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This article is on Denis O’Duffy of Maghera, Clooney Parish, a very keen Nationalist and Champion of Ireland’s rights.  He left his native County in 1798, and took part in all the leading struggles in Wexford and Wicklow. He fought at Vinegar Hill and played a major part in the Battle of New Ross. He escaped to the Wicklow Mountains after the Battle of Vinegar Hill and headed for Co. Clare.  On his way he was accosted by a group of Yeomen. He challenged their Captain to a duel and soon had him begging for mercy.  O’Duffy was released and returned to Maghera.  Soon afterwards O’Duffy left Ireland and joined the Irish Legion under Marshal McMahon who was fighting with Napoleon in France.   It is said he is buried in a Military graveyard outside Paris.

A Memorial Monument in his honour was unveiled on Monday December 26th, 1898 at Clooney Graveyard, prior to a public meeting at Clooney Cross where thousands attended according to the article in the Clare Journal.

We include a collection of articles and leaflets honouring Denis O’ Duffy including part of the article which appeared in The Clare Journal of December 1898. It details the unveiling of the Monument and the public meeting at Clooney Cross afterwards, as well as copies of the Information Pamplets from the 1998 and 2001 commemorations with photographs taken on both days.  Finally, we include an article on the monument which was published by Hilary Gilmore in The Other Clare Vol. 22 on Monuments in Clooney Graveyard.

Ann McNamara
June 2022

THE CLARE JOURNAL, Thursday Evening December 1898

THE O’DUFFY MEMORIAL

UNVEILING A MONUMENT TO A ’98 MAN IN CLOONEY

 

On Monday, the little village of Clooney, midway between Ennis and Tulla, was the scene of a remarkable demonstration, when a monument erected by the public subscriptions of Clare Nationalists in commemoration of a Clare man, Denis O’Duffy, who left his native county in 1798, and took part in all the leading struggles in Wexford and Wicklow, was unveiled amid a scene of much enthusiasm.  The memorial has taken the shape of a very handsome shaft of limestone, surmounted by a Celtic cross.  On one side of the pedestal is the following inscription: – “To the memory of Denis O’ Duffy, of Maghera, Clooney parish, who was ever a trusted and faithful champion of Ireland’s rights, and fought at Vinegar HILL, The Year of the Rebellion, 1798, this monument has been erected by the Brian Boru (Clooney) Club and every staunch Nationalist of Clare and elsewhere, Dec., 1898,” and on the front are the words, “Dulce et Decorum Pro Patria. God Save Ireland.”  The Monument has been finely executed by Mr. David Clohessy, Ennis, and is a handsome specimen of native skill.  To the Clooney Brian Boru ’98 Club is due the credit of having initiated the movement, which culminated in Mon day’s demonstration, and to Father Kennedy, the zealous and patriotic C.C. of Quin and Clooney, and Chairman of the Memorial Committee, a special word of praise is due for his wonderful exertion in organising the memorial. 

The ceremony of unveiling took place prior to the public meeting.  In the unavoidable absence of the Ven Archdeacon Murphy, P.P. V.G. Quin, the duty of undraping the monument was entrusted to Father Kennedy, amid loud cheers.  In the course of his remarks he thanked the men of Quin and Clooney for the honour they conferred on him in asking him to unveil the beautiful and artistic monument to the memory of a ’98 patriot and gallant Clare man.  Denis O’Duffy was a faithful and trusted champion of Ireland’s rights.  He was unable to successfully accomplish his aims in his native county, and he went to the seat of war in Wexford and joined his countrymen for faith and fatherland against a cruel and hostile Government.  He returned unconquered in spirit but a wounded soldier from the combat.  Down with the black flag which veils the monument to his memory.  Up with the green flag which adorns it, and ere long that green flag would be waving triumphantly not only over the monument, but over their own Parliament House in College Green (loud cheers).  He asked them to show that they feared not to speak of ’98 by giving a hearty cheer for the brave heroes of ’98, (cheers).

The enormous crowd then returned to Clooney Cross where the public meeting was held.  On the Platform were Rev. Father Jas Kennedy, C. C. Rev R.H. Little, P.P., Sixmilebridge;Rev. J. Nolan, C. C. Clare Castle; Rev J. Breen, C. C., Bodyke; Rev. M.J. Corcoran, C. C., Newmark-on-Fergus;Rev Joe O’Meara, C. C., Crusheen;Messrs M.S Honan, T.C, Ennis; M. Scanlan, T. C.; John Lynch, V.C., Ennis Union; P. Ryan D.V.C., do.; P.J. Linnane, T.C.; John P Keane, Pat O’Grady P.L.G.; James Lynch, P.L.G.; S Clancy and J Ahern, James Halpin, Eugene Daffy, James Doherty, Martin Molony, D. Duggan, P Howard, M Enright, Pat Moloney, Ennis; Richd. O’Gorman, M Power, P.L.O.

 The article then lists who was there from various parishes, including Quin and Clooney:

Clooney – E. Duffey, P.L.G., P McMahon, F O’ Donoghue, M. Falvey, R. Daffy, P Howard, M. Daffy, M. Naughton, J. Naughton, J. Armstrong.

Quin- M. Corbett, P.L.G., D. Corbett, J Clune, M.Clune, Mat Murphy, P.Corbett, Tom Crowe, A. O’Dea, P. Meany, M. Hennessy, Michael Power, P.L.G., Thomas Power, J.Woulfe, M. Hinchy, Thomas MacNamara, M. MacNamara.

Mr. O’ Gorman proposed, and Mr. James Corbett seconded, that Father Kennedy do take the chair.

The rev. gentleman, on coming forward, was greeted with prolonged cheering.  He thanked them for asking him to preside at that vast and important meeting. During the past twelve months, in every corner of Ireland, a move had been made to do honour to the brave heroes of ’98, who rose in dark and evil days to right their country’s cause (cheers). It would be too bad if the brave men of the Banner County did not do their part in this good and patriotic work, and so Clare men had assembled there that day in their thousands to honour a brave patriot, Denis O’ Duffy (cheers), and on behalf of the Memorial Committee and his parishioners he would bid them a céadmílefáilte. 

The above extract from The Clare Journal is only a part of the article which appeared.  If anyone is interested in the full article they can contact Ann McNamara who has a copy of it and will gladly share.

Information pamphlet from the 1798 Commemmoration held in 1998 – Courtesy of Ann McNamara

Information pamphlet from the 1798 Commemmoration held in 2001 – Courtesy of Ann McNamara

 

Mrs Whelan nee White and her daughter Jean Neylon with a Wexford Pikeman and Michael O’Rourke of the Tulla Pipe Band at the site of the homestead where Denis O’Duffy was born – 2001

Hilary Gilmore Drawing of the O’Duffy Memorial – The Other Clare Vol – 22 1998

Hilary Gilmore writes about the Monument in The Other Clare Vol – 22 1998.

In the proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 1900, T.J. Westropp records that part of the church dates from the 15th century, and the founder was traditionally Rikin or Brecan c.500. ‘Cluaine’,‘Clony’ 1302.

To the west of the pointed south door is the
limestone memorial erected to commemorate Maghera man Denis O’Duffy “who left his native county in 1798 and took part in all the leading struggles in Wexford and Wicklow” (Clare Journal December 28th 1898).

It was erected by the public subscriptions of the Clare Nationalists, and ‘ unveiled on Monday December 25th 1898 by Fr. Kennedy c.c. of Quin and Clooney, Chairman of the Memorial Committee.

Details of inscription on O’Duffy Memorial.

What did the Anglo Normans ever do for us?

We are well aware of the impact of the Anglo-Norman invasion on our history, the undermining of Gaelic society and the replacement of our native structures. Poor old Diarmuid MacMurrough takes a lot of blame for all of this, despite the fact that Henry II in England had already sought and had been given approval by Pope Adrian to invade and civilise us. Henry was just waiting to finish his war in France before sorting us out!

Anyway, in they came, conquered, settled, married and eventually becoming more Irish than even ourselves, ‘níos gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin’! But besides building towns and castles, robbing our women (and probably taking our jobs!), what did the Anglo-Normans do for us – if anything?

Well, for one, they gave us a whole new suite of names, both forename and surname, to choose from.

The Norman influence on Irish surnames

Following the invasion of 1169, a large number of Anglo-French first and last names entered into Ireland. Many, such as Power, Browne, Fleming, Joyce, Burke, Barry, Costello, Nagle, Nugent, D’arcy, Roche and Walsh/Welsh/Wallace, are nowadays considered Irish and are commonly found in Clare. So, too, are those with the Fitz prefix such as Fitzmaurice, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon and Fitzpatrick which most people would regard as Irish as the shamrock. Fitz, meaning ‘son of’, can be considered the Norman version of Mac (it derives from the Latin/French ‘fils de’, meaning ‘son of’). Burke came from de Burgh, Roche from de Roiste, Power from de Paor.

In 1366, a law was passed that “Every Englishman do use the English language, and be named by an English name, leaving off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish.” This was introduced to dissuade the settlers from adopting Celtic prefixes or forms of surname. It didn’t have much affect as many settler families added Mac or ‘O’ and Norman names evolved into an Irish form (eg McHenry, McArthur).

In 1465 a law was passed enacting “that every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriell, and Kildare … shall take to him an English Surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as white, blacke, browne; or arte or science, as smith or carpenter; or office, as cooke, butler ….”

Many of the trades of the early medieval period such as Archer, Butler, Cooper, Carpenter, Draper, Skinner, Tanner found their way into our surnames. Other introductions from this period came from the mercenary soldiers who accompanied the Norman invasion: Walsh (meaning Welsh), Joyce and Fleming (from Flemish mercenaries) are examples.

Incidentally, the Normans usually took their surnames from the place of their family origins. So, D’arcy originates in Arcy in Normandy. De Clare originates in Clare in Suffolk where the Anglo-Norman family were based. While De indicated their place of origin, Le was used to describe them, eg Le Poer meant ‘a poor person’.

De Burgh – Burke – from a placename in Suffolk, France

Le Botilier – Butler – Occupation bottle steward

De Barra – Barry – from an estate in Wales

Le Waleys – Walsh – the Welshmen

De Angulo – Costello/Nangle – from Nangle Pembrokeshire

What of their influence on forenames?

 Many of the Normans forenames introduced here were of a biblical or European saintly origin.

 In 1922, Reverend Patrick Woulfe wrote extensively on the topic of Irish name origins as follows:

In the same manner Norman and English names became current in Irish families during the thirteenth and subsequent centuries. These have now almost completely supplanted the old Gaelic names. The names borne by the Normans and by them introduced into Ireland, were of three kinds :

 (1) names of Scandinavian origin which their ancestors had carried with them to Normandy ;

(2) names of Germanic origin which the Frankish conquerors had brought across the Rhine and which had ousted the old Celtic and Latin names from France ; and

(3) Biblical names and Latin and Greek names of saints,, which the Normans began to adopt about the beginning of the eleventh century.

Together with these came in a few Celtic names from Brittany, a small number of Anglo-Saxon names, some Danish and Norse names from England, and one or two British or Welsh names. These were nearly all very rare and most of them soon died out. Of the Anglo-Saxon names, only two, Edmund and Edward, survived. Alfred has been revived in recent times. At the period of the Invasion, Frankish names were by far the most popular among the Normans, but Biblical and saintly names were coming rapidly into favour.

The following is a list, in order of frequency, of the more common names borne by the early Anglo- Norman invaders, the Biblical and saintly names of Latin and Greek origin being printed in italics :

William, Robert, Richard, John, Walter, Roger, Ralph, Adam, Hugh, Henry, Thomas, Nicholas, Gilbert, Geoffrey, Elias, Peter (Piers), Osbert, Reginald, Jordan, Simon, Alan, Stephen, Philip, David, Arnold, Alexander, Laurence, Baldwin, Herbert, Martin, Maurice, Godfrey, Andrew, Alfred, James, Samson, Turstein, Warin, Ailward, Daniel, Edward, Gregory, Bernard, Benedict, Hamon, Matthias, Michael, Gerard, Gervase, Lambert, Wilkin, Patrick, Edmund, Edwin, Hubert, Ivor, Joseph, Oliver, Mark.

 The following in alphabetical order were rare :

 Abraham, Adelard, Ailmer, Antony, Augustine, Brian, Clement, Constantine, Estmund, Eustace, Everard, Gocelin, Isaac, Leonard, Luke, Matthew, Miles, Milo, Odo, Osbern, Osmund, Pagan, Ponce, Randulf, Redmund, Rodulf, Silvester, Turold, Ulf, Vincent.

 The following names only came in, or at least became popular, at a later period :

Bartholomew, Christopher, Francis, Gerald, George, Paul, Roland, Theobald.

 Women’s names among the Normans were nearly all of the Biblical or saintly class:

 Agnes, Alice, Amelina, Anastasia, Annabella, Catherine, Cecily, Christina, Dorothy, Egidia, Eleanor, Evelyn, Frances, Honora, Isabella, Johanna, Matilda, Margaret, Susanna.

 The name Mary does not seem to have come into use in Ireland before the end of the16th century. Brigid only began to be used about the same period.

 

Extracted from ‘Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall’, Patrick Woulfe 1922

Out with the old, in with the new

The Anglo-Normans also brought with them new animal species such as the rabbit and fallow deer, new foods such as wheat, orchard fruits, mutton and farming practices such as hay-making. They introduced us to continental European religious saints and practices of the Roman Church. European religious orders soon followed such as the Franciscans, Augustinians, Cistercians, Dominicans etc. These replaced the structures of the native Irish Christian Church.

Up to then, the Irish natives did not adopt the name of saints as they considered this to be placing themselves on a par with the saint. Such naming convention was reserved for those of higher status in the monasteries. This was circumvented by use of the prefix Maol or Giolla meaning follower or servant. The Normans changed all of that and it was now acceptable to be called Peter, James, Michael, John, Mary, Brigid or Margaret.

Very few of us to this day do not have either a forename or surname that is not of Norman origin. Eventually, arising from the Gaelic Revival in the late 19th century, new Irish language versions of these forenames appeared such as Séan, Seamus, Peadar, Máire, Bríd, Mícheál, Cathal and many more appeared.

The Irish Church did not condemn the practice of slave-trading by the Irish until the invasion by the Anglo-Normans and the encroachment of the Roman Church. The story of Patrick (Patricius, son of a Roman administrator), which was introduced here after the Norman conquest, presents the native Irish as uncivilised pagan slavers who needed to be brought to heel. So the Normans inadvertently gave us our native saint and a forename for a good chunk of our population for generations following.

Out with the new, in with the old

Children are rarely given these European saint names today. Authentic Gaelic forenames are much more popular. We are nevertheless, unlikely to see the demise of the Anglo-Normans surnames that were introduced here. But all of us Mikes, Jimmies, Johnnys, Paddys, Kittys, Cathys, Maggies and Bridies can thank the Normans for what they brought us!