St Laserian at Lorum Co Carlow

Pilgrimage In Medieval Ireland

I was hoping to have this post ready for the feast day of St Laserian  on the 18th of April   but better late then never.  St Laserian has strong associations with Co Carlow and I have discussed  the modern pilgrimage to St Laserian  at Old Leighlin Co Carlow in previous posts. The saint is also  associated with a place called Lorum  in Co Carlow.

According to folklore  when St Laserian returned to Ireland from Rome he set out in search of a location to build a monastery.  When he came  Lorum  (a few miles south-east of Muinebheag (Bagenalstown)) he stopped on top of a large hill . The saint was so impressed by the area that he decided to build a monastery here. God however had other plans for him, and while he knelt in prayer an angel  proclaimed ‘ Go where you shall see the first shinning, and…

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Urlaur Abbey Co Mayo

Pilgrimage In Medieval Ireland

Urlaur Friary,  a Dominican foundation,  on the shores of Urlaur Lake in Co Mayo is one of Ireland’s best kept secrets.

Urlaur Friary Co Mayo

The friary was founded  around the year 1430 and was dedicated to St. Thomas.  The friary survived the  Reformation and in the early 17^th century, the property was confiscated and handed to Viscount Dillon, a local loyal landlord. The community continued to reside here and the last friar of Urlaur, Patrick Sharkey, died in 1846. He lived in a cottage beside the ruins of friary and he sometimes said mass within the church.

The church is entered through the west gable via a pointed doorway with hooded moulding. A carved  head in poor condition sits above its apex.

West gable of Urlaur Church

Above the door is a small elaborate triple light window with hooded moulding.

The interior of the church is quiet plain…

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Eamon Bulfin, the Irish Argentinian who hoisted the Green Flag of the Republic over the General Post Office. #1916

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Eamon Bulfin was an Argentine-born Irish republican. A former pupil at Pádraig Pearse’s school St Enda’s (Sgoil Éanna), in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Bulfin was a member of the Irish Volunteers and the IRB and along with some fellow St Enda’s students created home-made bombs in the school’s basement in preparation for the Easter Rising. He was stationed in the GPO for the Rising and raised one of the Irish Volunteers’ flags on the building. After being interned at Frongoch prison, Bulfin’s death sentence was commuted because he was born in Argentina. Deported to Buenos Aires, he was jailed for deserting military service.

Éamon de Valera made Bulfin Irish Representative to Argentina. De Valera described Bulfin’s job as to “inaugurate direct trade between Ireland and the Argentine Republic, to co-ordinate Irish opinion in the Argentine, and to bring it into the Irish demand for a republic.” While carrying out these duties, Bulfin…

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1916 – Death of Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, ‘The O’Rahilly’, a republican killed during the fighting during the Easter Rising.

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Michael Joseph O’Rahilly was born in Ballylongford, Co Kerry in 1875. He was a republican and a language enthusiast, a member of An Coiste Gnótha, the Gaelic League’s governing body. He was well-travelled, spending at least a decade in the United States and in Europe. He was a reasonably wealthy man; the Weekly Irish Times reported after the Easter Rising that O’Rahilly ‘enjoyed a private income of £900’ per annum, plenty of which went to ‘the cause he espoused.’ More importantly, The O’Rahilly was a founding member of the Irish Volunteers and as Director of Arms he personally directed the landing of Mausers at Howth on 26 July 1914.

O’Rahilly was not a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood despite his obvious support for national militancy. Nor did he express any sympathy for the socialist ideas of James Connolly. Nevertheless he fought with the GPO garrison during Easter Week despite…

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1849 – The brig Hannah transported emigrants to Canada during An Gorta Mór.

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

The brig Hannah transported emigrants to Canada during An Gorta Mór. She is known for the terrible circumstances of her 1849 shipwreck, in which the captain and two officers left the sinking ship aboard the only lifeboat, leaving passengers and the rest of the crew to fend for themselves.

Hannah was built at Norton, New Brunswick, Canada in 1826 and registered at Maryport in 1840. She was owned by Samuel Shaw and others. Her captain was John Briggs. She brought immigrants to Canada during Án Gorta Mor, arriving in Quebec from Sligo with passengers in July 1847.

Hannah was transporting more Irish immigrants fleeing An Gorta Mór from Warrenpoint and Newry to Quebec City, when it sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 29 April 1849, resulting in, as well as can be ascertained, 49 deaths.

The Hannah set sail from Newry, Co Down on 3 April 1849 with…

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History of Harold’s Cross, Dublin

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

One explanation of the origin of the name Harold’s Cross is that it is derived from the name given to a gallows, which had been placed where the current Harold’s Cross Park is situated. Harold’s Cross was an execution ground for the city of Dublin during the 18th century and earlier. In the 14th century the gallows there was maintained by the Archbishop.

Harold’s Cross stands on lands which formed, like those of Rathmines, part of the Manor of St. Sepulchre, and its name is said to have originated in a cross which marked the boundary of the lands of the Archbishop of Dublin, and warned the Harolds, the wild guardians of the border of the Pale near Whitechurch that they must not encroach Harold’s Cross. The De Meones family, who gave their name to Rathmines, also owned lands at Harold’s Cross in the fourteenth century.

Another explanation is that…

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1795 – Death of Reverend William Jackson of the United Irishmen.

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Reverend William Jackson returns from France, unaware that his travelling companion, John Cockayne, is a spy; Jackson is arrested and found guilty of high treason; he commits suicide in the dock by taking poison.

Jackson had liaised between France and United Irishmen leaders in an effort to get support for an Irish rebellion. Betrayed by a colleague, Jackson was arrested and tried for sedition in Dublin. On this date in 1795, just prior to an inevitable sentence of treason, he ingested poison and died in the dock. His death, prior to sentence meant that his possessions could not be seized by the state.

His remains were followed to St. Michan’s (where his tombstone may now be seen).

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