by Paul Gorry | Feb 18, 2021 | Baltinglass, Genealogy, Graveyards, Joseph Jackson, Kilmurry, Kiltegan, Rathvilly, Scarlatina |
It is impossible to imagine the mental state of John Jackson during his meeting with Dr. Dockeray 150 years ago this very day. John’s mind may have been in turmoil; it may have been numbed by grief. Whether Dr. Dockeray visited his farm in Kilmurry or John travelled...
by Paul Gorry | Nov 30, 2020 | Carlow, Carrig Mountain, Charles Drury, Englishtown, Finn McCool, Humewood, Keadeen, Kilranelagh, Rathvilly, Talbotstown, Wicklow |
St. Brigid’s Church, Talbotstown, has a really beautiful backdrop, with the twin mountains of Keadeen and Carrig dominating the view. The small car park beside the church is one of the best vantage points for admiring those mountains and for seeing Finn McCool and...
by Paul Gorry | Nov 19, 2020 | Aldborough, Baltinglass, Belan, Dennis Family, Dunlavin, Fortgranite, Hacketstown, Hartpole, Mountneill, Powerscourt, Rathvilly, Shrule, Stratford Family, Tynte family, Tynte Park |
There must have been much rejoicing when John and Martha Stratford’s eighth child arrived in the mid-1730s, about a decade into their marriage. According to Martha’s second cousin, Pole Cosby, that eighth child, Edward, was their first son. It is said that John and...
by Paul Gorry | Mar 22, 2020 | Carlow, Carrig Mountain, Farming, Finn McCool, Folklore, Keadeen, Killalesh, Lugnaquilla, Mountkelly, Seasons, Wicklow |
These photographs were taken at various times from more or less the same location between July 2018 and March 2020. The field in the foreground is at the very edge of Co. Carlow. It is in Mountkelly townland. Beyond the trees is Killalish (pronounced...
by Paul Gorry | Jul 22, 2019 | Baltinglass, Graveyards, Rathvilly, West Wicklow Historical Society |
I’ve been haunting St. Mary’s churchyard in Rathvilly on and off for the past few weeks. It’s surrounded almost entirely by houses, with the road to Tullow completing the circle, so it’s hard not to be seen. I’m sure people were wondering about the strange man...
by Paul Gorry | Apr 23, 2019 | Aldborough, Ancestral Lines, Baltinglass, Dennis Family, Descent, Fortgranite, Mountneill, Ralph Fiennes, Stratford Family, Stratford-on-Slaney, Winston Churchill |
A week ago I attended a marathon of an event. It lasted from 10.30am to sometime about 9pm, long after I had left. It was absorbing. It was full of surprises, good and bad. It was a glimpse into the past, and it said a lot about the present Irish economy. For...