Thank you for Reaching Out

The Irish initiative to attract Irish people back to their cultural heartland, known as ‘The Gathering 2013’ is in full swing with events run, running or having preparations put in place. Has the Gathering been a success to date? The number crunchers will point to the increased number of overseas visitors, but I’ll point to a recent gathering that took place in the midlands town of Mountmellick, Co. Laois at the foothills of the beautiful Slieve Bloom Mountains. A gathering that epitomised so much of what a gathering could achieve.

'Ireland has a rich and varied heritage'
The phrase 'Ireland has a rick and varied heritage' slips easily off the tongue of most people in Ireland. It is true, as exemplified in the regions of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. You cannot walk along the small street of Rosenallis village without wondering at the times and the people that lived in this village. The village is a gem waiting to be found in a cultural travel chest that is rural Ireland.

I was doing some research about Rosenallis, Co. Laois in the mid 2012 when I noticed that William Edmundson, the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) was buried in the beautiful sleeping ground in Tineel townland. Rosenallis, within close proximity of his home place. He died in September 1712, 300 years earlier that the time of my research. William was an extraordinary man living in complex times in Ireland's history and he was a personal friend of William Penn, the founder the State of Pennyslvania. In my attempt to get clarification of the calendar system used on the headstones in the seventeenth century, I contacted, through Ancestry.com website one Mr. James Edmundson, a direct descendant of William. My query was answered and I reciprocated the favour by sending photographs of the plaque and graveyard to James.

I admire the concept of the Gathering and the many creative and inclusive opportunities for celebration on the island of Ireland in 2013. In the context of people from outside Ireland researching their family history, I felt at the outset in 2012 there was something of a missed opportunity for the national attentive ear to compile the visitor's knowledge. As the events commenced I saw this issue addressed, a point in hand being the Mountmellick Gathering 2013.

Mountmellick Development Association
Independent of my contact, James Edmundson was reaching out to Mountmellick Development Association and offered to donate his family's first edition copy of William Edmundson's journal (dated to 1715) to the Mountmellick Museum. The Association delighted with the offer, accepted and invited James to come and present the journal in person. Months later the invitation was realised and on the 7th April 2013, nearly 301 years after William Edmundson's death, his 8th great grandson presented the copy of William Edmundson's journal to the Mountmellick Museum. James as he said during the presentation, had been looking at Mountmellick via the internet for many years and it was his wish to visit Mountmellick and Rosenallis ever since he started to metaphorically dig into his family history that culminated, as all good family histories do, by sitting down with his aunt with a sheet of paper and an attentive ear.

An important factor in the Mountmellick Gathering was the involvement of representatives of the Quaker community from several parts of Ireland who had travelled to the gathering. One family, Chapman, donated a copy of a book about 100 years of the Quaker school in Mountmellick to the Mountmellick Development Association.

The attentive ear
As part of the planning of the event, the staff of the Development Association invited James to deliver a lecture/ talk to the community about his findings and experiences in carrying out his family research. The lecture was well attended and informative and got a huge response from those present. Much of the feedback was a result of the James' generous nature and enthusiasm for the subject matter. From a small seed grows a wonderful tree. The Gathering was the seed which the community will nourish and grow into a communal family tree with the many Quaker families that played such a treasured part of the heritage of Mountmellick/ Rosenallis region and County Laois in general.

Mr. James Edmundson's lecture to the Mountmellick community

Gathering 2015

The community has already commenced the planning of the Gathering 2015, as the Edmundson journal is being readied for public display in the Museum. The facebook page is established and 2015 will see James, the Mountmellick / Rosenallis community, the Quaker community and perhaps members of the extended Edmundson family and the other Irish descended Quaker families, in Ireland and abroad, add to our recording,  appreciation and dissemination of our rich and varied Irish heritage.

If any of you have been part of a gathering in Ireland I’d love to hear you views of the event and perhaps if you give us a shout we could rove down to get involved in one of the many remaining events.

A village gem in rural Ireland

The village of Rosenallis, Co. Laois has a long history which can be experienced within 60 minutes. The name of the village, Rosenallis (Anglicised from the Irish Ros Fhionnghlaise  translates as ‘wood of the clear stream’. The village has a holy well dedicated to St. Brigid located along the main street of the village beside ‘The Ramblers Rest’ public house. The holy well is a spring and the arched roof appears to be constructed since the nineteenth century.

St. Brigid's  Well, 'Main Street', Rosenallis

The Church of Ireland church that stands on the high point of the village dates to the early nineteenth century. If you take the time to go into the graveyard, you will see a range of late eighteenth and nineteenth century headstone, that bear many of the popular names of the town, such as Poole and Shelley. The graveyard was subject to a community clean up project around A.D 2000 and during this project the workers uncovered a sheela na gig and two early medieval/ early christian graveslabs. One of the graveslabs is in the shape of a fish and is the only one of its type in Ireland. The sheela na gig is a commonplace stone sculpture in early medieval churches, usually placed at the door of the church, the sculpture is one of a female with open legs and showing enlarged genitalia. The exact purpose is the subject of academic discussion, but the popular belief is held that the sculpture was to bring people entering the church to remember their worldly sins, thoughts and deeds before entering the church where they would seek forgiveness and reflect on their wrong doings.

Church of Ireland church, Rosenallis

The sheela na gig and the graveslabs are housed in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin for safe keeping. Early monastic settlements, such as the one at Rosenallis, often had round towers within close proximity to the church. It is probable that the present church stands close to the location, if not covering the former medieval church. There are records of a round tower in some of the histories for the region, although some believe this may have been a stump of a windmill rather than an A.D. 1000-1200 round tower. The stump was demolished in the 1830’s and the stone used in the construction of the present church. The Ordnance Survey map indicates a round tower in the front garden of the ‘Green School’ across the road from the church. See if you can see any bumps in the ground that might be the stump.

As you stand at the well, take a look at the building behind. Some parts are recent additions, but the main part of the building dates to the early seventeenth century, as indicated by the inscription over the doorway to A.D 1733. Further up this side of the street, the buildings have been demolished and replaced with modern buildings. The line of single storey cottages on the far side of the road look as if they date to the early nineteenth century and represent farmers houses. The present village has two substantial houses which effectively have their farmyards and outbuildings beside the buildings.

Memorable windows

The seventeenth century is a period that plays an important role in the history of Rosenallis. The seventeenth century is a period characterised by political turbulence and the arrival of new comers to the traditional lands of the old Irish. During the seventeenth century vast amounts of land were confiscated from the native Irish and given to the new arrivals, often soldiers who served the English monarch. In order to value the land and know how much was to be confiscated, William Petty set about mapping the extent of the lands and buildings around the country. The survey is know as the Down Survey. It is this period in Irish history, that we refer to when we say ‘to hell or to Connaught’, meaning native Irish either face death or move to the poorer lands of the western part of the country, thereby making the land available to the new Planters, loyal and well trained soldiers who would take possession of the land and bring English administrative governance and laws to the region. One of these new arrivals was a man named William Edmundson. William Edmundson was born in England, but after seeing the ravages of war, arrived in Ireland. He was to be an instrumental figure in the region, as he was the person that introduced The Society of Friends (commonly know as Quakers’) into Ireland. Edmundson is buried in the small and lovely graveyard located c.1km outside Rosenallis on the Mountmelick Road. Edmundson died in 1712. An active community of Quakers thrived in Mountmellick and established industries, schools, meeting houses in the town. During the famine period of mid nineteenth century, the Quakers were responsible for giving much needed assistance by setting up soup kitchens around Ireland. Indeed the Quakers drew international attention to the inhuman treatment of the majority of the Irish population (rural labourers and small farmers) by the British monarchy click for graveyard information.

Some archaeological work was undertaken in advance of house construction in Rosenallis, but no archaeological material was uncovered. A personal favourite building of mine is the lovely thatched cottage along the road to Tullamore, opposed the water pump on the side of the road (painted blue). This cottage is earthen and a portion of the wall is leaning majestically as if with historical prowess. The cottage would appear to be mid nineteenth century in date. The water pump a reminder of the days before houses had tapped water. If you want a smile, think back to the 1940’s when the Irish Country women’s Association told its members not to marry a man unless he had tapped water in the house !. A brave campaign and one which caused much consternation at the time. But for generations, a woman’s chore was to fetch the water. Farmers feared tapped water, because they believed it would be a way for the local authorities to increase their rates (taxation).

Vernacular cottage, Rosenallis

So take some time, sit at St. Brigid’s well, wave at the passing cars and think how many people sat at this spot over the last 1000 years, some to collect holy water, others to sell their wares in the trading monastic centre, others fleeing from the newly arrived ‘Planters’, some arguing about the tapped water in the houses and electrification and others, like me just waiting for the local bus to my commute to work in Dublin.