Catherine Meagher Archives

02/03/201806/12/2018

Remembering Catherine Meagher

I was so looking forward to an event scheduled to happen in Faithlegg graveyard this morning. However, like so many other plans across the nation it has fallen victim to the weather. The weather I’m referring to, for anyone living abroad, is a snowstorm which struck on Tuesday and has persisted all week. The event was the blessing of the bonnets at the Meagher family tomb.

The bonnets project is the brainchild of Dr. Christina Henri an Australian artist who has worked to raise awareness about the 25,000+ women who were transported to Australia, sometimes for offences as minor as stealing bread to feed their children. I blogged about her project last year, to help promote the exhibition created by local crafts women as part of International Women’s Day and hosted by the Waterford Women’s Centre. Its happening again this year in Central Library, Waterford.

Accessed from http://waterfordireland.tripod.com/catherine_’bennie’_bennett.htm

I was excited at the prospect of this mornings event of course because it would have brought more national and international attention the tomb of the Thomas Francis Meagher family here in Faithlegg and provide a higher profile for his first wife, Catherine.

Catherine Meagher was the daughter of an Irish free settler to Tasmania, Australia named Bennett. She was only 19 when she met and fell in love with the Irish freedom fighter.# Thomas was originally sentenced to death following the failed Young Irelander rebellion of 1848, but his sentence was reduced to transportation to Australia by Queen Victoria.

Catherine was a governess when they met and Meagher later wrote that her influence was his salvation. They married on February 22nd 1851 and a year later her first son was born, Henry Emmett Fitzgerald Meagher.## However by this stage her husband had staged a dramatic escape from his sentence, firstly with the help of local fishermen to the island of Waterhouse Island, where ten days later he was picked up by the ship Elizabeth Thompson which dropped him to Pernambuco and eventually via the American brig Acorn to New York arriving Nay 26th 1852*. The plan was that his wife and new child would join him there, but their son died and following his funeral and a period of mourning she commenced the journey alone.

Catherines last resting place at Faithlegg

Catherine arrived in Ireland in early 1853 where she was astonished by the greeting she received in Waterford. Thousands turned out to welcome her and she was feted wherever she went. Before she continued on to America, a special meeting of the city fathers took place at City Hall including businessmen, dignitaries and invited guests. Speaker after speaker bested themselves in praise of the lady and her husband and this was followed by a delegation walking down the Mall to present a scroll and gifts as a prelude to her journey to meet her husband.(1)

She journeyed to America with her father in law, but the reunion with her husband was an unhappy one. He was seen as a hero in America and his energy and time was devoted to his adopted homeland and he was constantly in demand. When Meagher decided to journey to the west coast, Catherine, who was pregnant at the time opted to return to Waterford but following the birth of another son, she fell ill. She died in the Meagher home at midnight on Monday 9th May 1854 aged 22. She had been sick for a fortnight with Typhus. Her hope was that she would return to America to be with her husband. However she was buried in the family tomb at Faithlegg. I have written before how that was a right denied her husband.

The Meagher statue on Waterford’s Mall

So unfortunately today instead of a blessing and some welcome attention on this forgotten lady, we are ensconced in our homes awaiting a thaw. The events of this years 1848 committee are in tatters despite all the committees hard work. As a member of many groups I realise that perhaps 90% of the work was already done. So as disappointed as I feel over the loss of this event they must feel so much more frustrated. But there is always next year for the committee, and don’t forget the bonnets and the other events coming up soon for the local International women’s day.

Some details on Catherine accessed from https://tasmaniangeographic.com/iris-exiles-thomas-o-meagher/

(1)Waterford News 8th July 1935 p2. The gifts (which were described as “having the advantage of being useful as well as beautiful”) were of silver and gold and included a brooch, a bracelet and a card case. The presentation was made in the drawing room of Meaghers home on the Mall and was made by the Mayor, Thomas Fitzgerald Strange.

# Forney. G. Thomas Francis Meagher. 2003. Xlibris corporation
##ibid

*Cavanagh. M. Memories of General Thomas Francis Meagher. 1892. The Messenger Press. Worcester. Mass.

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19/08/201606/12/2018

A brief history of Faithlegg

This Sunday 21st August my wife Deena and I will conduct a heritage walk through Faithlegg commencing at 12noon at the Church. Its the 11th year that we’ve organised something for Heritage Week . Faithlegg is probably best known now as a location for weddings, its hotel or to golfers who want 18 rounds in a stunning location. But to others, its a significant historic location. So what might you see in Faithlegg.

Well to start with the Churches themselves make a beautiful starting point. The newer church dates from 1826 and is still in use today. I served as an altar boy here in my youth, and I mentioned before how we traveled on the mass bus every Sunday morning, something that usually leaves younger readers agape. There’s an interesting love story attached to the stain glass windows concerning a young heiress of the Power family and an ex Mayor of Waterford, John A Blake. Blake was the man responsible for the Peoples Park in Waterford city.

The church beside it of course is ancient, and many hold the view that it is the site of two churches, and probably stands on the remains of something earlier. Of course the townland next door is called Kilcullen, or the Church of Cullen, and another church site is located there. If that’s not enough, there was a chapel in Faithlegg House, and mass was conducted on the Minaun in penal times! Surely to be interred here means automatic entry through the pearly gates.

Last resting place of the Bolton family

We have graves historic, such as the tomb of Thomas Francis Meagher, we have graves for sea captains, sailors and the lady who died twice! But most of all we have, in the Council award winning graveyard, the graves of men and women who worked their fingers to the bone to raise a family and try and live a good life. I put a few of them into the ground, as I worked as a gravedigger in the 1980’s when work was scarce and any job was welcome.

Faithlegg itself has a long history. It was granted by Henry II to a Bristol Merchant named Aylward after the Norman landings in 1171/2. Aylward initially built a Motte and Baily to protect himself, but as tensions eased a fine stone castle was built on the lands above the church. The last of the Aylwards were hung from the trees around abouts after the siege during the Cromwellian invasion, and to this day, there is the mystery of the abandoned Faithlegg village around the castle site.

Motte & Baily with Keep atop – via Google images

Entering Faithlegg we come across the emblem of the area, St Huberts Deer, probably reflecting the Power family’s love of hunting, St Hubert being the patron saint of Hunters and their dogs. Hubert, the legend goes, was an avid hunter who went out one Good
Friday morning into the Ardennes in search of a stag. As he was pursuing his
quarry the animal turned with apparently, a crucifix standing between its
antlers, while he heard a voice saying: “Hubert, unless thou turnest to
the Lord, and leadest an holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into
hell”. He quickly converted!

Faithlegg House was designed and built in 1783 for Cornelius Bolton, who would later go on to create an industrial village at Cheekpoint, we covered that at last years Heritage Week event. Bolton was the last in the line of the family who gained the estate after the Cromwellian invasion. Following bankruptcy it was bought by the Power family in 1816, and the Hotel as it stands today is largely the extension and ornate refit of the house undertaken by the newly wedded Pat Power and Olivia Nugent (daughter of the Earl of Westmeath) in the 1870’s

Faithlegg Harries at the “Big House” AH Poole photo 1890’s

Returning to Faithlegg we can’t but stop to consider the early christian site, dedicated to St Ita. Her holy well has long been a feature in the parish, but it was once known as Tobar Sionnach. or the Well of the Fox.

These and much more will feature on our walk this coming Sunday 21st August, at 12 noon. But if you want to walk it yourself here’s a self guided walk to follow. And if you are coming, your own stories of the area would be welcome too.

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18/09/201506/12/2018

T.F.Meagher; four graves and no body

I often had to correct visitors who believe that Thomas Francis Meagher’s body is interred in Faithlegg. Yet the family tomb is there, as are three other family plots, that I know of, around the world. But Thomas alas is in none of them. He’s the man with four graves you see, but no body.

Thomas was born at what is now the Granville Hotel in Waterford 3rd Aug 1823. He went on to get a first class education and to study at the bar, but the plight of his fellow countrymen and the control of Ireland from London led to his political activities that would see him design and fly the first Irish tricolour and culminate in 1848 with the Young Irelanders rebellion.

TF Meagher image via
http://www.1848tricolour.com/

Tried and convicted of high treason, he was transported to Tasmania where he married a lady named Catherine Bennett. In 1852 he escaped (but had to leave the pregnant Catherine behind) and via whaling ship eventually arrived in New York to a hero’s welcome. Catherine and Thomas’ first son Henry died during his escape and the infant was buried in Australia. This is the first grave.

Catherine was eventually reunited with her husband in New York, but she returned to Waterford where a second son, Thomas, was born. She was a popular advocate for her husband’s political activities and was in much demand for rallies and other speaking events. Poor health followed however, and Catherine died in Waterford in 1854 and was buried in the family tomb at Faithlegg. This is the second grave, and the one most commonly associated with him in Ireland.

Meagher tomb in Faithlegg

At the outbreak of the American Civil War Thomas joined the union side and in 1862 he founded the Irish Brigade which fought with distinction. He would later go on to become governor of Montana and would be an unpopular man because of his strong convictions and public stance on issues such as slavery.

On 1st July 1867 while travelling on the Missouri river by paddle boat, Meagher disappeared over the side of the ship. The cause of his fall is a matter of intense speculation even to this day.

No grave, but remembered nonetheless

His second son Thomas Junior was raised by the family in Waterford and emigrated to America age 18 in 1872 to find his fortune. He died in 1909 in Manila, Philippines and there he is buried. A third family plot.

And the fourth. Well Thomas married for a second time in 1856 to Elizabeth Townsend and she was a devoted wife to him. Following his death she returned to New York where she died on July 5th 1906. She was buried in Green-wood cemetery.

And of Thomas. Well as already said, he was lost overboard in the Missouri River in 1867, and despite months of searching, his body was never recovered. However, in 2008, a headstone was erected beside the grave of his second wife, Elizabeth.

So all told TF Meagher is a man who despite having four family graves around the world is found in none of them. But then again his reputation lives on in a much more meaningful way and is celebrated in Waterford each year to remember the raising of the first Irish tri-colour in Ireland at 33 the Mall, Waterford.

Thanks to my cousin, James (Jim) Doherty who supplied me with some essential information that made this blog possible. Jim is a founder member of the 1848 Tricolour Celebration, a festival that has gone from strength to strength. This years programme starts today more details on the 1848 Tricolour Celebration website.