History of Carrick-on-Suir - Explore Carrick on Suir

EXPLORE CARRICK-ON-SUIR'S HISTORY

Nestled in the scenic valley of the River Suir, the town of Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary, Ireland, is a small but vibrant hub of history, culture, and natural beauty. This ancient town, whose name means “rock on the Suir,” boasts a rich tapestry of historical events, illustrious personalities, and enduring traditions.

Founded in the 13th century, Carrick-on-Suir is a market town immersed in history with its 15th century Ormond Castle Twin Tower remnants fronted by Ireland’s only 16th century significant unfortified Tudor Manor House; to the Heritage Centre, site of the town’s first 13th century St. Nicholas of Myra Church.

The name Carrick-on-Suir comes from the Irish translation of Carraig na Siuire which means the “Rock of the Suir. Carrick as a settlement may have been founded by the gaelic “Deisi” tribe who at one point ruled the whole of Waterford as well as south-east Tipperary. They fended off the Vikings and local raiders until about the late 12th century when the Normans arrived and ultimately shattered their power for ever.

Carrick was one of seven walled towns in County Tipperary developed by the Anglo Normans following their conquest of Ireland in the 12th century. In medieval times, Carrick was the largest town in the county with 36 acres of land enclosed by the town wall. Parts of the town wall are still to be seen in the Ormond Castle and Castleview Tennis Club areas. The town was initially named Carraig MacGriffin after Matthew Fitzgriffin, Lord of the Tudor Manor.

Being both an historic walled town and home to one of the finest Elizabethan houses in Ireland, Carrick-on-Suir has a rich history dating back to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland in the 13th Century.

By the 15th Century Carrick-on-Suir was the most strategically important place on the River Suir after Waterford, and, with the river trade from Clonmel to Waterford, the town was a vital commercial hub for hundreds of years.

Now, with a wealth of historic sites and influential historical figures, Carrick-on-Suir a must-visit town on the heritage trails of Ireland.

Carrig Mac Griffin

Carrick-on-Suir owes its origins to the River Suir. The name of the town stems from the original settlement of Carrig Mac Griffin, an island settlement upstream of Waterford which was one of seven walled towns in County Tipperary developed by the Anglo-Normans. The earliest known records the town date to 1247 when a charter of fairs was awarded to the Lord of the Manor of Carrick, Matthew Fitzgriffin.

The earliest church, St Nicholas of Myra, was also built during this period at the highest point of the island. This church was later to become the Protestant Church, and today it houses the Carrick-on-Suir Heritage Centre and Tourist Information Office.

By the early 14th century, Carrig Mac Griffin was home to the prosperous Butler family. The first significant leader of the Butler clan, Edmond le Bottiler, became the Earl of Carrick in 1315 and his son later became the Earl of Ormond. This family was extremely powerful and influential, and both the Butler and Ormond names are synonymous with medieval Irish history.

Edmond le Bottiler built two large, heavily garrisoned castle keeps known as the Plantagenet Castle on the north bank of the Suir in 1309, and a stone town wall during the same period. The walled town, which consisted of individual houses with kitchen gardens, grew to become the largest in the county with 36 acres of land inside the town wall. Indeed by the end of the 14th Century there was a public oven where townspeople were able to bake in safety without endangering their own homes. Oven Lane exists to this day, just off Main Street, and part of the town wall are still visible by the Castleview Lawn Tennis Club and near Ormond Castle.

It wasn’t until some time later in the 15th Century that Edmund Mac Richard Butler of Paulstown, or ‘Edmund the Builder’, rebuilt Ormond Castle, heavily fortifying it with four towers and including a large dock on the river and a watergate. However Edmund the Builder is perhaps best known for constructing the the first bridge above the Waterford estuary, now known as ‘The Old Bridge’. Both the bridge and the castle were completed in 1447: thus in one fell swoop Edmund had secured the town’s strategic and economic significance for centuries to come.

Early Beginnings and Medieval Flourish

The origins of Carrick-on-Suir can be traced back to early medieval times, where it began as a modest settlement strategically located on a rocky outcrop by the River Suir. The Normans, recognizing its strategic importance, established a fortification here in the 13th century. This led to the town’s initial growth and the construction of Carrick Castle by Maurice Fitzgerald, a key figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland. The castle would later be expanded and refurbished by the Butler family, one of the most influential Anglo-Norman families in Ireland.

THE BUTLER LEGACY

The Butlers of Ormond played a pivotal role in the development and prosperity of Carrick-on-Suir. In the 14th century, they transformed the Norman fortification into a magnificent manor house, known today as Ormond Castle. This structure is renowned for its Elizabethan features, including the exquisite Long Gallery, and remains one of the finest examples of an Elizabethan manor house in Ireland.

The Butler influence extended beyond architecture. Piers Butler, the 8th Earl of Ormond, was a significant figure in Irish history, and his granddaughter, Lady Margaret Butler, was the grandmother of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. The Butlers were patrons of the arts, and their legacy can still be seen in the town’s cultural heritage.

Unique Tudor Manor House

Within a hundred years the Butlers had become so powerful and wealthy that Black Tom Butler was able to build an unfortified Manor House on the north side of the castle in 1560, keeping only two of the castle’s original fortified towers to the south.

Black Tom built the Tudor Manor house in expectation of a visit from his cousin Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. Elizabeth never did visit, however the house contains many beautiful details including decorative plasterwork portraits of the Virgin Queen.

Another significant decoration in the the Tudor Manor House is the ‘Carrick Knot’ engraved in the stone above the fireplace in the main banqueting hall. It is also to be found in the decorative plasterwork. The Carrick Knot, (or Carrick Bend), is still in use by boatmen, fishermen and sailors today. The knot is also known as the Ormond Knot in heraldry, further cementing its link to Carrick-on-Suir, and today it is symbolic of the town’s close relationship with the River Suir, becoming one of the emblems of the town.

Today this combination of an unfortified Tudor Manor house with two of the earlier fortified towers and courtyards makes Ormond Castle unique and is now the starting point of The Butler Trail, part of Ireland’s Ancient East.

Cromwell

Cromwell arrived in Ireland in 1649 with his Parliamentary forces to ‘settle the Irish question’. The Irish opposition was led by James Butler, 12th Earl and 1st Duke of Ormond. He made the mistake of leaving garrisons to defend towns rather than facing the enemy in pitched battle, giving Cromwell the opportunity to defeat the garrisons one by one. In this manner, Carrick-on-Suir was taken by Cromwell in November of that year when his forces tricked the watch into opening New Gate.

The town’s bridge was vital to Cromwell’s campaign in the South East of Ireland, so Carrick-on-Suir was heavily defended. Irish forces later attempted to retake the town, however the the attack failed with the loss of 500 men who were later buried in what became known as the ‘Garraí Rua’, or the ‘Red Garden’.

Indeed by 1650 Cromwell’s hold on Carrick was so secure that he is believed to have spent time here in before his attack on Clonmel.

A New Prosperity

Following Cromwell’s death in 1658, Charles II ascended the throne in 1660, and James Butler, Duke of Ormond, returned to Ireland as the Lord Deputy.

In 1667 the Duke of Ormond convinced the king to remove restrictions on woollen and linen exports and subsequently founded the woollen industry in Carrick in the 1670s, with the help of Huguenots who had fled France, bringing prosperity to the area.

By the late 1680s the political landscape had changed again and the English wars returned to Ireland with William of Orange and James II fighting for the crown. William is believed to have visited Carrick-on-Suir on his way back to England after failing to capture Limerick. Such was the welcome in Carrick-on-Suir, even from families whose sons were fighting for James, that William is said to have granted the town exemption from taxation forever more. It was a promise that was sadly broken.

Carrick-on-Suir remained an island until the 18th century, when rivers to the north and west of the town were diverted. By this time the town enjoyed prosperity through the woollen industry, fishing, basketweaving and other river related businesses.

The population had grown to about 11,000 in 1799. However, during the next century the town suffered from high taxes and levies on the woollen industry, leading to high unemployment, poverty and emigration. The Great Famine of the mid 19th Century also contributed to a fall in population in the town and the surrounding area.

Independence

The Irish Tricolour was first flown publicly by Thomas Francis Meagher in his native city of Waterford on March 7th 1848. Meagher was later arrested and deported for leading the Young Irelanders’ 1848 Rebellion, but just before his trial he told a crowd of 50,000 at Slievenamon that future generations would one day see the tricolour flag proudly flown across Ireland. The Tricolour didn’t fly again until it was raised over the GPO in 1916 during the Easter Rising.

Following the Easter Rising, many people across Ireland joined the Republican cause. County Tipperary was already a hotbed of Republicanism and Carrick-on-Suir and the surrounding areas provided many soldiers and leaders in the War of Independence.

With the coming of Civil War, Carrick-on-Suir was initially occupied by the Anti-Treaty IRA until the town fell to the Free State army in August 1922. During the battle for Carrick-on-Suir, the Courthouse and the Police Station were burnt out, and both bridges were destroyed.

The Republicans retook Carrick-on-Suir briefly in December 1922, in the process burning down the Workhouse and another building on the Main Street near Dillon Bridge. They captured weapons before leaving the town to be reoccupied by the Free State Army the following day.

By the 1920s Carrick-on-Suir saw industrialisation with the establishment of numerous cotton factories and a local creamery and the arrival of the leather tanning industry in Carrick-on-Suir in the 1930s provided much needed regular local employment. The Town Council also embarked on social housing projects to deal with appalling living conditions experienced by many people in the town. But despite these developments, economic opportunities were limited and poverty was widespread leading to emigration to Dublin, Britain and further afield especially during the long recessions of the 1940s and 1950s.

Today the population of Carrick-on-Suir is steady at approximately 6,000, and while the town was hit hard by the recent recession, it is still a bustling market town with a positive outlook, making it a great little town for business, tourism, culture, shopping and hospitality.

The River Suir

Carrick-on-Suir owes its existence and much of its past prosperity to the River Suir. The town’s close relationship with the river has always been strong, with salmon cot fishing and trading boats and barges, ‘lighters’ and ‘yawls’, being a regular sight in the past.

The lighters carried cargo between Waterford and Carrick, where the cargo was transferred to the yawls which continued to Clonmel, towed by men and horses. By 1835 there were as many as 180 lighters and yawls working the river between Clonmel and Waterford. As a result Carrick-on-Suir was vital to the distribution of goods across the South East of Ireland.

Indeed for centuries Carrick-on-Suir was a busy river port connecting Clonmel and the Golden Vale with the Port of Waterford. Although the introduction of the railways in the 19th Century signalled the beginning of the end for the river trade, the town continued as a hub for commercial river traffic until the mid 20th Century when the final bells tolled with the sale of the last two boats in 1973, ‘Knocknagow 1’ and ‘Knockagow 2’.

The town’s close relationship with the river remains to this day with the swan, the salmon and the Carrick Knot being symbols of the town, the Old Tow Path being a popular walk for locals and visitors alike, and the river men in their cots still a regular sight on the river.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Carrick-on-Suir flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries as a center of commerce and trade, benefiting from its location on the River Suir. The river was a vital transportation route, and the town became known for its thriving fishing industry, particularly salmon. The establishment of various markets and fairs further contributed to its economic growth.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Carrick-on-Suir continued to prosper, with the development of industries such as brewing, tanning, and woolen mills. The town’s Georgian architecture from this period, including the beautiful Main Guard building, reflects its economic prosperity.

TOWN INDUSTRIES

The town’s economy historically revolved around industries such as the woollen industry and leather tanning. The Plunder & Pollack tannery, established in 1938, was a significant employer until its closure in 1985, reflecting the town’s industrial past. In 1938 the tannery in Carrick-on-Suir was opened under the name of Plunder & Pollack (Ireland) Ltd. It later changed to Industrial & Commercial Holdings and finally to Irish Leathers.

The first directors were Fred Hitschmann, R. Hitschmann, George Dwyer of Cork, E. Rohan of Midleton, Jack O’Connor, an accountant from Cork, Commander George Crosbie of the Cork Examiner together with Joseph Dowley (Secretary) and William Dowley of Carrick-on-Suir. The Managing Director was Fred Hitschmann who was a Czechoslovakian Jew who fled Europe ahead of the Nazi occupation. In 1941 the tannery employed 250 people in Carrick and had an interest in tanneries in New Ross and Ballytore, Co. Kildare.

Plunder and Pollack continued to do well into the 1960′s and at that time bought the Imperial Hotel on the South Mall in Cork as well as the Southern Lake Hotel in Waterville, Co. Kerry. In the 1960′s a further synthetic company called Feresflex was opened in Carrick and Cecil Tyndall was appointed Managing Director. This was a subsidiary of Plunder & Pollack (Ireland) Ltd.

In the 1960′s there was also an amalgamation of the four leather factories in Carrick, Portlaw, Gorey and Dungarvan into the new publically quoted company Irish Leathers Ltd. The headquarters was in the old Malcolmson premises in Portlaw. This amalgamation resulted in continued prosperity for the leather industry. However, Joe Dowley died in 1971 and William Dowley in 1974. By the late 1970′s cheap leather from South America heralded the demise of Irish Leathers. In 1985 they went into receivership and the shareholders eventually received nothing. (excerpt from www.dowleyhistory.com)

CULTURAL AND SPORTING HERITAGE

Carrick-on-Suir and its hinterland can also lay claim to being of significant importance in the cultural, musical and sporting history of Ireland, with its famous sons (and daughters) including the Clancy Brothers who changed the face of Irish music, Seán Kelly who is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest road racing cyclists, Ballyneale’s Tom Kiely, Olympic Decathlon gold medalist in 1904, and Maurice Davin, one of the founders of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The traditions that they promoted continue to this day and are celebrated in the town by its sporting institutions, theatres, monuments, and festivals.

THE HINTERLANDS: NATURAL BEAUTY AND HERITAGE

The hinterlands of Carrick-on-Suir offer stunning landscapes and historical sites that add to the region’s allure. The nearby Comeragh Mountains provide a picturesque backdrop, with opportunities for hiking, fishing, and exploring hidden glens and waterfalls.

Close to the town lies the charming village of Kilsheelan, known for its scenic river walks and the ruins of Kilsheelan Castle. The area also boasts ancient sites such as the ruins of the 12th-century Ahenny High Crosses, showcasing intricate Celtic carvings that highlight the region’s early Christian heritage.

MODERN CARRICK-ON-SUIR

Today, Carrick-on-Suir remains a vibrant town that honors its past while looking to the future. It is a community that values its heritage, with efforts to preserve historical sites and promote cultural events. The town’s picturesque setting, combined with its rich history and welcoming atmosphere, makes it a unique and captivating destination for visitors and a proud home for its residents.

In essence, Carrick-on-Suir is a town where the echoes of history resonate through its streets and buildings, where the natural beauty of the Irish landscape meets a storied past, creating a place of enduring charm and significance.

Carrick-on-Suir: History of attractions

Robert. J. Cash or ‘Sonny’ Cash, photographer

Robert J. Cash, known as “Sonny” was born around 1876 and became a prolific photographer of the Tipperary-Kilkenny border area. Despite being partially disabled in his youth and growing up with a hunchback, Sonny turned to photography as a teenager. Operating from his father’s shop on Market St., Carrick-on-Suir, he traveled the countryside in a side-car, capturing local scenes and producing postcards. Sonny became one of the most prolific postcard producers in South Tipperary, leaving behind a rich visual legacy of the region.

SONNY CASH: THE INCREDIBLE PHOTOGRAPHER

Article and photos from Kilkenny Archives.

Recently, Julia, Mrs. Richard Cramptom, née Butler of Maidenhall, Bennetsbridge, when tidying up some papers of her late father’s – Hubert M. Butler – found a small collection of ‘local’ postcards which were the work of R.A. Cash of Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, who with his mother and other family members perished in a domestic house-fire in Carrick-on-Suir c. 1917. These postcards in their original envelope had been gifted to Hubert by Sheila Carton, who is believed to have lived in the Piltown area of south Kilkenny in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Robert. J. Cash (born c. 1876 – died 1916 or 1917) who was known as ‘Sonny’ Cash or ‘The Crippled Photographer’ captured much of the Tipperary-Kilkenny border area adjacent to his home-town, in his photographs. Sonny, partially crippled in his youth grew up to be hump-backed. He took to photography as a teenager and from his father’s shop on Market St.,Carrick-on-Suir, travelled the Tipperary-Kilkenny countryside in a side-car, building up a large collection of local views, some of which he reproduced as postcards. Sonny was one of the most prolific producers of postcards in south Tipperary at this time.

All his glass negatives were destroyed in the same fire which cost him his life. The views which he reproduced as postcards are all that remain of his life’s work, a selection of which may be seen in the Clonmel Museum which largely came from a local collector, Mr. Hugh Ryan, who recognised the value of Sonny’s work.

To-day these postcards are a very important historical record. The earliest Cash postcard on display in the Clonmel Museum was postmarked 1904, taken when Sonny was 28. He was about forty at the time of his death. The Irish Census records of 1901 and 1911 tell us that his father was Robert Cash, a shopkeeper while his mother was Harriet and that there were at least two sisters, Ellen (born c. 1880) and Charlotte (born c. 1884). The family were Presbyterian. These postcards set alongside the near contemporary Lawrence Collection which is today owned by the National Library of Ireland, can track developments (or losses) in this relatively small are of the Tipeprary-Kilkenny border. Amongst the topics Sonny covered were some of the local ‘Big Houses’ and in this collection we have postcards relating to Rossenara House, Kilmoganny and to Curraghmore the home of the Beresfords, Marquesses of Waterford. There are also views of local clergy houses both Protestant and Roman Catholic.

The collection gifted to KILKENNY ARCHIVES includes everyday scenes from Windgap village, Owning, Grange Mockler, Carrick-on-Suir, Kilmoganny, Newtown Anner, Clonmel, Fiddown and Portlaw, Ahenna (Ahenny), Curraghmore, Castletown (Cox) and Kilkeran where some of the notable High Crosses of the Ossory Group are to be found.

In 2016 a group of Carrick-on-Suir people came together and collected up from local households examples of R. A. Cash’s photographic work which they had copied and reprinted. The profits from the venture were spent in placing a headstone on the grave of R.A. ‘Sonny’ Cash and his family.

The detail in some of these postcards is amazing. Modern scanning techniques has allowed us to enlarge the views way beyond what was ever possible in the pre-digital age without expending vast sums of money for uncertain results. One which particularly caught the eye was of the area adjacent to the Kilcash National School. Here in a nearby farmyard we see cocks of hay stored for winter use. Pleated hay (or straw) ‘tops’ have been woven by hand to act as protection against the elements. With this article are the views from Kilcash village and district, including the ancient tower house of Kilcash Butlers who in the mid eighteen-century inherited Kilkenny Castle and its ancient estate and were duly recognised as Earls of Ormond in 1791.

The Post Office, Carrick-on-Suir

The known history of the postal service in the town of Carrick on Suir stretches back to the late 18^th century with the opening of the first recorded post office in the town in 1799. It was located on Main Street in a building which is Mary Fashion’s today across from the New Bridge. Before the state began to take a direct role in the running of the postal service from the late 19^th century onwards the majority of post offices were privately owned.

THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE

In the aftermath of the Fenian Rebellion of 1867 a second postal delivery service was introduced in all towns which had a military barracks and a Constabulary force including Carrick-on-Suir. This was to facilitate the exchange of important documents between the military headquarters and the local command. This manner of delivery continued in Carrick until about 1970.

The Slaters Directory records that “Letters from Dublin, London and all parts of England arrive every morning at half past seven and night at ten, and dispatched every morning at half past three and evening at half past five. The Clonmel and Waterford mails arrive and are dispatched every afternoon at five. Portlaw and Piltown letters arrive and are dispatched daily”.”Post or parcels (and passengers) for Kilkenny, Waterford and Clonmel also departed from Bianconi’s Office in Carrick each day.“

The turn of the 20^th century saw the relocation of the post office in Carrick to a building on the opposite site of the street. The building was leased out to the post office for 20 years before it was eventually purchased from the owners who were the Bessboroughs of Bessborough House in Piltown. This building, sadly now vacant, is an impressive terraced three-bay two-storey red brick building with integral carriage arch. The post office operated from this building until 2011 when it relocated to Greystone Street before finally moving to its present location in Supervalu. In the first few years in its new location the post office was run by the Mulcahy sisters who were aunts to Richard Mulcahy, republican army general and Fine Gael leader and Minister. A career in the postal service appeared to run in the family as Mulcahy, himself, also worked in the postal service, in the engineering department before he entered political life.

1920S ONWARDS

The 1920s in Carrick was a politically fraught period for the town as the community struggled to cope with the upheaval caused by the fight for independence. When Civil War broke out in the summer of 1922 most of the towns in Tipperary including Carrick-on-Suir were taken over by anti-Treaty forces. Recognising that control over the country’s communication network would easier allow them to execute their militant actions, republican forces quickly seized post offices and telephone exchanges in many towns and villages across the country.

Carrick-on-Suir post office and telephone exchange were taken control of in the early summer of 1922. Trains transporting large deliveries of clothes and food destined for the Free State forces were raided by republicans. Parcels or letters addressed to the Free State Forces or to people under suspicion were also seized. Some of the local postal officials and postmen who were sympathetic to the republican cause actively assisted the men in their raiding activities; providing access to buildings and ensuring the raiders made a safe escape. However, the assistance of local supporters was not enough to counter the opposing side, and Carrick-on-Suir along with other towns in Tipperary were eventually brought back under the control of the Free State Army in August 1922.

Throughout the years many families have given years of dedicated and loyal service to the postal service in Carrick-on-Suir. Up to the mid-20^th century it was customary for the Postmistress or Postmaster and his or her family to live as well as work in the post office. The living quarters in the Carrick post office were located upstairs, providing welcome separation from work life and home life. Both local and non-local families served the town and surrounding areas, providing an essential communications service long before telephones were installed in every home, let alone hi-speed broadband. The Power family lived and worked in the post office from the late 1920s to the 1950s. Tom Power served as postmaster while his brother Noel worked as a postman. Manning the counter for forty years was their sister Maura who was one of the senior clerks. A truly family affair! The Power family were the last family to live in the post office. Kevin Power, the grandson of Tom Power, recalls some of the family stories passed down through the generations: To cope with the large influx of post during the festive period the postmaster Tom Power, leave the post office, hop onto the bike and deliver a couple of postal rounds in order to ease the pressure on the force of local postmen. (Tom’s help would have been greatly appreciated by An Post last Christmas!) But perhaps more interesting is the story that Tom allegedly passed on messages to the local flying column during the revolutionary period of the 1920s.

Upon Tom Power’s retirement in the late 1950s Patrick Cadogan moved from the Curragh in Co. Kildare to take up the postmaster role. In 1963 Michael Walsh from Waterford took up the mantle until his death in 1973. (Note: It was around this time that electric heating was first installed in the post office. Up till then the post office and the postmaster’s living quarters was heated solely with turf which had to be dragged up and down the stairs by the poor unfortunate cleaning lady!) Dick Bolger from Clonmel was the next to helm the post office but sadly lost his life in a car accident ten years later. Pat Gleeson from Castlebar served as postmaster from 1983 to 1985 before passing on the baton to Jimmy Griffin. Michael O’Donnell who had been senior clerk in the post office was promoted to postmaster in 1985 before his retirement in 1996 marking 40 years of dedicated service to the postal service. Seamus Doherty was the next person to assume the position of postmaster before passing on the role to Martin Peters who served until An Post became a franchise.

Just as important as the postal workers who worked inside the post office were those who worked outside it – the hard-working postmen who delivered post to the local community in hail, rain or shine. Zipping along on their bicycles throughout the town, their arrival signalled the delivery of all manners of post from letters which brought news from loved ones abroad, cherished long after they were opened, to the less welcome bills! They were an integral cog in the postal system and were valued members of the local community for as well as bringing post they also brought much-anticipated news and companionship to isolated members of the community. Some of the postmen that are fondly remembered by locals include, Willie Hannigan from St. Mollerans who served the White Church and Castletown area, Billy Walsh who delivered the post in the 1960s and 1970s (pictured here delivering post in Faugheen) and Michael McGrath who retired in 2009. The telegram delivery boy was Eamonn Kavanagh from O’Mahony Avenue.

Throughout the 20^th century when the country was experiencing mass emigration the local post office became a lifeline for local families who wanted to stay in touch with their loved ones overseas. As landlines did not become commonplace in Irish households until the 1980s, telephone calls had to be made through the telephone exchange in the local postal office. In 1960 the telephone exchange in Carrick relocated from a building in the West Gate end of the Main St to the upstairs rooms of the post office where the postmaster’s living quarters formerly had been. The telephone exchange had three boards and was supervised by Philomena Hickey from Ballyneal. Some phone calls had to be kept brief, particularly international calls which were very costly as one local remembers: When we left Ireland in 1966, to live in Canada, we always liked to call home at Christmas. You had to book the call ahead of time. The call was put through to the post office in Carrick. Mr. McGrath was the telephone operator. Before he put the call home to my parent’s house, he would ask about the weather in Canada. I would be counting the minutes as the call was costing a lot of money back then. One can only imagine the hundreds of thousands of conversations about life, love, and loss that flowed through those telephone lines, helping to bridge the lonely gap between local families and their loved ones living thousands of miles away.

THE POST OFFICE TODAY

Despite all of the advances in communication and technology the postal service still plays an important role in Irish life today. An Post continues to still offer the traditional postal service while also branching out into a wide range of new areas from pensions to banking. More important, however, than the services it offers is the communal space that the post office provides.

The post office in Ireland is a thriving hub of social interaction; it is where people meet to exchange news, discuss the affairs of the day and stay connected. Particularly in the present day when human interaction with others has to be kept to a minimum, the post office is one of the few remaining places where we can bump into someone and exchange a quick hello and a chat. Perhaps this is what makes the vacant state of the old post office so shameful. What was once a hotbed of activity, now lies in a dormant and rapidly deteriorating state.

Throughout the years, hundreds of men and women have dedicated their life to working in the Post Office, facilitating efficient communication that helped keep our community connected. What better way to honour these people and thank them for their long years of service than considering ways in which this property can be brought back to life in the 21^st century? There are so many possible ways in which we can breathe new life into this building; it possibly could be upgraded and converted into a business premise or an office space, there is also potential for it to be converted into much needed affordable housing. The possibilities are endless and they could all be done without compromising the preservation of this building’s valuable historic fabric. In the 1990s when the post office underwent renovations the harp symbol that was formerly affixed to the front of the building was removed and placed into safe keeping in the local Heritage Museum. If we leave this building to continue to deteriorate at its current rate that harp symbol will be the only reminder we have of this historic building. Action must be taken before it is too late.

NOTE: We would like to thank Catherine O’Donnell for providing us with information that had been compiled by her late husband Michael O’Donnell. Michael will be remembered by many for his long years of dedicated service to the post office in Carrick-on Suir. We would also like to thank Kevin Power and everyone else who responded to our call out on social media for information about the post office.

Sonny Cash postcard dated 1912 of the Post Office.

Billy Walsh who delivered the post in the 1960s and 1970s (pictured in Faugheen)

Vintage Steam Train at Carrick Station. Date: 1960s/1970s. Credit: Maurice Power.

Jack-Doherty-and-the-last-railway-horse-and-cart-1970s

Railway employees. Credit: Waterford, Limerick, and Western Railway by Ernie Shepherd.

Ticket from Carrick-on-Suir to Paddington, London. Credit: Maurice Power.

JJ-Healy-personal-diaries-Civil-War-1922-23-P-8

Great Southern Railway 4-6-0. Preserved at Ulster Museum..

Carrick-on-Suir train station

Carrick-on-Suir welcomed the thrill of train travel in April 1853 with the opening of its station, which still operates on the town’s outskirts. One of four stops on the route, alongside Clonmel, Cahir, and Tipperary, its construction was a massive effort, reshaping parts of the town. Read the fascinating history below by Róisín Phelan. Thanks also to Maurice Power, Mervyn Grace, Michael Faulkner and the countless other people who kindly submitted information and images.

THE HISTORY OF THE TRAIN STATION

The 19^th century is commonly referred to as the Age of Progress as Europe witnessed dynamic advancements in industry, technology and science. While Ireland did not experience an industrial revolution on a scale to that of Britain, which was at the height of its empire building at the time, it still made considerable advancements in many areas, transport being chief among them. Before the advent of the railway system in Ireland in the 1830s there were three principal means available for travelling large distances; by boat on the canal network which was greatly improved with the opening of the Grand and Royal Canals in the late 18^th century, by horse-drawn coach, or for the energetic or downright destitute by foot. In Carrick-on-Suir goods to and from Waterford and Clonmel were mainly transported on large barges on the River Suir operated by the River Suir Navigation Company as well as private hauliers. While passengers opted for Bianconi’s coach cars which provided speedy and cost-efficient travel to and from Waterford and Clonmel for the princely sum of 2 shillings. However, the need for a faster method of transporting both passengers and freight became apparent as the 19^th century progressed. This led to the first railway opening in 1834, of a passenger service between Westland Row in Dublin and Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), only 10 years later than that of Great Britain. The present day Dart line from Pearse Station to Dun Laoghaire still runs along the same line.

In the following decades Ireland’s rail network extended outwards to Cork, Belfast and Galway, before reaching small towns and villages. Plans for a railway between Limerick and Waterford were first put into motion in 1826, eight years before the opening of the railway in Ireland, with the passing of the Waterford and Limerick Railway Act. Interestingly, it was originally recommended that the railway line should terminate not in Waterford but at Carrick on Suir whereupon “the railway carriages would there be run on to platforms and towed down the river by steam boats as far as Waterford, where the lading (cargo) will be transferred into sea-borne vessels. The expense of a double unloading and double shipment would be thus saved.” However, upon realization of the added labour of transferring cargo from train to cart and cart to ship this would entail the plan was swiftly abandoned and it was instead agreed that the line would end in Waterford. However, an economic recession in the late 1830s and the subsequent Great Famine stalled the project for several years until 1845 when construction finally began.

From then on it was full steam ahead and the first section of the railway between Limerick and Tipperary was allowed to open three years later after construction officially began on 9th of May 1848. The later sections of the line were opened in stages, finally extending to Waterford 1854 through the assistance of a £120,000 government loan.

The people of Carrick-on-Suir were first introduced to the wonders of travelling on the tracks in April 1853 with the opening up of the train station on the outskirts of the town where it still remains in operation today. Carrick is one of four intermediate stations on the route along with Clonmel, Cahir and Tipperary. The construction of the train station was a labour intensive and lead to the demolishment of parts of the town. For instance, the residence of a magistrate, Walter Herbert along with a disused tanyard were swept away on Pill Road. The road entering Mill Street from Sir John’s Rd was, also, completely razed while a new footbridge, which is still in use, was constructed to replace the road to Newtown.

The original five-bay single-storey railway station building, built in 1853, is now disused, however, the railway bridge dating from the same period is still in use. The signal cabin and waiting room built in the early 20^th century have retained their original functions and are in a good state of preservation. Of the same vintage is the signal box which originally had 15 levers to operate numerous points and signals around the yard.

Another feature of the station is the goods shed where originally, cargo would have been loaded into train wagons from horse-drawn carts. Today the goods shed acts as a base for the Irish Traction Group which dedicates itself to restoring disused locomotives The crane used to load goods onto the wagons is another notable feature to survive into the present day.

In the first few decades of its existence, users of Carrick-on-Suir train station witnessed the changing colour palette of Ireland’s early steam locomotives.

Initially, steam trains were painted an eye-catching green until 1876 when they were replaced with a more subdued palette of brown with blue and yellow lining. In the late 1880s the colour was changed to a very dark crimson for passenger trains while goods locomotives were painted black with red and white lining. Not to be outdone by the trains higher-ranking employees sported equally colourful livery. The stationmasters and station inspectors in Waterford and Limerick wore a red cap with gold braiding, while those in Carrick, Clonmel, Tipperary and Fiddown wore a blue cap with a plain gold band.

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

The introduction of the railway to Carrick brought economic prosperity to the town, providing for the most part, well-paid positions. Drivers were paid 7 shillings a day while guards received 15 shillings a day, which were good wages in that time period. Employees who were on the lower rungs such as porters and gangers received less generous wages, on a scale from 8 shillings to 15 shillings a week. Such meagre wages did not measure up to the high level of risk that they were subjected to on a daily basis. Casualties were frequent and the incidences of death worryingly high. Essentially, a career in the railway was an extremely dangerous career path for those workers who wore the smut of coal, grease and sweat on their face. The need to keep the train wheels turning put considerable stress on these workers, a reality which was starkly highlighted during an incident that occurred at Carrick station on 4 November 1875. On that day a goods train which was travelling at too great a speed collided with a goods and passenger train arriving from Waterford. Thankfully, there were no injuries but the investigation conducted in the wake of the accident exposed the dangerous working practices that directly caused the accident. The investigation found that the train approached the station at too great a speed and that the fireman (a fireman’s duty was to tend the fire which powered the steam engine) was young and inexperienced. Perhaps most damning was the driver who had been working almost 21 hours straight at the time of the accident and was found in a deep slumber on a station bench after the accident! From 1856 railway workers who fell ill were not granted sick pay. Compensation was given if employees sustained an injury or were killed at work, but it varied widely and was often inadequate. For example, the wife of Donovan, a ganger who was killed between Fiddown and Carrick in 1878 received an allowance of 6 shillings for one year. Less fortunate was the sister of Denis McCarthy who was killed in 1889 near Lixnaw station in Co. Kerry. When his sister requested for an allowance for the removal of her brother’s remains to Tralee, she was refused on the grounds that she was not financially dependent on her brother.

THE DAWNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The dawning of the 20^th century saw further progressions to Ireland’s railway network. In 1901 the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway was amalgamated with the Great Southern Railway. The train network was extended further south to Tralee and all of the way to Sligo in the North West.

In effect Carrick-on-Suir railway station was now part of the fourth largest railway in Ireland measuring an impressive 342 miles. By 1920 Ireland’s railway network measured 3,750 miles, impressive when you consider that Ireland had a population of just over 3 million people at the time. However, only a couple of years later, the positive progression and advancements made to Ireland’s railway network were to suffer a serious blow. Ireland’s railways the length and breadth of the country became caught in the crossfire of the Civil War.

Due to the use of the railways by the Free State for the transport of troops and war materials and for the purposes of army communications it was inevitable that the railways would become a prime target for the Anti-Treaty side. The length and breadth of the country cargo trains were raided, passengers were forced to disembark from trains and rail staff were coerced into carrying out tasks at gunpoint by the IRA. Whole sections of the railway infrastructure were decimated as bridges and viaducts were blown up. Carrick station did not escape the turmoil unscathed as outlined in the personal diaries of contemporary witness JJ Healy.

THE RESTORATION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM

In the wake of the Civil War the Irish Free State set about restoring Ireland’s railway system and infrastructure which had suffered considerable damage during the conflict. All of the railways in the country were centralised under the newly formed company the Great Southern Railways (GSR) in 1925.

GSR’s attempts to rejuvenate and restore Ireland’s railway network to its former glory were severely curtailed by the outbreak of WW2. The GSR struggled to provide a functioning service once Britain decided to cease coal exports to neutral Ireland. There was a sharp drop in the quality and frequency of the Waterford to Limerick service as passengers regularly experienced long delays. This was mainly due to the inferior substitutes used for imported British coal. The main substitute being a poor quality briquette known as duff which was made up of coal dust, cement and other substances. Wood and turf were also known to be used to power the steam engines. These alternatives often failed to keep the fires burning often leading to passengers facing delays of up to 12 hours. WW2 lead to a rapid reduction in the number of rail passengers, which had already been in steady decline due to the unpredictable railway service, the increasingly more regular bus services, and the high levels of emigration. Train stations the length and breadth of the country have borne witness to countless scenes of long-lost farewells as thousands of young people sought a better life abroad. The memories of the loss of our young people to foreign shores are still alive in Carrick today: “I remember my dad saying about the Railway Station ‘If these walls could talk, they wouldn’t, they would weep. We rear our children to export them, and we export our best.”

“I remember years ago when a family member would be heading off to England it would be packed in the railway station. I remember my nanny crying lots of times over there waving them off to the boat. The railway station is steeped in memories and history.”

In the 1940s the railway system in Ireland underwent a period of dramatic change and modernisation. In 1945, Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE) was set up by the Government to replace the GSR which had failed to raise enough capital for investment. From 1951 CIE steadily converted to diesel trains, spelling the beginning of the end of steam engines in Ireland. Despite the CIE’s drive for modernisation some traditional aspects of the Irish railway remained unchanged, one being the use of horsepower – in the traditional sense.

Jack Doherty was a character that is still fondly remembered in Carrick today and he was the last person to deliver by horse and cart cargo arriving into Carrick train station to businesses in the town. Jack’s faithful horse was a Clydesdale and was known for his gentle temperament. Jack and his faithful horse and cart ambling through the town was a familiar sight until Jack’s retirement in the early 1970s.

From 1979 onwards the train station at Carrick experienced an upsurge in freight traffic with the expansion of the sugar beet industry in Ireland. The sugar beet was transported from a depot in Wellingtonbridge in Co. Wexford to Mallow in Co. Cork via Carrick. By the late 1980s the production of sugar beet was at such a level that there were three daily services between the two stations. Cement which was produced in a factory Limerick was another commodity that regularly traversed through the station in Carrick.

DISASTER ON THE TRACKS

At the turning of the 21^st century a disastrous event occurred which nearly spelt the end of the Waterford to Limerick line and Carrick on Suir’s place in Ireland’s national rail network. On 7^th October 2003 a cement train bound for Limerick was derailed on the Cahir viaduct, causing the viaduct split into two. Twelve wagons plunged 50 foot from the viaduct into the River Suir below. Thankfully there were no injuries or death, a sobering fact considering that just hours before the accident a passenger train carrying 10 people had crossed the same viaduct. It was a matter of history repeating itself as a similar accident occurred at Cahir Viaduct on the morning of 21^st December 1955 when a beet train fell through the floor of the viaduct into the gushing River Suir below, killing both its driver and fireman instantaneously. A subsequent investigation into the 2003 accident found that the design of the freight wagons, their weight and the track, caused the train to derail. Intensive lobbying and support shown by local TDs and the local people prevented the permanent closure of the line. The line reopened the following year after undergoing restoration works that cost €2.6 million.

THE TRAIN STATION TODAY

Carrick on Suir train station is not the busy transport hub that it once was; freight traffic no longer trundles through the station and its services to Waterford and Limerick Junction have been reduced in recent years. Although the car has become the main mode of transport the station continues to provide a vital transport service for those in our community who need to travel by rail for work or study. Others in our community choose train travel for less prosaic reasons; many revel in the romanticism of rail travel while others appreciate its slow, leisurely pace and the rare opportunity it provides to reflect and gaze at the lush landscape rolling outside the carriage window. Fundamentally, rail travel has been at the forefront of slow travel before slow travel became a conscious decision rather than the only choice.

Carrick on Suir train station has borne witness to some of the most significant events in Irish history, from Civil War to world wars, and to mass emigration to fatal accidents. In this present time when train stations are currently being forced to close Carrick on Suir has shown its true tenacity by retaining its rail service. If we continue to avail of our national railway service, whether it be for reasons for work or pleasure, we can guarantee that Carrick on Suir station will continue to provide a vital service in our community for another 168 years.

By Róisín Phelan

NOTE: I would like to thank Maurice Power, Mervyn Grace, Michael Faulkner and the countless other people who kindly submitted information and images for this article.

the National Bank in Carrick-on-Suir

The National Bank of Ireland was formed in 1835 in London by the noteworthy politician Daniel O’Connell and the Nationalist Party as the National Bank of Ireland. The first branch of this joint-stock bank opened in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary on Wednesday 28 January 1835. The Bank’s first Governor was Daniel O’Connell, a fact which earned the Bank the nickname of “The Liberator’s Bank.” The building in which this branch operated from is still there today and now operates as Bank of Ireland.

THE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL BANK

This five-bay three storey building was constructed c. 1820 and was formerly the residence of business man, William O’Donnell who owned a bacon factory on the Quays. Between 1867-73 the building was remodeled with the addition of a single-storey entrance bay and a large rear extension. The building was and continues to be the most dominant feature on the streetscape. Experts have noted: “The quality and variety of stuccowork of the façade highlights the importance of this bank building for the town. It is dominant on the streetscape, both in its function and style. The elaborately decorated entrance openings also give a sense of grandeur to the activity of entering the bank, and the discreet treatment of the window openings to the ground floor creates a distinction of use between it and the upper floors.” The brass plaque on the bank’s exterior marking its foundation date further reminds us of the historic provenance of this Georgian building.

(NOTE: The image of the National Bank of Ireland is believed to date from c. 1910.)

Ireland’s banking system in the early 19th century found itself in a deep financial crisis when a number of privately owned banks collapsed throughout the country. The south of the country, particularly the province of Munster was hit hard by the crisis. The people of Carrick suffered considerably during the banking crisis with the closure of Sausses bank and Carshores bank which folded just 3 years after first opening its doors. While Clonmel experienced the closure of Rialls bank and Waterford city suffered the loss of Newport’s bank. By 1820 nearly 40% of Ireland’s privately owned banks had collapsed. Consequently, Ireland’s economy in this era was, in the words of one Irish historian an “amazing financial pantomime.” Unsurprisingly, at the time the people of Carrick held little faith in the stability of Ireland’s banking sector.

However, despite this local wariness the town was a prime location for O’Connell to begin his new banking venture. The majority of the townspeople were nationalists and had showed overwhelming support for O’Connell during his campaign to gain Catholic emancipation. It was believed that the broadly nationalist outlook of the National Bank would align with the politics of the townspeople.

Another factor that attracted O’Connell to the town was the town’s growing economy. Despite the rapid decline of its woollen industry which had flourished during the 17th and 18th century Carrick was all in all a prosperous town of over 11,000 inhabitants. The town took advantage of trade from Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny and as a result had grown into a well-established commercial town by the beginning of the 19th century. Providing employment to the town and people in surrounding areas were many bacon yards, saw mills, a distillery, and two breweries. Transporting the goods that these enterprises produced to Waterford and Clonmel were the 400 boatmen who made a living on the River Suir. While by road Bianconi’s coach cars provided a vital transport service for locals wishing to travel to and from Waterford and Clonmel. In O’Connell’s opinion Carrick was one of the most prosperous town in Ireland and it held enough merit to be chosen to be the birthplace of the National Bank in Ireland.

From its onset, O’Connell was determined that his new banking venture would not be mired by the financial disasters and unprincipled practices of the private banks in the past. Six months before the opening of the National Bank branch in Carrick he laid out his vision: “The more banks in Ireland the better provided they be founded on sound banking principles, and not merely got up over speculative persons. I have no doubt that but the Irish National Bank will be successful.”

O’Connell’s main objective for the National Bank was to provide capital for economic development in Ireland. The National Bank would end the monopoly that the Protestant-dominated Provincial Bank and Bank of Ireland had over banking by offering its services to all, with no discrimination on grounds of religion or politics. This banking venture then was in a way a natural extension of O’Connell’s political vision for an egalitarian Ireland. O’Connell wanted to make banking more accessible, in particular, to rural communities; small businesses, tenant farmers and the gentry. As a landlord himself, O’Connell was particularly cognisant of the struggles of the farming tenant class and he was keen that his new banking venture would benefit those who eked out a meagre living on Irish soil.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL BANK

The National Bank was founded on the shareholder’s principle – where half of the bank’s capital was raised by local shareholders and the other half was provided by the National Bank’s head branch in London. The capital of the Carrick branch consisted of five thousand shares of £5 each. In its first year of operation the bank issued its own bank notes. However, the first few days of the notes’ circulation caused a lot of confusion in the town! Namely, the word “sterling” or the £ sign did not appear on the notes leading to some confusion as to whether a payment in sterling or Irish currency was intended. Also, the bank notes did not specify which bank it was to be made payable. Despite these errors in the first two days of the bank’s opening banknotes to the amount of £12,000 were issued.

The bank note’s overtly patriotic design which featured the figure of Hibernia leaning on an Irish harp, attended by an Irish wolfhound with “Erin go bragh” written underneath may explain its popularity. According to local newspaper reports at the time within its first few days of opening numerous local people had already visited the Carrick branch and upon confirming that this bank was O’Connell’s bank: “each of these small money-changers pulled out a pound note or two, either of the Bank of Ireland or the Provincial Bank, exclaiming like men who imagined that they were serving their country: “Here, take these Orange notes, and give us for them the real genuine stamp of O’Connell himself.” There was a proposal in later years to print a bust of Daniel O’Connell on the bank notes but it was never implemented – if only the banking officials had been aware of the immense popularity of the Liberator in the small town of Carrick!

From its onset the Carrick branch committed itself to employing local people, particularly for the higher-ranking positions in the branch. The branch’s first Director was Thomas B. Wilson, J.P. who resided in New Street. Thirty years later, another local man, Henry B. Slattery took up the mantle. Henry was born in Carrickbeg on the site where the present friary church now stands. Evidence suggests that in its early days the Directors and Chairmen of the National Bank were chosen because of their high social status and class; respectable Catholics, businessmen and gentlemen farmers, rather than their proficiency in or knowledge of banking or business. As a result, a skilled assistant had to be employed to provide much needed guidance and assistance.

An act of lawlessness which occurred at the Carrick branch further highlighted the mix of personalities and characters that managed the branch in its early days. In 1839, Mr Power and Mr Cantwell, who were Directors of the Carrick branch along with another employee were found guilty of assaulting the National Bank’s superintendent John Reynolds when he came to inspect the books. When Reynolds refused to leave the bank the three men threw the superintendent out on the street without a hat and tore his clothes! For this misconduct Cantwell and Power were dismissed from the bank and fined heavily.

It must be assumed that unprofessional behaviour amongst management was the exception rather than the rule as the Liberator’s bank immediately flourished in its first few years of operation. The Carrick branch quickly commanded the full confidence of the local people, particularly the farming community through its provision of loans and savings accounts. By the end of 1835 the National bank had opened 11 branches and 18 sub-branches in Ireland and by the following year had a paid up capital of £374,140, of which £133,125 was subscribed locally in Ireland. In 1845 the Irish Banking Act ended the Bank of Ireland’s monopoly in Dublin, allowing for the National Bank to set up a chief office in the capital. In 1856 the bank changed its name to National Bank Ltd. In 1854 the bank opened its first branch in England and by 1888 it had grown to be the 8th largest bank in Britain.

Unfortunately, while the bank was flourishing its patron was floundering financially. Daniel O’Connell was known to be spendthrift and careless when it came to money. In 1841 O’Connell scored a huge political success by becoming the first Catholic lord mayor of Dublin since 1688. However, his term as mayor had a draining effect on his personal finances. In 1842 he had to come before the Board of the National Bank, of which he was still governor, and explain for his considerable debt to the bank of just over £30,000. In a letter to a friend O’Connell confessed: ‘Want is literally killing me. I have grown ten years older from my incessant pecuniary anxiety.” Even smaller debts were beyond O’Connell’s meagre financial means at that time. In July 1842 he was unable to pay of bill of £426 to his friend, the Kilkenny brewer, Edmond Smithwick, who ended up paying off a number of O’Connell’s numerous other debts. Upon O’Connell’s death in 1847 it was reported that his debt to the bank had grown to £70,000 however upon further investigation a public announcement was made that the sum owed did not exceed £4,000 and that this was covered by Policies of Insurance for £7500 and other securities.

In the early decades of the 20th century the National Bank managed to weather the storm caused by the political instability in Ireland and the economic depression that followed in the 1920s and 1930s. During the 1950s and 1960s the National Bank’s experienced a resurgence with the growth of the Irish economy. However, by the mid-1960s, over thirty years since Irish independence it was untenable for such a major Irish bank to have its head office in London. Transferring the head office of the National Bank to Dublin was never a possibility as it would have resulted in the loss of the bank’s London Clearing bank status. As a result, the National Bank was taken over by the Bank of Ireland in 1965 and rebranded temporarily as National Bank of Ireland, before being fully incorporated into Bank of Ireland in 1966. The chapter had now closed on the National Bank and the role it played in the commerce of the country and our town. However, the importance of this banking institution and the contribution that its founder made towards liberating an entire class of society both politically and financially will never be forgotten by the people of this town.

The National Bank of Ireland is believed to date from c. 1910.

Portrait of Daniel O’Connell as the Governor of the National Bank of Ireland, 1838.

Decamps, Alexandre-Gabriel; The Witches in 'Macbeth'; The Wallace Collection; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-witches-in-macbeth-209367

THE CARRICK WITCH – THE CASE OF THE “ENCHANTRESS” AND THE “BEWITCHED” POLICEMAN

In the autumn of 1864, the local police force brought a most unusual case before the magistracy of the Crown Court in Carrick-on-Suir. A local woman, Mary Doheny was charged with fraudulently obtaining goods from policeman Constable James Reeves and his wife. But why did this case above all of the numerous other trails capture so much public and media attention at the time? It was the fact that Mary Doheny claimed that she possessed the powers of witchcraft! Referred to as the “Carrick witch” in news reports at the time, Mary was accused of illegally extracting goods from the Reeves couple as well as six other respectable and sound-minded local people by duping them into thinking that she could communicate with the otherworld! Read the whole story below.

THE WITCH STORY THAT WENT WORLDWIDE

Most publications painted a less than sympathetic picture of the defendant and her background. The Dublin Evening Mail mercilessly remarked that Mary would have been burned at the stake had she lived in the “meerie olden times”, ( little would the journalist know of the infamous event that was to occur just over 30 years later in Ballyvadlea, near Clonmel of the burning to death of Tipperary woman Bridget Cleary by her husband and family who believed she had been stolen and replaced with a changeling).

As was common at the time journalists paid special attention to the physical appearance of the defendant with Mary being described as an affluent woman of about 40 with an “intelligent” and “cunning face”, “cunning” being a popular term used to describe people who were believed to practice folk or “low” magic. The papers claimed that Mary profited from her involvement in the “black arts” by selling folk magic potions to romantic and foolish girls and netting “respectable sums (of money) from farmers’ wives with whom things were not going altogether too smoothly.”.

However, the Tipperary Press was more sympathetic in its description of this woman who found herself in the docks, noting that she was a mother of young children and a wife to an unemployed blind man: “She wore around her a red shawl, and had in her hands, an infant, only a few months old…the police were about to shove her into the grated enclosure as quickly as possible as if they were afraid she was going to slip through their fingers and vanish from their sight. But no; there she stood facing the crowd, just like an ordinary mortal in a similar predicament.”

The court was told that Mrs. Doheny’s relationship with the Reeves family began when she was enlisted by Mrs. Reeves to tend to her 7-year-old son William who suffered from epileptic fits. Although Mary failed to cure William and he subsequently died, after the child’s child she strangely won the confidence of the Reeves family. She became a frequent visitor to the Reeves household, eating and drinking and “bewitching Mrs Reeves, who before until the latter had been a fine handsome looking woman, now looked pale and emaciated, with peculiarly looking lustrous but sunken eyes, plainly indicating the infatuation that she was under and in which her husband also shared.”

After Mary had inveigled her way into the Reeves family, she predicted that the Reeves would soon grow rich due to the generosity of some of their deceased loved ones and friends who had now re-entered the world of the living! The guileless Constable Reeves was completely duped by Mary’s deceptive scheme. Mary led the hapless man to believe that a companion of his, Sir James Power, who had been deceased for over a decade wanted to bestow him some landed property. Mary backed up her spurious claim by producing letters in which Sir Power laid out his promise to the Constable in writing. The court heard that during the course of the police investigation into this case a chest containing these letters were subsequently discovered and a local woman, Eileen Walsh came forward to admit that Mary had paid her to forge these letters.

The court were flabbergasted to hear that Mary went on to convince the Reeves family that some of their deceased friends and family had been “restored to life” and were eager to be reacquainted with them. The Constable attested to seeing in the flesh his father-in-law, sister-in-law and his recently deceased son, William during meetings arranged by Mary! It was later revealed in court these departed persons were in fact Mary’s husband and a number of other accomplices who managed to fool Mary’s unfortunate victims by donning themselves in sheets and shrouds.

In order to completely hoodwink her victims, Mary arranged for these clandestine meetings to take place after dark in remote locations, (Reeves mentions Knockroe passage tomb, Ballydine moat and an unoccupied house near the Railway bridge). Constable Reeves did remark in court that his father-in-law did seem to have grown since he last saw him just before his passing, but so wrapped up in the spell of the bewitching Mary was he it did not arouse any suspicion in him!

Mary obtained food, clothing and tobacco from the Reeves family on the pretence that she would take them to their resurrected family and friends who needed sustenance now that they were living and breathing individuals again. The culinary tastes of the resurrected seem to be very high as on one occasion eggs were returned to Mrs. Reeves as they apparently had not agreed with her son William and on another occasion, potatoes were sent back to Mrs. Reeves by another picky relative as they were not to their liking! To pay for these supplies, Constable Reeves landed himself into a considerable amount of debt but the promise of property and money convinced him to continue to borrow heavily in order to meet the high demands of his loved ones. Reeve’s colleague, sub constable Hayes also came under Mary’s spell and resigned from his job after Mary convinced him that he would soon be bestowed landed estates in Carrick. Alarmed by the number of people that had come under the influence of Mary. the local priest Rev Power convened a meeting of the local population and warned them of the dangers of allowing strangers into their homes and families.

Despite the clear duplicity of this woman Reeves and Hayes never lost faith in her. Enchanted under her spell, they stood up in court and swore under oath that Mary truly was an honest woman who held the supernatural powers to communicate with those from the otherworld. They refused to believe that she was a deceitful woman who had inveigled her way into their families and pockets and had used the goods that they had intended for their deceased loved ones for her own advantage. However, the substantive evidence laid out by Mr. Bolton of the prosecting team of Mary’s fraudulent activity conclusively invalidated their testimonies. The jury, which at that time was an exclusively male domain, gave a guilty verdict. Mary’s impassioned plea to the magistrate to pity her and to “think of my poor blind man and my two poor children” fell on deaf ears. Denounced for being a “terrible woman” and “dangerous imposter” the court sentenced Mary to 12 months of hard labour and imprisonment in Clonmel Gaol. Even as she was being led out of the docks her victims continued to show support for the “Carrick witch”: Constable Reeves grasped Mary’s hand and appealed to the magistrates: “Sir, if you had seen as much as I have, you would be of the same opinion.” But it was too late: this woman had been proved to have bewitched a town through trickery rather than witchery and would now have to serve her time.

UPDATE: Trawling through the newspaper archives Mary Doheny’s name pops up again in 1866, when at this point in her life Mary is now an inmate in the local Workhouse. It appears from the article that Mary’s incarceration in Clonmel Gaol was extended from one to two years for reasons unknown. Mary’s application to the Board of Guardians to be discharged from the workhouse with the view of gaining employment was granted. Mary’s departure from the Workhouse was timely – at this point of time, there were 568 inmates in the crowded workhouse and the devastating cholera epidemic of 1866 was yet to hit Ireland. Perhaps the “Carrick witch” had a premonition?

Three years later, Mary finds herself in the witness box again, but this time as the prosecutor in the case. Mary has re-entered the courthouse in Carrick-on-Suir (which is sure to have brought back unwelcome memories of her own trial) to bring a case of assault against a retired soldier. The court hears that Mary seems to have kept true to her word to the Board of Guardians, as she describes herself at being an “industrious” woman who earns her living through gathering watercress and keeping lodgers in her residence on New Street. The full details of the case (which you can read below) reveal a new aspect to this mysterious woman’s character. Granted, a couple of years earlier Mary did commit a major act of fraud and exploited the goodwill of a number of local people but Mary now appears to have reformed herself into a woman who has the bravery to defend herself and another woman from male domestic abuse.