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Hello Niamh, the exhibition will be in Wicklow Library for the rest of September – I hope you enjoy it. Also, you can collect a free copy of our publication “Wicklow and the War of Independence” when you come. Regards, Catherine Wright, Archives Service.
Hello Candice, I can check our parish records for you and will email you shortly. Regards, Catherine Wright, Archives Service.
Hello Michael, You can collect a copy from Wicklow Town library if you are nearby, or email your address to archives@wicklowcoco.ie and I can post one out to you. Regards, Catherine Wright, Archives Service
Good afternoon Is this books still available? Kind Regards
Michael Canavan
My husband’s ancestor Richard Albert Hopkins (b. in Corndog, Co Wicklow in 1811 and son of Charles Hopkins,) was a tenant farmer on the Earl of Fitzwilliam’s Coolattin Estate. I am trying to ascertain whether or not Richard Albert Hopkins’ mother was really Mary Bellingham (1772-?) or not! Can you help me with this question, please? Richard Albert Hopkins and his wife and children were helped to emigrate to Grey County in Ontario, Canada in 1846 due to the generosity of Lord Fitzwilliam. Richard A. Hopkins was married to his cousin Martha B. Hopkins (b. 1802 in Tinahely, County Wicklow.) She was the daughter of Charles Hopkins (1760-1804,) and Martha Margaret Edge (1760-1803.) I have Mr. Jim Rees’ book but it focuses on the families who emigrated to Canada beginning one year after my husband’s ancestor Richard Albert Hopkins left for Bentinck Township, Grey County, Ontario, Canada. Any help would be most appreciated! Thank you in advance!
Just wondering how long the exhibition will run for please? Wanting to travel to see it so any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Brilliant article and thanks for sharing.
Well done Catherine and all on your team who brought this project to fruition.
i know that area well , and have relations living in manor kilbride lovely story
what a wonderful story, a different hard life in those days
Julie, I’m researching the same John Finn that emigrated from Wicklow to Missouri and I’ve found some potential baptismal information for John and Dorothy. Happy to collaborate.
Thank you for reading this post and taking the time to comment on it.
Your points about Robert Barton’s resignation of his commission are all correct. However, a short article such as this cannot include everything and must focus on the overarching narrative. I think your point regarding the inference about this resignation arises because of your interpretation of the key phrase ‘in the wake of’, which occurs at the end of paragraph one. I believe that you are taking this to mean ‘as a consequence of’, but the phrase can also simply mean ‘afterwards’. Dictionaries give both meanings (see, for example, https://www.oysterenglish.com/idiom-in-the-wake-of-something.html and https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/in-the-wake-of-something). In this instance, ‘in the wake of the rising’ simply means ‘after the rising’. The source cited (3) is from R. F. Foster, Professor Emeritus of Irish History at Oxford University, and it reads ‘But, like his Childers relations, after 1916 he [Barton] took another path – resigning his commission, joining Sinn Féin, commencing his career as a nationalist’. You are correct when you state the dates of Robert Barton’s application to resign and the termination of his service as 1917 and 1918 respectively – hence these happened after (or ‘in the wake of’) the 1916 rising, and T. P. [Thomas Patrick] Gill was indeed involved.
Your point regarding republican propaganda explaining away the Irish involvement in World War One is well made. There certainly was republican rodomontade to this effect, especially in the half century or so immediately after the formation of the Free State (later Republic). However, I don’t think it can be applied to this article. Admittedly, the source cited at the beginning of paragraph two, Dorothy Macardle, was republican in her sympathies and a staunch supporter of De Valera. Despite being a biased, non-academic historian however, her ‘Irish Republic’ contains a wealth of detail, and for this reason it is still frequently cited in current academic works on the period. The source cited (4) refers to ‘the conduct and logic of the prisoners’ contributing to Barton’s ‘conversion to the Republican cause’. The point is valid, but it does not exclude the possibilities that there may have been other contributing factors, and that the conversion may have been gradual.
You actually refer to Barton’s separatist journey as ‘gradual’. I totally agree, but I think that your interpretation of another key phrase, this time in the second paragraph, differs from mine. The phrase in question is ‘aftermath of the rising’. I use this phrase to denote a more protracted period of time. I take the aftermath to include [at the very least] the executions, the swing towards Sinn Féin, the 1918 general election, the establishment of the first Dáil, the Soloheadbeg attack and the subsequent War of Independence. One may argue for later dates – the end of the Civil War, the Republic of Ireland Act, perhaps even the Good Friday Agreement – and some current republicans probably perceive themselves as still existing in the aftermath of the rising, but this is a moot point in this instance. The relevant fact here is that by 1918 Robert Barton was standing for election on the Sinn Féin ticket. Hence, two years after the Easter Rebellion, Robert Barton had changed his political views to support Sinn Féin’s separatism, so perhaps the final stage of his political journey was less gradual.
Robert Barton’s political journey actually mirrored that of many Irish people, in that it was gradual, but it accelerated in its final stage. His antebellum support for Home Rule, his involvement in the Dublin Fusiliers, the resignation of his commission and his postbellum support for Sinn Féin are all mentioned in the article above. Each of these stages in his political life happened in the wake of the previous one. Given his later involvement in the Volunteers, the Dáil, the War of Independence, the treaty negotiations (including putting his signature on the document), and the Civil War, it would, I think, be otiose to overlook these actions, which showed his support for the rebels’ cause in the aftermath of the 1916 rising.
I will finish with a short excerpt covering this period of Robert Barton’s life from his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography by Pauric J. Dempsey (Royal Irish Academy) and (Shaun Boylan, Law Library), online at https://www.dib.ie/biography/barton-robert-childers-a0485
‘Prior to the general rebel surrender in Easter week 1916, Barton was dispatched to Dublin, where the subsequent treatment of the rebels, and their stoicism and conviction in the face of such treatment, made a deep impact on him. He soon resigned his commission and joined the republican movement. Interestingly, as early as 1907 he had made a £50 contribution to Sinn Féin. To Michael Collins (qv), he had distinguished himself by his kindness to the prisoners and their relatives. In the December 1918 general election Barton, now a Volunteer commandant, was elected Sinn Féin MP for Wicklow West….’
Available from Jim Rees, 3 Meadows Lane, Arklow jrees7778@gmail.com
Hi Fiona Dee-Jay Publications is no longer in operation and the remaining stock is being handled directly by me, Jim Rees. The book was published in 1996 and retails at €9.95. You can email me at jrees7778@gmail.com
Hi Fiona, I have updated the link and will forward your query to Jim Rees
The inference that Robert Barton’s resignation as a comissioned officer in the Royal Dublin Fusileers was in some way attributable to or a consequence of the Easter Rebellion is entirely without foundation and is nothing more than republican propoganda to perpetuate a myth to explain away how hundreds of thousands of Irish, including Robert’s two brothers, his first cousin Erskine Childers and himself joined the British armed forces in WW1.
Neither his service record in the regiment nor his own statements made on the matter evidence the Rebellion as an explanation for his application to resign his commission as an officer. Indeed, he wanted to go to the front to fight with his two brothers, both of whom would die in the trenches, but was transferred to the 11th Batallion when the 10 Battalion was sent to France in August 1916.
Contrary to suggestions that Robert applied to resign in the wake of what he had witnessed during the rebellion he did not apply for leave to resign until 1917 and then for only for unconnected reasons , moreover, he continued to serve as an officer with the Dubs until June 1918, just before the end of the War.
His application was finally granted at the request of JP Gill, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, on the grounds that Barton had a large Estate and his management thereof was conducive to the War effort, the production of food being viewed by the Government at that stage as being more important than the actual fighting ! His journey from unionist to separatist was as gradual as it was complete by 1918. As recently as 1917 he supported the Constitutional cause at the Convention of that year and it was only after the collapse of the Convention that he finally joined Sinn Fein.
This otherwise interesting article is marred by the seriously inaccurate historical statements contained within it. Erskine Childers did not smuggle guns into Ireland in 1915 to ‘aid the Irish struggle against England’. In 1915 Erskine Childers was serving his country during the Great War in the Royal Navy. In July 1914 he did bring guns into Ireland on board his yacht the Asgard but this was for the purpose of defending Home Rule for Ireland, which he supported and not for the reason suggested in the article. Robert Barton, his two brothers and Erskine Childers all volunteered and served in the Britsh Military during WW1. Robert’s two brothers lost their lives in that awful conflict. The Treaty of 1921 did not result in the partition of Ireland. This occurred as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The ‘pro’ Treaty candidates won an overwhelming majority of seats in the General Election of June 1922 and were not a ‘group.” The Treaty has nothing to do with the troubles in Northern Ireland 1969-1998. The ‘troubles’ ended with the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998. The Irish Constitution was subsequently amended by referendum to recognise Northern Ireland as part of the UK for so long as the people there wish.
Eliza Davis is my 4th Great Grand mother from her first child with Amos Eastwood. I am so proud of Eliza. She had a very tough life and cant imagine what she went through in her life. I tell everyone about her story and thankful for the people who fought for her to come to Australia as I wont be here if they didn’t.
Hello. Wonderful news regarding The Archbishop-Edward Byrne (EB). His father (Edward)was my Gt Grandfathers brother. I have a lovely photo of his (EB)parents. During a visit to the main Archbishops house in Dublin….while searching my family history. I located a great deal of history through his personal records stored there. His family owned many properties, their main home was in Dublin. One of their properties- Bonagrew Farm (EB) father gave to his brother, my Gt Grandfather. This is only part of the story. God bless. Julia
Hiya, The link above isn’t working… I was hoping to have a read of the transcript – I imagine that it’s free and in the public domain?
Thanks a lot, Fiona McHardy
Thomas Watson was witness to my GGG grandfather and mother’s wedding in Castlemacadam church on 16 January 1830 along with Thornhill Bury. William was resided in Coolanearl at the time and Jane in Kilmacoo. My GGG GF William Read married Jane Bury but I have not been able to track down what happened to the Watson family. So it’s great to find this posting. I’m wondering if it might solve a decade long mystery of how William Read came to Avoca? He was Clerk of the mines in Cronebane mines, Avoca in 1843. Some of his family went to Cumbria in the late 1800s and I’m wondering if the Read’s (spelled Reed & Reid in some records) and the Watson’s might have come across from Cumbria together in the late 1700s?
Hello David, thank you for posting. Glad to hear you found this article on the Short family in Wicklow useful. Perhaps you might like to write a small article about your Short family in the States which we would be delighted to publish here on Our Wicklow Heritage. Feel free to include any photographs! All the very best, Catherine Wright, Wicklow County Archives.
I started putting together bits and pieces of my genealogy in the last year, as I had more time due to Covid. When I make a discovery or come across a resource like this one – I sometimes feel like there is someone looking over my shoulder pointing me in the right direction and I can almost see their faces. Daniel Short is my 1st cousin, 3 times removed. His father Bryan is my 2nd Great Grand Uncle and Bryan’s father Owen Short is my 3rd Gr G Father. My Grandmother’s maiden name is Short and her father (Bryan) came to the United States in 1858 and I would be happy to share all I know about my branch of Short’s to all my relatives ;-). BTW – I attended the Short / Shortt Reunion in Wicklow in 1996 with family from the USA and met many cousins.
This is beautiful Aedin! You’ve captured our little park so wonderfully and how it’s magic broke through that first lockdown. Still trying to spot the kingfisher!
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