faire she said "Oh! yes, we know him, he is quite harmless".  Make of that what you will.  Perhaps George Roche was still hanging around annoyed at the fact that his wishes to be placed in a glass fronted coffin in the hall of the house, had been ignored.  However he does not seem to have been an angry or frustrated ghost, if ghost he was! (Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaelogical Society Vol XXXIV No 130 1929.  The Waters Family of Cork).  



The sad remains of a once fortified castle wall fronting the River Suir