 |
Use our Google Search, to find what you are looking for |
|
|
Page 1 - Page 2
THE TALLEST WINDMILL IN IRELANDCaroline McCall, MGSIJames Kieran was a most enterprising merchant and embarked very extensively in foreign trade. Through Dundalk came imports of hemp, flax and tallow from St. Petersburg and Riga, and iron and wood from Stockholm and Guttenberg. Owing to his efforts the flags of almost every European nation floated over the Dundalk waters. The brothers had other milling interests apart from the Seatown Windmill. In 1815 James Kieran and his brother William built the Philipstown Mills, in the Townland of Philipstown, approximately three miles from Dundalk at a cost of £30,000 - £40,000. These extensive watermills took advantage of the Castletown River adjacent to them. By 1818 the mills of Messrs. Callan and Kieran were dealing with 40,000 barrels of wheat a year. The mill house at Philipstown was still occupied in the late 1930s and an inscription beside the bridge had read ‘This Bridge was erected by James Kieran of Philipstown at his own expense. Sadly, cattle now inhabit the ruins of these once magnificent mills. The stone bridge leading to them is in a very poor condition and the inscription is long gone. On the 18th April 1820 an attempt was made to rob the Buttercrane stores of bonded foreign wheat. In his journal of that date Henry McClintock (the Collector at the Custom House in Dundalk) wrote 'I attended all day at the Custom House - Mr. Stratton sent off a long statement to the Board (of Customs) of the particulars of the attempt made to rob the corn stores, with the depositions of the soldiers by which it clearly appears that James Kieran employed the men for that villainous purpose.’ In 1822 an investigation into the matter was held at the Court House Dundalk, 'relative to a large quantity of foreign wheat that was feloniously taken away from one of the Butter Crane lofts where it had been lodged under the King's lock and keys since March 1819 and was the properly of Mr. James Kieran ... several persons were examined on oath before the magistrates but nothing could be elicited from them upon the subject of the robbery.' Whether James Kieran had any involvement in the robbery was never proven. During the Napoleonic wars, the fanners of Louth had enjoyed prosperity. However, variations in the weather led to a bad harvest in 1816, and in 1817 there was a scarcity of food in the town. Cereal prices fell considerably in the years following the war and the corn in the Buttercrane stores was rapidly declining in value. Prices dropped from in excess of £2 7s per barrel in 1813 to a mere 17s 2d per barrel a decade later. Following his retirement from business, James Kieran went to live at Philipstown. He spent much of his time at his mills and continued to maintain several properties in Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk. Having made his fortune in business he turned his attention to politics. By 1820 the Catholic population of Dundalk had increased in number and wealth, and they sought land in Dundalk for the purpose of building a larger church. Lord Roden agreed to the proposal. He offered them land, situated opposite the distillery, on condition that they handed their old church over to him. This, they naturally refused to do. The new church was eventually built but the episode had encouraged resentment and anger in Dundalk. Lord Roden had also imposed tolls on produce coming into the town, which provoked great annoyance among the merchants, and following litigation the tolls were abolished. Representation of the borough was at the disposal of Lord Roden and the seat in the House of Commons could be had for a price. At one time it was sold to a brewer from London for £2,500. In 1820, Robert Jocelyn, son of Lord Roden was elevated to the peerage. This caused a parliamentary vacancy in the borough, which had not been contested for many years. T.B. Balfour of Townley Hall was proposed as a candidate. However the Hon. John Jocelyn, an uncle of Lord Roden's, announced his intention to also stand. Balfour withdrew his nomination and Jocelyn became MP. And so the status quo remained undisturbed. But the tide was turning against the establishment in Dundalk. The Kieran brothers contributed to the Catholic Association and attempted to remove parliamentary control of the 'rotten borough' from the hands of Lord Roden. Both William and James Kieran were involved in an organisation called 'Friends of Independence in the Town of Dundalk' and together with other Catholic merchants in the town 'succeeded in their object during the election’. Alexander Dawson of Ardee, a barrister, was their chosen candidate in the 1826 election for County Louth. The contest was fiercely fought. In his journal, Henry McClintock wrote, 'The mob were very riotous in Dawson's favour and the entrance to the Court House had to be guarded by police ... I do not believe that any gentleman in this county (except the Roman Catholics) support Dawson … the R. Catholic priests are posted on all the roads round this town & harangue the freeholders coming in & tell them if they vote for Dawson their souls will be saved but if they oppose him they will be damned'. Tenants, brought by cart by their landlords to vote, had to be guarded from 'the fury of the Popish mob and priests. Alexander Dawson and John Leslie Foster were elected and returned to Westminster. On 4th July 1826 'the chairing of Mr. Dawson took place in this town - there were a great number of the common people at it but not one Protestant Gentleman or indeed any gentlemen except Sir Edward Bellew's family and Mr. Edward Byrne. McClintock's view may have been coloured by the fact that the defeated candidate was his nephew Matt Fortescue. Following the election many of the freeholders who had voted for Dawson were exposed to the vengeance of their landlords. A relief committee was formed to support those who had been evicted from their homes. James Kieran died on the 18th June 1836 at Philipstown. He had never married. The summary of his will, dated 15th June 1836, in the Irish Will Register for 1836 gives some indication of his lifestyle - 'a house in Clanbrassil Street together with furniture, plate, wine, carriage, jaunting car, gig etc.' In addition, he was the owner of a substantial amount of property in and around Dundalk. His estate of £13,510 8s 8½d was divided between his four spinster sisters Anne, Margaret, Mary and Ellen, his brother William, and William's three children Sophia, Ellen Frances and Anna Matilda. James brother Laurence had predeceased him. Obituary of James Kieran At Philipstown, near Dundalk, on Saturday, the 18th June, 1836, James Kieran, Esq., in the 53rd year of his age. In patriotism, friendship, and fidelity, few were so ardent, - none more sincere, - with a heart which never yielded to the power of a persecuting tyrant, or failed him in the various disappointments of fleeting commerce, yet never was unmoved by the call of charity, and always alive to relieve the wants of the poor, who frequently through life appealed to his generosity. Early in life he felt the wrongs of his native land and his generous soul aspired for her freedom. In '98, torn from his beloved parents, before a brutal soldiery he was sentenced by Colonel Latouche, to undergo the cruel punishment of flogging, for the solitary crime of having a lighted candle in his room, after a prescribed hour; and the dust of his native town was consecrated by his young blood. Still his unbending spirit ever soared above the power of his persecutors until the glorious struggle in 1826, when, joined by the patriots of his country, he had ample revenge of his oppressors, and greatly contributed to hurl the hereditary foes of the liberties of Old Ireland. He is gone; and, when the rising youth of his county read the inscription on his silent tomb, may they imbibe the spirit of charity which marked his course through life, - inhale the bright spirit of liberty which guided him here, - and enjoy, hereafter, the reward of a virtuous career, which, it is hoped, he now possesses in a better world. As a merchant, he was highly esteemed and respected in foreign ports, for his probity and integrity and was first instrumental in raising the commercial character of Dundalk from insignificance to importance, being the only importer of Russian, Spanish, or States produce, that ever was known in that port. After the French war, he retired from commercial pursuits and erected the extensive mills at Philipstown, where he departed this life. (Communicated) Page 1 - Page 2Irish Ancestries provide an efficient family research service based in Ireland. Back to Top |
