The Curragh
Early
History
St. Brigid’s pastures
From the
Norman
conquest
to
Essex The Wars of
theConfederation
From
theJacobite
Wars to 1798 The
Rebellion of ‘98 The
French scare
St.
Brigid’s pastures
The
history of the Curragh plains goes back to remote antiquity. The Curragh, at the
present time, contains almost 5,000 acres but its ancient name of “Cuirreach
Life,” or the Curragh of the Liffey, would seem to imply that long ago it
reached that river’s banks; and since the Norman invasion has been encroached
upon. It was the site, in pre-Christian times, of Aonach Lifé—a formal
convening of all the people of the Kingdom of Leinster to a festival. The
“aonach” lasted several days and had many functions : —laws were
promulgated and administered; funeral rites performed; goods bartered;
marriages solemnised and all forms of contests engaged in. The many raths and
tumuli to be found on the Curragh date from this period.
To the north of the Curragh is the Hill of Allen (Almhain)
where the Fianna are said to have assembled in the latter end of the third
century A.D. The deeds of the Fianna and Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the commander, are
preserved in folklore and legend.
“Great was the number of one Dun of Almhain, of noble
Fenians; there were twice six fires exactly in each house, and one man and one
hundred at each of those fires.”
About the year 480, St. Brigid, patron saint of County
Kildare, settled at “Drumcree” (the Ridge of Clay). This place is now
Kildare. Legend tells us that St. Brigid was granted as much land as her mantle
would cover in return for having cured the King of Leinster of a deformity. It
is said that when her mantle was spread it covered the present Curragh. A writer
of the 12th century refers to the Curragh as “St. Brigid’s Pastures in
which no plough was suffered to turn a furrow.
In the year 777, “the battle of the Cuirreach, by the side
of Cill-dara was fought on the sixth of the calends of September, on Tuesday, between
Ruadhri, son of Faelan, and Bran, son of Muireadhach.” Ruadhri emerged
victorious.
The Danes passed across the plain as they raided and plundered the monasteries
of Kildare on more than one occasion. The Irish sought their revenge and in 942
destroyed the Danish city of Dublin, “Braen, King of Leinster, to the
destructive battle from the Hill of Almhain passed with his hosts.”
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From the
Norman
conquest
to
Essex
The
Norman invasion resulted in a change in ownership of the lands of Kildare.
Maurice FitzGerald was awarded the area south and east of the Curragh in recompense for his services in
the conquest of Leinster. Meiler FitzHenry, whose father was the illegitimate
son of King Henry I, founded Connell Abbey in 1202; dedicated the church to the
Blessed Virgin and St. David; and brought in Augustinian Canons from Monmouthshire.
Meiler FitzHenry was Viceroy in Ireland for eight years and when he died in 1220
he was buried at Connell and we are told that his tomb carried the following
inscription:
Entombed are the bones
of him they noble Meyler call,
Who was the tameless tamer of the
irish nation all.
We can get some idea of the power
struggle between the Anglo-Norman Knights from an account of an incident
which took place on the Curragh about this time. William Marshal, Earl of
Pembroke, died in 1231 and bequeathed his large possessions, on both sides of
the Irish Sea, to his brother, Richard, grandson of Strongbow. Henry III plotted
with the Viceroy and Irish barons to have Earl Richard captured dead or alive.
The Irish barons, claiming their spoils, invaded the lands of the Earl, their
feudal lord, who, on hearing of their doing, came to Ireland :
“Earl
Richard appointed a conference on theCurragh of Kildare with the barons. On the
1st of April, 1234, Maurice FitzGerald, the Viceroy, accompanied by Hugh de Lacy
and Richard de Burgh, came with a body of soldiery to the place of meeting,
while the Earl, with Geoffrey de Marisco and a few attendants, took up a
position some distance away. The negotiations, carried on between the parties by
Templars, ended by the barons refusing to comply with the earl’s demands for
the restoration of some of his castles still in their possession; and, drawing
their swords, they threatened to attack him at once unless he consented to the
truce.
The earl, at this juncture, was basely deserted by his false friend
Geoffrey de Marisco; but, undaunted by superior numbers, and accompanied by
only fifteen followers who remained faithful to him, he charged into the midst
of the barons’ troops, and for a long time fought bravely doing great
execution on his foes. At last his horse fell under him, and while the earl lay
on the ground he received a mortal wound in the back; he was carried off to one
of his own castles, and on Palni Sunday, sixteen days after receiving the
wounds, he breathed his last. His body was taken to Kilkenny, and buried in
the Dominican Abbey.”•
In
the year 1406 it is recorded that “the Prior of Connell, in the plaine of
Kildare, fought valiantly, and vanquished two hundred of the Irish that were
well armed, slaying some of them, and chasing others; and the Prior had not with
him but twenty Englishmen.”
When
by Act of Parliament of 1537 the Abbeys of the Pale were confiscated, Connell
Abbey was one of six monasteries excluded. The properties of the Abbey were
considerable and extended, in general, from Kilcullen in the south, to Kildare
in the west, and to Kilmeague in the north. The final suppression of Connell
came in 1541 and portion of the confiscated lands at Tully and Rosberry passed
to Sir William Sarsfield, Knt., Mayor of Dublin, in 1566.
There
is an interesting account of the Earl of Essex as he camped on the Curragh in 1599 Henry
Harvey, Secretary to Essex, kept a journal of
the events and stated : —
“The
fourth day of May being come and the levies gathered together, the Lord Lieutenant
rode forth from Dublin to the champion fields between Kilrush and Kilcullen,
where he had appointed to meet him twenty-seven ensigns of foot and three
hundred horse, which he proposed to divide into regiments, appoint:ng colonels
for the same . . . These champion fields are called by the natives
“Curaghs ‘
A
better place for deploying of an army I never beheld....
That night, there’ being no town nearer than Naas, we were forced to
lie in a village called Kilcullen, a sorry cluster of mean houses, and they so
few that he who had a roof to lie under was accounted happy
It being the first night of taking to the field since our coming to
Ireland the’ confusion was great; there being as yet no tents, so that they
that could not find shelter under a roof, must needs sleep under the’ open
sky. In every direction there were squires searching for their masters;
great Lords not knowing where to lay their heads; horses fastened with
stanchions to the earth; cloaks of great price flung heedless upon the foul and
muddy ground.
The village of Kilcullen lies upon either side of a bridge of planks
which crosses the river Liffey . . . In number it contains perhaps twe’nty cabins, the owners of which had
fled leaving them empty.. . My
Lord’s own quarters were in the principal house in the village. When I went in to him he was sitting upon a great heap of straw gathered
together in the middle of the room, with a light fixed above his head, and a
letter newly writ upon his knee . . . Next day the army advanced towards Athy.”
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The Wars of
theConfederation
“Parties
on the back of parties, at war with the world and with one’
another.”—Thomas Carlyle on the Confederation of Kilkenny.
The
1641 Rebellion saw considerable military activity on and about the Curragh area.
The castles and fortifications of the county were to change hands many times as
the armies marched back and forth through Kildare. Ormonde led his army south
from Dublin, in March, 1642, to victory near Ross. His army consisted of “two
thousand five hundred foot and eight hundred horse, which number of horse and foot were never
made full. There were two brass culverins and four brass field-pieces.” The
army lodged at Newlands on the first night, 1st March; then to Naas for the
second night; from “thence they passed over the Liffey, two miles beneath
Castle-martin, in which there was a garrison of Rebels, under the command of one
Fitzgerald. It was resolved to take this castle, and if they stood out, to
kill and burn the house.”
The
garrison ‘surrendered and were allowed to depart. “From Castlemartin the
army was dispersed to lodge in the villages about the Curragh of Kildare and
the’ Lord General’s regiment lodged in the town and castle of Kildare.”’
The area was retaken the following year when
Lord Castlehaven, the Confederation’s General of Horse, led his forces into
county Kildare in June, 1643. He states:— “Having mastered this place (i.e.,
Dollardstown, near Athy), in the evening I despatched a party of horse and
foot to invest Tully, which they did before day. In the morning I arrived myself
and having planted my guns, summoned the place and had it yielded . . . Having thus taken this castle and left a
garrison to secure it, I encamped on a heath called the Curragh of Kildare, from
whence I summoned all the castles there-abouts, and had them yielded.”
These
actions by the Confederate General were the subject of Ormonde’s letter to the
Lord Justices and Council on the 7th of September, 1643, for he’ wrote:—
“I understand that Tully is rendered to the Earl
of Castlehaven and I understand also that their forces lie now before Lackagh
and Rosebrye, and have summoned Castlemartin .
.
Ormonde
handed over the city of Dublin to the Parliamentarian Forces in July, 1647. At
this time also we find the Leinster Confederate forces, commanded by General
Preston, “after all necessaries were provided for the advance of the army it
was mustered in the Curragh of Kildare.”
Preston
advanced towards Dublin on the 11th of July; crossed the Liffey and missed an
opportunity of inflicting heavy losses on the enemy, under Col. Jones, at Kill.
Bellings, secretary to the Supreme Council of the Confederation, tells us that
this failure was caused “by the supine remissness of General Preston and the
valour and good conduct of Colonel Jones, the party under his command
retired with no great loss to Dublin, and the general returning to Naas, sent
out a party that took in Harristown upon quarter.”
Preston
later went on to defeat at Dungan’s Hill in August, 1647;
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From
the Jacobite
Wars to 1798
There
is a description of Kildare, dated 1683, which refers to the Curragh and points
out that upon any general meeting or rendezvous of ihe Army or Militia this is
the place.” The Curragh “was the place” chosen by Richard Talbot, Earl of
Tyrconnell, to prepare his army for the cause of James II. Tyrconnell’s
proclamation dated the 18th of July, 1687, was drafted “for the convenience
and better accommodation of the army at Kildare our headquarters during the time
of the camp at Curragh” and instructed officers, amongst other things:
“to keep their soldiers to their duty, prevent their straggling abroad
and oblige them to the observation of the strictest rules, articles and
disciplines of war.”
In
1688 there was again a camp on the Curragh for “three regiments of horse, one
regiment of dragoons and seven regiments of foot.” It is recorded that “Win.
Spike was paid £38-I 1-10 for straw for use of the camp.
King
James II sailed from Brest on March 17, 1689, and landed at Kinsale on the 22d
of March. His party of 83 persons included a number of French and Irish
officers. James moved to Dublin while Boisseleau, one of the French officers, remained
in the south “to perform what seemed the thankless and unpromising task of
drilling Irish recruits.” His position was greatly improved by the arrival,
in Kinsale on the 7th of May, of reinforcements and supplies from France. The
3,000 troops on board were English, Irish and Scottish—part of James’s army
that had escaped to France from England. These troops were placed under
Boisseleau’s command. Boisseleau was a capable officer and as his new army
from the south began to collect, “in the camp specially prepared near Dublin
not far from the Curragh in Kildare,”’ a completely demoralised Jacobite
force was falling back to Drogheda from its failure to seize Derry. The French
officer, d’Escots, ordered to complete a muster roll of all the Jacobite
Forces reported, on August 29, 1689, that nine regiments were on the Curragh
with a total strength of 4,400.
During
the winter of 1689-90 the Jacobite forces were concentrated and trained and
further French aid arrived at Kinsale on the 22d of March, 1690. This French
force, commanded by Lauzun, numbered nearly 7,000 men and consisted mainly of
Swiss, Flemish and Walloon troops. Lauzun hurried to L)ublin, “and the French
regiments followed as rapidly as they could over bad roads to pitch the tents,
with which they had come provided, on the Curragh of Kildare.”;’
The
Jacobite army subsequently moved north to defeat at the battle of the Boyne, and
as James fled south to escape to France, it is recorded that “the Duke of
Berwick and Tyrconnell went away as did all the rest to the Curragh of
Kildare.”
It
was the end of the eighteenth century that saw considerable military activity on
the Curragh. An interesting incident took place in 1795 on the plains between
Lord Edward Fitzgerald and some dragoon officers following the Curragh races.
Lord Edward attended the meeting with a friend and wore a green silk
handkerchief round his neck —a colour considered “too national” for
many of the day. At the end of the races Lord Edward and his friend headed for
home at a canter and
“they
found themselves overtaken by a party of from ten to a dozen officers, who,
riding past them at full gallop, wheeled round so as to obstruct their
passage, and demanded that Lord Edward should take off his green cravat. Thus
accosted, Lord Edward answered cooly: ‘Your cloth would speak you to be
gentlemen, but this conduct conveys a very different impression. Ato this
neckcloth that so offends you, all I can say is, here I stand; let any man among
you~ who dares, come forward and take it off.
Taken
by surprise the officers stood aside and allowed the two friends to continue. As
to the conduct of the officers “a significant verdict was passed at a Curragh
ball shortly after, when it was agreed, as I have heard, by all the ladies in
the room not to accept any of them as partners.
The
reorganisation of the Irish Militia in the years prior to the 1798 Rebellion saw
the force experience growing pains. Discipline in the force left much to be
desired and the example set by the regular troops did little to set the
standard. The six regiments of cavalry assembled in camp at the Curragh in 1797
(Fig. 1), were found
“perfectly
ignorant of the new exercise; there were irregularities in most of these
regiments with regard to feeding and buying of horses and the application of
savings upon these two heads.
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The
Rebellion of ‘98
Where
will they pitch their camp’?
says
the Shan Van Vocht,
On the Curragh
of Kildare,
And the’ boys will all be there
With their pikes in good repair,
Says the Shan Van Vocht.
The
county of Kildare was witness to many of the events of the 1798 Rebellion. The
United Army struck with surprise on May 23rd and after quick successes at Old
Kilcullen, Clane and Prosperous forced the Crown forces to withdraw to Naas.
By May 26th an army of about 30,000 United men had occupied the towns of
Kildare, Prosperous and Kilcullen and the villages’ of Rathangan, Newbridge
and Ballitore. For six days the rebel forces held the county and with the
passing of their first flush of enthusiasm they sought terms from General
Dundas. Dundas, who was not without critics in ordering the withdrawal of his
forces to Naas, proved most adept in his negotiations with the rebels. He was
prepared to offer generous terms and on Knockaulin, a rebel camp, he
“personally received the surrender of the three thousand men there ... The pikes and guns were deposited in an enormous
pile. . . the entire rebel army,
leaders and all, were allowed to disperse to their homes.”
News
of’ the actions of the upright and humane General Dundas spread to the other
rebel camps in the county and like terms were sought. Little did the rebels,
encamped on the Curragh, know that their negotiations were to end in a tragic
event known as the “Gibbet Rath Massacre.” Dundas commenced his discussions
with the rebel forces, some sx thousand, on the 29th of May at the Gibbet Rath.
There is every reason to believe that Dundas would have concluded the negotiations
as successfully as he had done the previous day on Knockaulin. However, early on
the morning of the 29th of May, General Sir James Duff arrived at Kildare town
from Limerick with a military force. Duff had organised “a flying column of
sixty dragoons, about 350 militia and six field pieces”’ and departing from
Limerick on the 27th of May had so forced the pace as to arrive at Kildare on
the 29th of May.
Duff
found Kildare town in ruins and ordered his forces to advance to the rebel camp
on the Curragh. Sources differ as to whether or not Duff was aware of the
surrender being negotiated by Dundas at this time at the Gibbet Rath. The subsequent
event is also disputed. One account states that as Duff’s forces approached
the Rath the assembled “rebels fired on” them, whereas another source
records how “one man in the crowd, saying he would not hand over his fire-lock
loaded, blazed it off in the air.” All sources are agreed as to the results of
the attack that followed. Duffs force attacked the crowd and by the time the
yeomanry regiment, ‘Lord Roden’s fox-hunters,’ were recalled some 350 of
the rebels lay dead, scattered over the Curragh. General Duff’s force suffered
no casualties.
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The
French scare
In
1804 the possibility of a French invasion saw an increase in the militia
activities throughout Ireland. To meet training needs two camps were,
approved, one at Killeady Hill, near Cork, and the larger at the Curragh. During
August, 1804, some 13,000 troops were at the Curragh and included Cork, Donegal,
Leitrim and Monaghan militias. The men were encamped “in light marching
order and ready to move at short notice” but “water had to be brought by
hand a distance of nearly a mile. This was the principal inconvenience.” One
visitor to the camp was much impressed by the attentive manner of the men at
divine service, their good conduct in camp, and their improved state of health.
The Viceroy, the Earl of Hardwicke, reported to Whitehall that “the camp on the Curragh has
been of great use .
. . it has served to convince the lower orders of people
that . . . troops can be moved to
different points in a very short time.”
In
1805 the “camp at the Curragh was the military event of the year. The schemes
provided for twenty-two infantry battalions being present, nine of which were
militia. On the first, August, the troops destined to occupy this camp appeared
on the ground in six divisions. The order to take up positions being given by
signal, the different points allotted to the several regiments were immediately
occupied; and the command to pitch tents being announced by another signal, the
whole camp was formed in little more than two minutes.” The Cmnmander of the
Forces, General Lord Cathcart, had his quarters adjacent to the standhouse,
and “having a great liking for the Armagh regiment” nominated this unit
a’s his own bodyguard~ The camp broke up early in September.
It
was 1808 before the next camp was opened on the Curragh where seven militia and
six regular regiments assembled. The camp lacked the spectacular opening of
the 1805 camp and, apart from hard work, some time was found for gaiety. There
were “camp balls every Thursday at the standhouse” and
“a public ordinary every Sunday at three o’clock for ladies and
gentlemen.” These events were calculated to relieve the tedium of camp life.
The highlight of the year was the visit to the camp of Sir Arthur Wel’lesley,
afterwards Duke of Wellington, as ‘he made his way ‘to Cork en route to the
Peninsula Wars. As he “passed the line,” on the 4th of July, he was greeted
with such enthusiasm that one observer expressed the opinion that “had it
been permitted . . . the whole army on the Curragh would have willingly accompanied the gallant
general.”
If
1815 is remembered by most as the year of Wellington’s victory over the French
at Waterloo, on the Curragh it marked
the victory of Dan Donnelly over George Cooper, the English champion boxer.
The fight took place on the 13th of December at the place that has since been
known as “Donnelly’s Hollow.” A great crowd attended and a street-ballad
recalls the action in the eleventh and final round :
Donnelly
rose up again, and meeting with
great might,
For, to surprise the nobles all,
continued at the fight.
Cooper stood on his own defence;
exertion proved in vain.
He soon received a temple blow which
stretched him on the plain.”
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