Monday 25 May 2015

Dromantine Heraldry

Dromantine House is now a retreat and conference centre and belongs to the SMA

see:


                                                



The history of Dromantine estate dates back to the middle ages. The ancient Irish clan of Magennis dominated most of South County Down from the 14th - 17th century and owned vast tracts of land in that area, including what is now Dromantine Estate. Following the political upheavals of the early 17th c. one of the Magennis clansmen, Murtagh, became the owner of an estate of 4200 acres within the precinct of Clanagan





 Magennis Coat of arms



In 1741 the Manor of Clanagan passed from Magennis ownership to that of a Scottish Family called Innes. In 1806 Arthur Innes built the original part of the existing house in Neo-classical style. When he died in 1820 he left a magnificent house within a beautifully landscaped demesne complete with a newly formed lake. His grandson, Arthur Charles Innes, became the owner of the property and in the 1860s extended the original house (now called Dromantine House) making it even more stately and imposing. In the early 20th c. the fortunes of the Innes family waned and they decided to dispose of Dromantine. In 1922 it was bought by Samuel McKeever 


Innes Coat of Arms on Stained-Glass at Dromantine


At the same time the Society of African Missions (SMA) which was based in Cork was looking for a suitable property in which to prepare their students for missionary work in Africa. Under the guidance of Fr. Maurice Slattery the SMA bought Dromantine House and the 320 acre estate in 1926. It was their seminary until 1972 and during these years about 600 young men were ordained priests and went from Dromantine as missionaries to Africa.

1611  Arthur Magennis receives Dromantine in ‘re-grant’.
1737  Dromantine put up for sale.
1741 John Innes of Scotland buys Dromantine.
1808  Building of the present house.
1810  Construction of the lake.
1859  Extensive construction work on House.
1865  Work on House completed.
1922  Dromantine House bought by Samuel McKeever.


McKeever Coat of arms


1926  The Society of African missions buys Dromantine.
1927  First eleven of 587 priests ordained.
1931  St Patrick’s Wing built.
1935  St Brendan’s Wing built.
1936  Work begins on Chapel.
1959  St Colman’s and Assembly Hall opened.
1974  Dromantine closes as a Seminary.
1975  Dromantine opens as a Retreat Centre.
1998  Major renovation work begins.
2001  Renovation work completed.



        Dromantine House



Innes Crest and Motto on a Fireplace at Dromantine


The Millennium Stained-Glass Window by Ann Smyth is shown on:



    The Millennium Stained-Glass Window at Dromantine


The details in the smaller shields are either religious or heraldic or local.  The second row shows the McKeever arms, a thistle and the Magennis arms. The background in the Magennis arms is red as opposed to the green above.

The third row shows the SMA motif along with a chalice and a cross.

The vine leaves represent the local Clarke family who moved to Bordeaux.

The Irish presence in the area is well documented, not least by Renagh Holohan in her book The Irish Chateaux: In Search of the Descendants of the Wild Geese. The Irish have been an influence in Bordeaux since defeat at the Boyne and Limerick drove the Irish Jacobites abroad. Their names live on in streets and chateaux, even when the latter have changed ownership.

The name Clarke is still attached to an 18th-century chateau bought and restored by Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Chateau Clarke was founded by an ancestor of Patrick Clarke de Dromantin, a resident of Bordeaux, who, since his retirement from the aeronautical industry, has been researching and writing the history of the Clarke family in France and their place in the wider historical context of the Irish in Europe.
His house in a quiet residential area of Bordeaux is filled with ancestral portraits, genealogical charts and photographs of the present generation of Clarkes. "I am a Jacobite," Patrick told me. "The Dromantin is from Dromantine, near Newry." The name was familiar to me as the former headquarters of the Society of African Missions. Patrick had visited it as part of his research for Les OiesSauvages: Mémoiresdu'unefamilleirlandaiseréfugiéeen France (1691-1914) and Les réfugiésjacobitesdans la France du XVIIIe siècle (both published by Bordeaux University Press). Patrick, who subtitled his second book L'exode de touteune noblesse pour cause de religion, found it a delicious irony that Dromantine had ended up in the possession of the Society of African Missions, whose founder was, of course, a Frenchman.

The first Clarkes to arrive in France were three sons of James Clarke and Anne O'Sheill sent by their parents to live with their maternal uncle, Luc O'Sheill, a gun merchant who had settled in Nantes. Thoby (aged 21) stayed in Nantes; James (aged 14) went to Martinique. The youngest, 12-year-old John - Patrick's direct ancestor - went to Bordeaux. His son, Tobie Clarke, bought a wine estate in Listrac in the Medoc in 1771, but died the same year. Jean's grandson, Luc Tobie Clarke, a Bordeaux magistrate, built a house on the estate in 1810 and called it Chateau Clarke. The wine retains the name, although the estate was sold and Luc Tobie's house was demolished in 1955.

"De Dromantin" was added to the family name by Patrick's grandfather - "for reasons of vanity," Patrick says. "It sounds more noble." As to the origins of the name Clarke and its connection to Dromantine, Patrick's correspondence with archivists in Dublin and Belfast turned up a will, dated May 13th, 1672, of Thomas Clarke of Drementian (sic) in which he bequeaths to his wife the townlands named as Lisadeane and Dromhirre in Co Armagh, and a third of his land in Drementian. In later documents it is spelled Dromantine.

Thomas was the father of James Clarke, who became a freeman of the city of Dublin and a municipal councillor under James II. It seems James Clarke also lost everything after the Battle of the Boyne. The letter presented to the French authorities in Bordeaux, requesting French nationality for Jean (John) Clarke as "refugiéen France à cause de la Religion", says his father was a cavalry captain who, having been imprisoned, and having lost all his property and good standing, died of grief - "et samèreaussi." I thought it a sad little footnote. A line from a poem drifted into my head - "you feathered with the wild geese our
despair. . ." but I couldn't remember the rest of the poem or who wrote it. I think it was about Patrick Sarsfield. Maybe some reader will recognise it. James Clarke's sons prospered in France. Patrick, his great, great, great grandson is proud of him.


Friday 22 May 2015

Gore Booth Heraldry Lissadell - Drumcliff

This year sees the 150th Birthday of William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) being celebrated on June 13th 2015.

A week later the Society on its all-day excursion will visit some of the sites associated with the poet in Co Sligo and Parkes Castle will also be visited.



The well-known gravestone of Yeats at Drumcliffe

The recent visit of Prince Charles also focused attention on Co Sligo and the places associated with Yeats.



The Interior of St Columba's Church Drumcliffe


WB Yeats wrote his own epitaph in his poem “Under Ben Bulben” which describes the location and the church, the last three lines are inscribed on his tombstone:

Under bare Ben Bulben’s head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;

On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:

Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!”

St Columba's Church, Drumcliffe

Further Information of Yeats 150 is found at:





It is claimed that St. Colmcille (Columba) founded a monastery in Drumcliffe ca.575 A.D., although modern scholarship now claims that a monastery was founded much later here.

The village of Drumcliffe (also known as Drumcliff) is famous for its Irish high cross dating to the 9th-10th Century that stands in the grounds of the former abbey. In addition, across the road from the church and high cross is the stump of a round tower. The monastery was plundered by Maelseachlain O'Rourke in 1187. 



Round Tower at Drumcliffe




High Cross at Drumcliffe (East Face).

On the east face are Adam and Eve, David cuts off the head of Goliath, above a lion. At bottom of the head is Daniel in the Lion's Den. The scene at the centre of the head may represent the Last Judgement. (Irish High Crosses with the figure sculptures explained by Peter Harbison, 1994, page 50). Some of this detail differs from that on the Duchas notice board at Drumcliffe.



High Cross at Drumcliffe, (West Face).

The three figures at the bottom could represent the Holy Family or Elizabeth, Zacharias and John the Baptist. Above the camel there is possibly the scene of the mocking of Christ. Below the head of the cross could be the holy family returning from Egypt and at the centre of the head is the Crucifixion (Harbison).



Lissadell House is a neo-classical Greek revivalist style country house,

The house was built between 1830 to 1835, and inhabited from 1833 onwards, for Sir Robert Gore-Booth, 4th Baronet (1784-1835) by London architect Francis Goodwin. In 1876, Sir Robert left the house and surrounding estate to his son, Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th Baronet.

The house was the childhood home of Irish revolutionary, Constance Gore-Booth, her sister the poet and suffragist, Eva Gore-Booth and their siblings, Mabel Gore-Booth, Mordaunt Gore-Booth and Josslyn Gore-Booth. It was also the sometime holiday retreat of the poet, William Butler Yeats. He made the house famous with the opening lines of his poem:







Yeats made the house famous with the opening lines of his poem:

'In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz'

The light of evening, Lissadell,
Great windows open to the south,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.


Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy with Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall at Lissadell on 20 May 2015



'In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz'

The light of evening, Lissadell,
Great windows open to the south,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.
But a raving autumn shears
Blossom from the summer's wreath;
The older is condemned to death,
Pardoned, drags out lonely years
Conspiring among the ignorant.
I know not what the younger dreams--
Some vague Utopia--and she seems,
When withered old and skeleton-gaunt,
An image of such politics.
Many a time I think to seek
One or the other out and speak
Of that old Georgian mansion, mix
pictures of the mind, recall
That table and the talk of youth,
Two girls in silk kimonos, both
Beautiful, one a gazelle.

Dear shadows, now you know it all,
All the folly of a fight
With a common wrong or right.
The innocent and the beautiful.
Have no enemy but time;
Arise and bid me strike a match
And strike another till time catch;
Should the conflagration climb,
Run till all the sages know.
We the great gazebo built,
They convicted us of guilt;
Bid me strike a match and blow.




The coat of arms of Gore-Booth

This armorial that came on sale in 2013 could well be associated with Countess Markiewicz or rather her ancestors. The first quarter contains the quartered arms of Gore and Booth.

Booth: argent three boars heads couped sable
Gore gules a fesse between three crosses crosslet fitche or

Sir Nathaniel Gore married Laetitia Booth and their son

Sir Booth Gore (1712-17730 (1st Baronet) married Emilia Newcomen, daughter of Brabazon Newcomen and Arabella Lambert.

The arms of Newcomen are:
Argent a lions head erased sable langued gules between three crescents gules.

The arms of Lambert are argent threes roses gules and perhaps the arms in the quarter of green (vert) background and three gold roses (or) reflect those of Lambert. 

The arms containing the three birds could well be for Brabazon, eventhough the tinctures differ. 

PARKE'S CASTLE



Rising three storeys tall, in an idyllic setting on the banks of Lough Gill, Parke's Castle is a plantation a era castle. In 1610 Roger Parke completed his fortified manor house on the site of an earlier fifteenth-century O'Rourke castle. He kept the walls of the original bawn - a spacious pentagonal defensive area - and demolished the O'Rourke tower house in the centre. The stones of O’Rourke’s tower were used to build the three-storey manor on the eastern side, eventually adorned with mullioned windows and diamond-shaped chimneys.






Sunday 17 May 2015

Heraldry at Skerries - Holmpatrick

The 7th Century writer, Tírechán, wrote that Inishpatrick off Skerries, was the first place on which Saint Patrick set foot on his return to Ireland as a missionary. It was near here, somewhere close to the mouth of the Delvin River, that Saint Patrick converted his successor Benignus, regarded as the first native Irishman to become a bishop.

Legend has it that when the saint arrived on the island he was accompanied by a goat which provided milk. From this island St. Patrick would come to the mainland to convert the people. While the saint was ashore on a missionary trip the people of Skerries visited the island and stole his goat. They killed, cooked and feasted on it. When St. Patrick came back to the island he found his goat missing. This made him very angry and in two giant strides he reached the mainland. The first step took him to the back of Colt Island, the second to Red Island where he confronted the people of Skerries.

They tried to deny having seen his goat but found the beast cried out from their bellies. When they told the saint the truth about his goat their voices returned.

In 1989, the 50th anniversary of the building, it was decided to commission a bronze goat's head and mount it on the wall hus giving St. Patrick back his goat. The inscription around the plaque reads "quid nostrum fuit reddituum est propter deum et necessarios amicos mcmlxxxix" which roughly translates as "that which was ours is restored on account of God and necessary friendship 1989".

See:

http://www.visitskerries.ie/st-patrick.html



The Goat's head at St Patrick's Skerries

A visit to the Church of Ireland at Holmpatrick sees some interesting heraldry.


The quartered arms of Wood impaling the arms of Taylor.

Woods: Or on a mount in base an oak-tree acorned proper.
Taylor: Ermine on a chief gules a fleur-de-lis between two boar's heads couped and erect or.


The east window carries the impaled arms of Woods (quartered) with Taylor for Hans Hamilton Woods and his wife Louisa Taylor. He was the son of George Woods and Sarah Hamilton, daughter of Hans Hamilton of Sheephill. As you'll see below the names of Wogan, Warren and Bruce occur in the Woods ancestry. The quartered arms of Woods, Wogan and Warren were listed. It is not immediately obvious to which family the red lion rampant is attributed. Variations of the arms of Bruce and Warren and even Woods carry a lion rampant. 

Details from Burke:





The monument to James Hamilton of Sheep Hill who died in 1800 in the 73rd year of his age. He was survived by eight sons and eight daughters.



The Hamilton arms and crest


The monument to Dixie Coddington of Holmpatrick who died 1728 in the 63rd year of his age.


The arms of Coddington - Gules a cross or, fretty azure between four trefoils slipped of the second.

For further details on the Woods and Hamilton Estates see:









Saturday 16 May 2015

Heraldry at Hillsborough Hill Rich - Hill! Richhill

A visit to Hillsborough in Co Down is interesting from a heraldic point of view. The quartered arms of Hill feature around the town. 

The quartered arms feature Hill, Trevor, Rowe and Rowe representing various marriages as outlined below. It is interesting to note that the arms of Trevor and Mostyn are the same and eventhough the armory and heraldic sources don't mention this, Sir John Trevor married Jane Mostyn. Was it just a coincidence or were the Mostyne arms adopted by the Trevor Family. 

In the church are the quartered arms are on the monument to Arthur Hill 5th Marquess Downshire that impale the arms of his wife Georgina Balfour.

Arms of Hill:
Quarterly:  
1st, Sable on a Fess Argent between three Leopards passant guardant Or spotted of the field as many Escallops Gules (Hill);  
2nd, Party per bend sinister Ermine and Ermines a Lion rampant Or (Trevor);  
3rd, Gules a Cinquefoil Or (Rowe);  
4th, Argent a Chevron Azure between three Trefoils slipped per pale Gules and Vert (Rowe)

The arms of Balfour are:

Argent on a chevron engrailed between three mullets sable, a seal's head erased of the first.

Crest:
A Reindeer's Head couped Gules attired and plain collared Or

Supporters:
Dexter:  a Leopard Or spotted Sable ducally gorged and chained Gules;  
Sinister:  a Reindeer Gules attired unguled and plain collared Or

Motto:
Per Deum Et Ferrum Obtinui (By God and my sword I have obtained)


The quartered arms of Hill impale those of Balfour on the monument of Arthur 5th Marquis Downshire (1844-74) at the church in Hillsborough.

Rt Hon Michael Hill who was born c. 1672  married Anne Trevor, daughter of Sir John Trevor and Jane Mostyn, in 1690. He died in 1699. He was M.P. for Hillsborough [Ireland].

Their son was Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount Hillsborough was born in 1693 who married Mary Rowe, daughter of Anthony Rowe. He died on 3 May 1742. He was created 1st Viscount Hillsborough, co. Down on 21 August 1717, with a special remainder to heirs of his father.He  was created 1st Baron Hill of Kilwarlin, co. Down  on 21 August 1717, with a special remainder to heirs of his father.




The arms of Hill (1774) on the Church tower.

The present building stands on or near the site of a Church which was erected by Peter Hill in 1636 and destroyed by fire in the Rebellion of 1641. In 1662 Arthur Hill built again, under the guidance of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, who was a close personal friend. This structure was enlarged and beautified at enormous cost by Wills Hill, Earl of Hillsborough and First Marquis of Downshire, in whose lifetime the family reached the zenith of its wealth and greatness. The opening service was held on 22nd August, 1773. The old dedication to St. Malachi was retained.


The Hill arms dated 1636 and 1774 on the tower.

The tall monument is to the 3rd Marquis of Downshire.





The third marquis of Downshire.






Formerly known as "The Castle," the building was begun by Wills Hill, First Marquis of Downshire, and completed according to his plan in 1796, four years after his death. The architect was Brettingham. Later additions were made, notably by the Third Marquis, in 1843. Originally the present drawing-room portico was the main entrance, and opened unto the Moira Road, which then ran close to the house. The present Moira Road was laid down in 1826, and the intervening parcel of ground enclosed in 1841. This explains the presence of an old QUAKER BURIAL GROUND within the precincts to-day. The Castle has been the official residence of the Governor of Northern Ireland since 1922.

The gates and arms at Hillsborough came from Richhill and the quartered arms of Richardson and Sacheverell are on the gates.




Richhill Castle is a Grade A listed building, built by Major Edward Richardson, who also founded Richhill in 1665. The ornate gates were erected by his son William in 1745 and wrought by two brothers from Cornwall. They were seized in 1939 amid efforts to find metal for the war effort but were installed at Hillsborough Castle, where they still remain.


Richardson arms:
Sacheverall arms : Argent on a saltire azure five water bougets or, a chief or.

Richardson Crest: An armed arm holding a sword with a bush of thorns at the end all proper, pommel and hilt sable.




In 1610, as part of the Plantation of Ulster, the land was granted to Englishman Francis Sacherevall. His granddaughter Ann married Edward Richardson, who was an English officer, Member of Parliament for County Armagh from 1655 to 1696, and High Sheriff of Armagh in 1665. The original gates to the manor house were wrought by two brothers named Thornberry from Falmouth, Cornwall and were erected in 1745. In 1936 they were moved to the entrance of Hillsborough Castle

See an earlier post

http://irishheraldry.blogspot.ie/2011/06/heraldry-at-hillsborough.html