Sunday 25 June 2017

Seventeen Irish Martyrs

27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II.

· 1. Margaret Bermingham Ball, 1584, Dublin

· 2.  Patrick Cavanagh, 5 July 1581, Wexford

· 3.  Edward Cheevers, 5 July 1581, Wexford

· 4.  Dominic Collins, Jesuit lay brother from Youghal, County Cork, 31 October 1602
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Collins

· 5.  John Kearney, Franciscan Prior of Cashel, 1653

· 6.  Matthew Lambert, 5 July 1581, Wexford 

· 7. Robert Myler, 5 July 1581, Wexford

· 8. Maurice MacKenraghty, Chaplain to the Earl of Desmond, 1585

· 9. Terence Albert O'Brien O.P.,  Bishop of Emly, 31 October 1651


The window for Bishop O'Brien at Emly


· 10. Conor O'Devany, Franciscan Bishop of Down & Connor, 11 February 1612

· 11. Patrick O'Healy, Franciscan Bishop of Mayo, 31 August 1579

· 12, Peter O'Higgins O.P., Prior of Naas, 23 March 1642

· 13 Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel, 20 June 1584

The Window for Archbishop Hurley at Emly

· 14 Patrick O'Loughran, Priest from County Tyrone, 11 February 1612

· 15. Conn O'Rourke, Franciscan priest, 31 August 1579

· 16 Francis Taylor, former Mayor of Dublin 1621

· 17 William Tirry, Augustinian priest from Cork, 12 May 1654
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tirry


The Tirry Window in St Augustine's Church, Drogheda. 

Heraldry at Birr Castle

There has been a castle on the Parsonstown (Birr) site since 1170, and from the 14th to the 17th century, it was in the ownership of the O’Carroll family. Following the death of Sir Charles O'Carroll, Sir Laurence Parsons (who died in 1628) was granted Birr Castle and lands in 1620. After the death of Sir Laurence Parsons and of his elder son Richard, the castle passed to his younger son William. After the civil war in 1641, William's son Laurence refurnished the castle. Laurence Parsons, second Earl of Rosse (1758-1841) also engaged in some re-building in the early 19th century when the castle acquired its Gothic look. This is reflected through the impaled Parsons and Lloyd arms for the second Earl and his wife, Alice Lloyd, to which we will return.


Their son, William Parsons (1800-67), constructed the great telescope at Birr. When completed in 1845, it was the largest telescope on earth, and capable of capturing more light and seeing further into space than any telescope had done before. Birr therefore became a focus for astronomical observations, and visitors came to visit the observatory from all over the world. After the death of the fourth earl in 1908, the telescope fell into disrepair; the mirror was taken to the Science Museum in London, and circa 1914 the telescope's metal supporting structure was melted down to be used in the First World War. In 1925 the wooden structures around the walls were demolished for safety reasons. Following several intermediate restoration attempts, the telescope was restored more completely in the late 1990s.

The Birr Castle website can be visited at:


On Friday 23 June 2017, the County Louth Archaeological & Historical Society spent an enjoyable few hours at the castle. It has a whole treasure trove of heraldry. Photography was permitted outside the castle so some of the heraldry from that perspective is examined here.


Gateway at Birr

This gateway leading into the main castle was built after the marriage in 1836 of the third Earl, William Parsons (1800-67) to Mary Wilmer-Field, a Yorkshire lady whose home was at Heaton Hall, just outside Bradford. His parents, from reasons of health and advancing age, handed over Birr Castle and went to live in the salubrious climate of Brighton. We will return to the heraldry on the gates. A very interesting article (1968 by the Earl of Rosse) on the third Earl is available on-line at:




Arms of Parsons on a gateway at Birr


The Parsons arms along with the coronet for an Earl and motto 'Pro Deo et Rege' are displayed over the entrance on the gateway. The blazon or the heraldic description for the achievement of arms of the Earl of Rosse follows:


The blazon is taken from the Armory (Sir Bernard Burke 1884). The full achievement of arms comprising the arms (shield), supporters, Earl's coronet, crest and motto is shown below. It is taken from:


Even though the blazon above gives the crest as a cubit arm holding a sprig of roses, Cracroft's Peerage gives a demi pole axe erect gules pointed or. Cracroft is also a good reference for a summary of the family members, from the first Earl onwards.




Entrance to Birr Castle

Two impaled shields can be seen higher up, over the doorway. An impaled shield represents the arms of both the husband and wife on the same shield. The one to the right carries the Parsons arms along with those of Lloyd (azure a lion rampant or) for the second Earl, Laurence Parsons and Alice Lloyd as we mentioned earlier who embarked on building work in the early 18th century. They were married c. 1797.


The impaled arms of Parsons and Lloyd.


The arms of Lloyd.

The terms for the colours silver (white), gold (yellow), blue, red, black, green are argent, or, azure, gules, sable and vert in heraldry. Notice above the vertical lines on the Parsons arms, these represent gules (red) while the horizontal lines on Lloyd represent azure (blue).

We turn next to the first family member to settle in Birr. The impaled shield on the left represents Sir Laurence Parsons and his wife Jane Malham. He settled in Ireland in 1611 and was made attorney general for the province of Munster and was knighted, 1612. He married Jane Malham from Yorkshire and he died in 1628. Sir Laurence appears to have been a second son, as shown by the presence of a crescent shape as a mark of cadence for a second son. His brother, Sir William Parsons also arrived in Ireland c. 1590 and he was Commissioner of Plantations. He was Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Newcastle, Co Dublin between 1613 and 1615. He was knighted in 1620. He was created 1st Baronet Parsons [Ireland] on 10 November 1620. He was Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Co Wicklow between 1639 and 1648. He held the office of Lord Deputy [Ireland]. He held the office of Lord Justice [Ireland] between 1640 and 1643, jointly, when he was dismissed and imprisoned for suspected treason. Further family details can be found at:



The impaled arms of Parsons and Malham.



The arms of Malham


The arms and blazon for Malham.


We return to the gateway, shown above, leading into the main castle. It was built after the marriage in 1836 of the third Earl, William Parsons (1800-67) to Mary Wilmer-Field of Heaton Hall in Yorkshire.

The left hand side of the gate carries the arms of the Earl of Rosse along with the supporters, motto and Earl's coronet. Higher up on the same side of the gate are the arms of Savage, Sprigg, Clere along with those of Parsons. 



The arms, supporters and motto of the Earl of Rosse


The arms of Savage, Sprigg, Clere along with those of Parsons. 

These arms represent the marriages of:

Sir William Parsons, 1st Baronet to Frances Savage
Sir Laurence Parsons, 3rd Baronet to Mary Sprigg
Sir William Parsons, 4th Baronet to Mary Clere


Arms of Savage


The arms and blazon of Sprigg






The arms and blazon for Clere


Next we turn to the right hand side of the gate that carries the arms of the Earl of Rosse along with the supporters, motto and Earl's coronet. The smaller shield superimposed on the main one represents the inescutcheon of pretence, the arms of Field. The smaller shield represents the Field arms for Mary Wilmer-Field, wife of William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse.  Higher up on the same side of the gate are the arms of Baskerville, Thweng, Wilmer along with those of Field. In a sense the gateway represents the union of Parsons (on the left) with Field (on the right). The arms, already discussed, of some of the Parson ancestral families are displayed higher up on the left hand side and now we look at those ancestral families of Field on the right hand side. 




                                         The arms, supporters and motto of the Earl of Rosse 
                                           along with the inescutcheon of pretence for Field.




The arms of Baskerville, Thweng, Wilmer along with those of Field. 

These arms represent the marriages of:


Field for Mary Wilmer-Field who married William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse

Wilmer for her mother, Mary Wilmer who married Joshua Field.

Baskerville for Rebecca Baskerville who married George Wilmer, great-grandfather of Mary Wilmer

Thweng for Margery Thweng, daughter of Marmaduke Thweng and wife of George Wilmer (father of the previous mentioned George).



The arms and blazon for Field




The arms and blazon for Wilmer



The arms and blazon for Thweng



The arms and blazon for Baskerville


A Thweng-Wilmer Book Plate


Friday 16 June 2017

More Heraldry at Slane

The new Gandon Room Restaurant opened on Thursday 15th June at Slane Castle.

http://www.slanecastle.ie/

The coats of arms of de Molyns or Molines (Baron Ventry), Conyngham, Grimston, Lambert, Dennison, Anson, Stanhope (Earl of Harrington) and Paget (Marquess Anglesey) are tastefully displayed at the entrance to the new café and restaurant at Slane. The arms represent various Conyngham marriages including that of Lady Henrietta Conyngham (daughter of Henry Mount Charles) to Thomas Anson, Earl of Lichfield.


The marriages represented by the arms above are listed as follows:

Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham married Elizabeth Dennison

Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, (2nd Marquess)  married Lady Jane Paget, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess Anglesey

George Conyngham, (3rd Marquess) married Lady Jane Stanhope, daughter of Charles, 4th Earl of Harrington,

George's sister, Lady Farnces Conyngham married Gustavus Lamber of Beauparc.

George's son,

Henry Conyngham (4th Marquess) married Frances Eveleigh-de Molyns, daughter of the 4th Baron of Ventry.

Frederick Conyngham (6th Marquess) married Antoinette Thompson

Frederick Conyngham (7th Marquess) married Eilenn Newsam

Henry Vivien Pierpoint Conyngham (8th Marquess) married first Juliet Ann Kitson; married second Lady Iona Charlotte Grimston

Henry's daughter, Lady Henrietta Tamara Juliet Conyngham is married to Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield.

The arms are displayed as follows:


Anson (Earl of Lichfield): Argent three bends engrailed gules, in the sinister chief, a crescent of the last.



Conyngham: Argent a shake fork between three mullets sable.


Dennison (Denison): Ermine a bend azure cottised sable between in chief a unicorn's head erased and in base a cross crosslet fitchy gules.


Gtimston: Argent on a fesse sable three mullets of six points pierced or, in the dexter chief point an ermine spot.


Lambert (Beau Parc): Gules three narcissuses argent pierced of the field.


Paget (Marquess of Anglesey): Sable on a cross engrailed between four eagles displayed argent, five lions guardant of the field.


 Stanhope (Earl of Harrington): Quarterly ermine and gules in the centre a crescent on a crescent for cadency.


de Molyns or Molines (Baron Ventry): Sable on a chief argent three lozenges gules.

For further details on the heraldry associated with Conyngham-Burton-Dennison (Denison) and Butler, please see:

http://irishheraldry.blogspot.ie/2015/03/heraldry-at-slane-castle-mount-charles.html



The achievement of arms for Marquess Conyngham are also displayed. Henry Mount Charles became 8th Marquess in 2009.   


When I visited Slane on Sunday 11th June 2017, Lady Iona kindly pointed out the original 1783 Gandon drawings for Slane Castle. These can be seen in the new Restaurant. As the eagle on the horse could not be seen on the photograph of the Conyngham coat of arms and supporters above, I darkened the original image and then superimposed the eagle on its position on the horse.

Gandon Drawings:


Principal Front for Slane Castle, the Seat of Col Cunningham, Gandon Arch. 1783
(Caption on drawing)



? of Slane Castle, County of Meath, Gandon Arch. 1783