Oughterard (, “a high place”) is an
ecclesiastical hilltop site, graveyard,
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
, and formerly a parish, borough and royal manor in
County Kildare
County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
, nowadays part of the community of
Ardclough
Ardclough, officially Ardclogh (; ), is a village and community in the parish of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is two miles (3 km) off the N7 national primary road. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness, wh ...
, close to the
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
border. It is the burial place of
Arthur Guinness.
Foundation
The
round tower
A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...
and ancient
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
is associated with a
nunnery established 5 AD by foundress
Saint Briga (feast day 21 January).
Bríga, daughter of Congall, who is also associated with Brideschurch near Sallins (.
), and possibly with
Kilbride in
County Waterford (.
), is not to be confused with
Brigit of Kildare
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...
daughter of Dubhthach, the famous St Brigid whose feast day was 1 February St Brigid, daughter of Doma, whose feast day was 7 February
[Canon John O'Hanlon: Lives of the Irish Saints : with special festivals, and the commemorations of holy persons](_blank)
(Volume 2), p. 398. or the earlier St Brigid, daughter of Neman, also associated with Kildare and said to have been veiled by St Patrick, whose feast day was 9 March (
Seathrún Céitinn
Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...
's History of Ireland 1841 edition edited by Dermod O'Connor lists 14 Saints gleaned from the martyrologies and heroic literature each called Brigid, not including Bríga or
Brigit of Kildare
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...
).
The Martyrology of Donegal lists Brighit daughter of Diomman (feast day 21 May), Brighit of Moin-miolain (feast day on 9 March), and what may be five more: Brigid the daughter of Leinin (associated with
Killiney
Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...
, feast day 6 March), Brighit of Cillmuine (12 November), Brighe of Cairbre (feast day 7 January). and two other Brighits (feast days 9 March, the second Brigit of that date, and 30 Sept).
[The_martyrology_of_Donegal;_a_calendar_of_the_saints_of_Ireland_(Mícheál_Ó_Cléirigh](_blank)
,_1575–1643;_1861_edition_editors_John_O'Donovan_(scholar).html" ;"title="Mícheál Ó Cléirigh">The martyrology of Donegal; a calendar of the saints of Ireland (Mícheál Ó Cléirigh
, 1575–1643; 1861 edition editors John O'Donovan (scholar)">John O'Donovan 1809–1861; James Henthorn Todd 1805–1869; William Reeves (bishop), William Reeves 1815–1892; 1864)] p. 71.
The pre-Christian site stands on a ley line between the Longstone Rath and running north to a ford over the
River Liffey
The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Riv ...
at
Donaghcumper Church, Celbridge. The early Christian church often built upon formerly druidic sites.
Derchairthinn
The site is also associated also with another sixth-century female saint,
Saint Derchairthinn (feast day 8 March) "of the race of
Colla Uais, Monarch of Érinn." Colla was a son of
Cairbre Lifechair and
High King in 306–310.
Political patronage
This monastery was under the patronage of a local branch of the
Uí Dúnlainge
The Uí Dúnlainge, from the Old Irish "grandsons (or descendants) of Dúnlaing", were an Irish dynasty of Leinster kings who traced their descent from Dúnlaing mac Énda Niada. He was said to be a cousin of Énnae Cennsalach, eponymous ances ...
dynasty which rotated the kingship of Leinster between 750–1050. In that period a sub-dynasty known as
Uí Fáeláin formed, which included ten Uí Dúnchada
Kings of Leinster
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
. They established their base at nearby
Lyons Hill
Lyons Hill or Lyons () is a townland and restored village in County Kildare. At a time when canal passenger boats travelled at Lyons was the nearest overnight stop to Dublin on the Grand Canal. On the hilltop is a trigonometrical point used ...
. Their cousins patronised the monastery of
Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...
and
Glendalough
Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...
.
Royal manor
Ougherard became a
Royal Manor
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
and Borough in the 12th century and a ruined castle nearby dates to 1300. Plough headlands from medieval times can still be seen in fields adjoining the churchyard.
Medieval landmarks
![Window in Oughterard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Window_in_Oughterard.jpg)
Recent research by archaeological historian Mike O'Neill has established the ruined church on the site dates to c. 1350 and not, as previously thought, 1609. The ruined church is now entered through one of the windows, as both original doorways serve as mausoleums. The 8th century
round tower
A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...
, one of five in County Kildare, is in a good state of repair, but it is topless and only the first 8 metres remain. A small ruined castle tower stands about 300 metres southeast of the graveyard.
Destruction and restoration
The hilltop monastery and round tower were burned by the Dublin Vikings under
Sigtrygg Silkbeard
Sigtrygg II Silkbeard Olafsson (also Sihtric, SitricÓ Corráin, p. 123 and Sitrick in Irish texts; or SigtrygWinn, p. 46 and SigtryggrMac Manus, p. 278 in Scandinavian texts) was a Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin (possibly AD 989–994; restored ...
in 995. During the
Norman invasion of Ireland
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanc ...
in 1169–71, the parish was a part of the large estates given as a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
by
Dermot McMurrough
Diarmait Mac Murchada (Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High King ...
on the marriage of his daughter
Eva (Aoife) to
Strongbow in 1170. Next, it was owned by Adam de Hereford, who willed all his lands to St Thomas monastery in
Thomas Street, Dublin, and died in 1210. For several centuries the monastery rented the land to tenant farmers until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536–41. The 1303 Papal taxation listed it as 'Outherard' and it was also spelt as 'Wochtred' before 1500. The parish of Oughterard was eventually united with
Lyons in 1541. The calendar rolls reference 1609, which led to its mistakenly being cited as a foundation date by Walter Fitzgerald in 1898. This was followed by another which described the church as being "in ruins" by 1620. It is not clear when the church fell into disuse.
Civil survey 1654–56
Sir Philip Perceval (d.1647) owned Castlewarden when listed in the Survey of 1640. Some of his estate papers were published in the "Egmont Manuscripts" in 1905.
Following the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...
in 1649–53, land had to be surveyed and then often confiscated from parliament's opponents to pay its debts under the 1642
Adventurers Act
The Adventurers' Act is an Act of the Parliament of England which specified its aim as "the speedy and effectual reducing of the rebels in His Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland".
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 had broken out five months earlier, a ...
. The survey listed four
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
s in Oughterard parish; Oughterard, Bishopscourt, Hutton Read and Castlewarden. Oughterard was valued at £82 p.a. rental value and it belonged to four men. Its 410 acres were under arable crops except for of pasture and meadow; today it is mostly grassland.
Arthur Guinness and other notable burials
![Grave, Oughter Ard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Grave%2C_Oughter_Ard.jpg)
Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork. According to "''Arthur's Round''" (see below)
Arthur Guinness's grandfather William Read, a local farmer, started selling home-brewed ale from a roadside stall in 1690 to troops en route to the battles in the Jacobite wars. Guinness was taken back to Oughterard to be buried in the Read family plot in January 1803. Local tradition holds that Guinness was born at the Read household, where his mother returned to her childhood home, in the tradition of the time, to give birth. Three prospective birth sites have been identified, most likely at Oughterard .,
but also possibly at Read homesteads the adjoining townlands of Boston .,
Castlewarden .
and Huttonread.
which takes its name form the Read family.,
[Arthur's Round: The Life and Times of Arthur Guinness by Patrick Guinness.] all within Oughterard parish.
Later in 1803 Arthur Wolfe,
Lord Kilwarden who lived at Newlands, Co Dublin—the most famous victim of
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...
's 1803 rebellion—was buried here in the Wolfe
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, a grave that dates to 1650. James Phipps, "A Captain of Insurgents" who took part in the
Battle of Ovidstown in 1798, and then moved to America where he died in 1826, is commemorated, as is William Kennedy from nearby
Bishopscourt, who was posthumously decorated for bravery having lost his life in the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Duel
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
(1775–1847) fought a duel with
John D'Esterre on 1 February 1815 in an adjoining field, then a part of the Ponsonbys'
Bishopscourt estate, now owned by the King family. O'Connell described a Dublin Corporation provision for the poor as "beggarly" on 24 Jan and was issued the challenge from John D'Esterre, a champion of the conservative and Protestant cause at the time. D'Esterre died as a result of his wounds. A detachment of cavalry sent out from Dublin arrived too late to prevent the duel from taking place. A commemorative boulder having been removed, the exact site was re-established in 2007 after consultations with local people.
Trivia
In the film ''
Mission: Impossible '',
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
's character is told that a US senator is unavailable "because he is fishing at the Oughter Ard Slew in Co. Kildare." The
Grand Canal holds fish and runs about 1 km to the north. There is no river in Oughter Ard, and mostly refers to Oughterard, Co. Galway.
Bibliography
*
Eoghan Corry
Eoghan Corry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Cómhraí; born 19 January 1961) is an Irish journalist and author. He is the lead commentator on travel for media in Ireland, having edited travel sections in national newspapers and travel publications since the 1 ...
and Jim Tancred; ''Annals of Ardclough'' (2004).
*DN Hall M Hennessy and
Tadhg O'Keefe; ''Medieval Agriculture and Settlement in Castlewarden and Oughterard.'' Irish Geography, Vol 18 (1985) pp. 16–25.
*
Kildare Archaeological Society
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...
Journal. Volume I: pp. 84–86. Volume II: pp. 179, 183, 395. Volume III: pp. 361, 364, 456. Volume IV: pp. 255. Volume XII: pp. 339–341.
*P Guinness; ''Arthur's Round: The Life and Times of brewing legend Arthur Guinness''. Peter Owen, London 2008; pp. 17–20, 218.
References
{{reflist
External links
Oughterard Round Tower and cemeteryGAA club website featuring local information
Civil parishes of County Kildare
Religion in County Kildare
Cemeteries in County Kildare
Townlands of County Kildare