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Local
History
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Lives
of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.
'Psalm of Life' by H.W.Longfellow
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Down
Memory Lane10
Horeswood Parish Churches
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St.James'
Church Horeswood then and now.
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Writing in 1837 Samuel Lewis says 'there
is a handsome chapel at Horeswood with a commodius house
for the priest'. Horeswood old National School was
originally the site of the old Horeswood Church.
St.James Church was built in 1832 by
Edward Kehoe and Sons,Wexford. The building was started
by Rev. Darby O'Gorman in 1826. It was a very dry summer
and as the water had dried up, water had to be brought
from Priesthaggard, a mile away, to mix the mortar. The
next parish priest. Fr. Edmond Redmond finished the new
church and had the presbytery built also.
Deceased parish priests
were buried inside the church until 1857. In 1938 Edward
Foran painted the three large pictures behind the altars
as well as the Stations of the Cross. When Matty Wallace
renovated the church in the mid 1960's they were taken
down and given to a religious order in Meath. Fr.Tom
Power, a native of Tintern was parish priest during the
construction work. He was appointed parish priest in
1962. Ill health forced him to retire in 1972 and he
died in July 1972 at St. John of God Home in Waterford.
The large timber cross in front of the church was called
a Mission Cross and was erected in 1872.
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Ballykelly Church
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Stained glass window
donated by the Busher family, Ballyverogue
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Ballykelly Church is dedicated to St.Mary
and St. Brigid. It was built in the early 1800's. It's
known as a barn type church and has a western tower with
crenellations (like battlements in castle) on top. In
'Parochial Survey 1816' , Rev. Thomas Handcock,Rector of
Whitechurch, states that it was 'a good slated Roman
Catholic chapel'. The altar was donated by James and
Johanna Kennedy from Dunganstown. Major renovations were
carried out on Ballykelly Church in recent years and the
blessing of St.Mary's was held on 22nd June 2003 by Rev.
Éamonn Walsh D.D. There was also a thatched church in
nearby Dunganstown built around 1743 during the Penal
Laws. Bishop Sweetman visited the church in 1753 and Fr.
James Nolan of New Ross preached a fine Irish sermon.
There was only one candle for mass and so it was broken
in two! Another church was in Oldcourt on the lands of
the O'Hanlon's and the butt of it can be seen. David
Sutton had a castle nearby around 1654 and the
church is believed to have been a 'church of ease' for
the Suttons. These Suttons were a branch of the
Ballykerogue Suttons.
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Church of Ireland,
Whitechurch.(An Teampall Geal)
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Memorials on church wall
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It is thought that St.Abban founded a
monastery here in the 7th century. The present
Protestant church is dated 1740 and is built on the site
of an earlier one. Samuel Lewis writing in 1837 says
'the church is a plain building without either tower or
spire.' These were added later. Service is held here on
the second Sunday of each month. The three memorials
above are
1. a fine plaque with an urn on top is dedicated to John
Glascott,died 1810, of Alderton.
2. memorial to Ann Drake died 1808, by John Drake and
Urith Paul
3. John Drake died 1809, by his sister Urith
Paul
Ann and John Drake were brother and sister of Urith
Paul. It was Urith who had a fine slated school built at
Stokestown with apartments for the master and mistress.
It cost 500 pounds to build. She also left money in
her will for the aged and infirm. The school known as
'Todd's School' is now the home of the Saunders family,
Camblin. The drakes lived in Stokestown House and also
owned Stokestown Castle.
Present day Kilmokea House was built as the Rectory for
Whitechurch in 1794 by Rev. Cubit. It was known as a
glebe house.
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Click
for Memory Lane 11
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