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You are > Home > The first organ and the last priest
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Thursday, January 07, 2010
The first organ and the last priest
I ALWAYS look forward to reviewing the Kilmore Parish Journal because I know I am faced with so many article options that it is going to be easy.
The 38th edition of the original of the species entwines my faith with my perception.
The Kilmore Parish Journal makes a lot of 'noise' at this time of year, and rightfully so. There is always a story to fill every page. History is recalled in high volume, but sometimes made or revealed by surprise.
Did you know that Kilmore Parish Church was the first in the Diocese of Ferns in 1859 to erect an organ?
It was installed by Telford of Dublin, Mr. Breen could play, the Franciscans provided the choir and it was a gala occasion.
I know this is fact because it is stated in an article by John Power, one of a powerful gallery of contributors to the latest renewal of a journal that has conquered the test of time and is a maturing vintage.
Not everything in the Kilmore Parish Journal has its roots in the deep past.
Fr. Jim Cogley features and he is a remarkable man a priest, fisherman, healer, wood-turner, author, counsellor, spiritual advisor, builder and someone who will be sadly missed following his recent transfer to Oylegate.
Fr. Jim is also a history maker on a few fronts. For the past five years he has been the longest-serving curate not only in the Diocese of Ferns, but in the entire country, and his departure from Kilmore Quay means that it will be the first time in 150 years that the seaside village will no longer have a full-time priest in residence.
At a time when the Church is going through a difficult time, and a shortage of vocations is one of the prevailing tasks, Kilmore Quay is at the forefront of modern day change and challenge.
This country is never far away from flooding, it was very much in the news during 2009, however, a fierce storm in December 1989 threatened danger on over 4,000 acres of good farmland as there were anxious concerns locally about Ballyteigue Burrow.
John Power's excellent and informative article reflects on the area reclaimed during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the creation of more secure anti-flooding measures in 1959, and the spine-chilling escape from great disaster in the storm of twenty years ago.
Another gem from John draws attention to the fact that Kilmore Parish Church is dedicated to St. Peter and there is a magnificent statue of the great apostle outside the church, but the erection of the church and the appearance of the statue did not occur at the same time!
Paud Doyle traverses memory lane and an historic house at Pollwitch and the story of Thady Murphy's thatched cabin that "failed to burn, despite repeated attempts" during the Rebellion of 1798.
Proving that there is something of an ethical onus on the editor who has to double up as a contributor, Hilary Murphy spotlights fame on Moortown and its people, remarkable in the fact that the townland in the old or civil parish of Tomhaggard has been home to honourable people who have used 'Greenacres' to quench the thirst for generations.
Hilary also focuses new found attention on Kathleen Browne, a lady of renown, known as an ardent nationalist, Irish language enthusiast, historian and woman of immense activity, from famed Rathronan Castle, near Mulrankin.
Kathleen Browne's fame was rekindled 65 years after her death in 1943 by way of a published biography,’ Senator Kathleen A. Browne, 1876-1943', which was launched last December.
I don't know if many farmers keep a diary these days, but in the 1820's one Barony of Forth farmer did so and it is published here. It is an extraordinary social document detailing the rotation of crops, the weather and the price of pigs, beans and thatching stacks.
We mentioned Ballyteigue a few paragraphs earlier, but the townland adjoining a sandy beach pops up a second time as Tom McDonald dwells on the days when rabbits were not only rich in abundance, but part of a lucrative trade that included the export of 'the rabbit food delicacy' to Great Britain, and to London in particular.
However, if there was money in rabbits then it follows that a keen eye was kept on the situation.
This story surrounds a landlord seeking compensation because of a massive population of the rabbits; the damage they caused to crops and a bounty on rabbits if catchers were to be handsomely financial rewarded, which they were!
As most of us know the rabbit population was eventually decimated as a source of food by the introduction of miximatosis or 'the mixo' as it was commonly known. A blow for the poorer classes at a time when the principal source of food was the land and the river and the sea.
Liam Gaul is a wonderful writer and researcher on Wexford's musical past, an area of expertise often neglected and forgotten, but Liam enlightens the readers of the Kilmore Parish Journal on two Kilmore-born travelling uileann pipers, the cream of the musical crop in their day, John Cash, who was known as 'Cash the Piper' and his son, James.
Liam's article portrays the Cashes as if we all knew them, could hear the sweet tones that emerged from their instruments, and understand the popularity they enjoyed throughout the country as the performed on the theatre of the day the fairs and festivals around the country.
In the days when servants were employed in the big houses of the gentry and the kitchens of the big farmer gaining employment required suitable qualifications in the tools of the trade such as cooking and sewing, cleaning and scrubbing.
Once upon a time the St. John of God order carried on a school for domestic school at Kilmore where young girls learned how to milk, make butter and take care of poultry.
The school started out at Ballyharty in 1898 before moving to new premises in the village ten years later.
In an unusual feature, John Power recalls a select number of people who made a contribution to the locality in times past. All are long gone to their eternal reward and each one is remembered with a photograph.
Those featured include Rev. Edward Prendergast, who died in 1952, aged 45 years. He had served in Murrintown, Ballycanew and Galbally before coming to Kilmore Quay ten months before his lamented death.
In his short time in the parish, he built a new parish hall and his was the first burial in Kilmore’s new cemetery.
A welcome mention of the weather, and as I write this it is freezing around Co. Wexford, the inspiration being obvious, apparently 1916 was a brilliant warm summer and nothing whatsoever to do with the Easter Rebellion!
Two pleasant local events worthy of mention were the Furlong Clan Reunion and Helen Lawton's outstanding achievement in being named "Wexford Granny of the Year 2009".
There was great excitement as Granny Lawton donned the sash proudly proclaiming her popularity.
It is a bit of a cliché, but it is also truthful, this edition of the Kilmore Parish Journal is "bigger, better and brighter" and everybody associated with it can be proud of all that they find in each revealing and exciting page.
'Kilmore Parish Journal', No 38, 2009-'10, edited by Hilary Murphy, 196 pages, well illustrated, on sale locally. ISSN 1649 2846.
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