CARTON HOUSE THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE KILDARE OBSERVER 1880-1935: PART ONE

Carton Observed: References to Carton House

in the pages of the Kildare Observer 1880-1935

 

Mario Corrigan

 

 

 

Kildare Library & Arts Services uploaded the Kildare Observer newspaper to the Internet in 2010 to enhance our understanding of the history of Kildare and indeed surrounding counties but also as a means of making material more accessible. We had previously bought copies from The British Library who had the biggest collection and the project was completed with their permission and a pdf copy of the scans was supplied to the British Library for its own use. DPA. Ltd. scanned the film and applied the software. And it is hosted online by National Micromedia Ltd. It is free of charge and fully searchable. The usefulness of the site is immediately obvious to anybody interested in the history of Co. Kildare or anyone interested in Carton House and the FitzGeralds. The ability to type in a word or phrase and the enormous potential this offers allows us access not only to primary research but a system of cross referencing and unrelated, otherwise irretrievable, nuggets of interesting facts and information. As well as covering the major events of importance and the great families within the county, it introduces us to the localised somewhat overlooked world of the cottager class, the petty sessions, the accidents, sports and funeral attendees. It gives voice to the lower orders, illuminates the mundane and the forgettable and sheds new light on local placenames, public works and building works and quickly becomes a genealogists friend.

The quality of the search engine would best be described as good with possibly 70-80% percent success rate which is most likely as a result of the poor quality of the newspaper text. Therefore the online searchable version for the Kildare Observer should be not used as the sole primary research tool but the material (as with all newspaper content) should be verified using other sources.

A variety of search techniques should be employed when using the database. Basic searches conducted for example:-

 

•         ‘Carton House’ = 4 documents & 8 ‘hits’

•         ‘Carton’ = 450 documents & 873 ‘hits’

•         ‘Carton w/5 House’ = 10 docs and 20 ‘hits’ – nothing that would not be picked up by ‘Carton’

•         Duke of Leinster – 479 docs and 1598 ‘hits’

•         Lord Walter – 181 docs 640 ‘hits’

•         Lord Frederick – 225 docs and 954 ‘hits’

 

A hit means that the search term is located and w/5 means one term within 5 words of the other term included in the search. The correct way to conduct research would be to broaden the scope of the original search terms and become creative with the number and types of searches undertaken. as they generally will only search for the terms as described. It can be searched effectively by name, place, location etc. i.e. a word search and not a subject search. 

              

A note on the Kildare Observer

The Kildare Observer and Eastern Counties Advertiser ran from 1879 to 1939 but the database, based on the microfilm holdings, begins in October 1880 and not 1879 when the newspaper was first published in Naas. There are some gaps as there tends to be in newspaper collections but generally the collection which was digitised is good. There were some very practical reasons for choosing this newspaper over its contemporary The Leinster Leader as a digital resource, mainly the term was finite – the Observer finished in 1935. Also the quality of the print both in terms of the hardcopy and their reproduction on microfilm meant the Observer was a much better option as a searchable resource. Lastly the Observer is smaller and tidier in size and presentation and lent itself to the project more easily. Traditionally the Observer is seen as a unionist or conservative counterpart to the rip-roaringly nationalistic Leader and I suppose this is true in a sense with reference to its general politics but the reporting is fairly well balanced.

 

Carton: Observations on a great house

The Leinster Family and indeed Carton itself were no strangers to the press and we are fortunate to have quality illustrations and articles from magazines such as the Illustrated London News, The Graphic and Vanity Fair to name but a few.[1] The Kildare Observer however gives us a tantalising glimpse into the everyday world of the big house and little cottage, the great landed families and small tenant farmers and poor cottagers. It records information that has little or no bearing on great events or national politics but of import to the history of County Kildare. We are given fleeting glimpses into the lives of the occupants and workers on the great estate and those who depended on the house, estate and family for their livelihood.

One of the first mentions of ‘Carton’ is a rather long report on the Leinster lease and the disgruntlement of the labourers and tenants on the vast Leinster estates. The beleaguered Duke (Fourth Duke of Leinster – Charles William FitzGerald 1819-1887) was defending his offer of 20% abatement on the half-years rent due. He was also reminding his tenants that they should be obliged to accept responsibility to give labourers work as he could not continue to do so. Deputations from Athy and Castledermot, headed by James Leahy, M.P., had been received by his agent at the estates Dublin Offices in 30 Lower Dominick Street. This was followed by public meetings in Athy and Maynooth where the offer of the Duke was debated. At the former one of the attendees, Mr. Plewman, gloriously commented that, “It is not in the province of the Duke of Leinster to dictate to any farmer as to how many men we will employ to make the most out of his soil.”[2] Indeed the times were changing.

But there is a constant interest in the family, quite simply – they are ‘news.’ We are privy to the goings and comings of the family members under fashionable intelligence with reports how the Duke (Fourth) and Duchess headed to England for Christmas in 1880; how the Duke (Fifth) and Duchess having returned from Constantinople (the Duchess’s sister lived there with her husband, Sir E. Vincent, financial advisor to the Khedive and the Sultan) to London would be spending the winter at Carton in 1891 and that after their sojourn in Aix-le-Chapelle in August 1892 they planned on taking up residence at Carton.[3] The Marquis of Kildare, Carton, Maynooth, was announced as High Sheriff of the County in the paper of 29 January 1881.[4] In January 1882 we note the mammoth rejoicings as Lord Frederick FitzGerald, Captain in the 60^th Rifles and third son of the Duke, returned to Maynooth from five years service in Afghanistan and Zululand. The Maynooth band, whose instruments had been the gift of Lord Frederick’s grandfather, missed his train but they proceeded that evening to Carton to pay their respects and to entertain and the Leinsters mingled with them. The whole town was illuminated as tar barrels blazed the following night as the junior members of the family came down and were ‘lost in the crowd,’ Frederick happy to speak and shake hands with the people of Maynooth.[5] Apparently he became affectionately known in the town as ‘Lord Fred.’[6]

One interesting note on the prosperity of the town was indeed its connection to the great family and Carton for it was often mentioned as a positive reference or attraction in the sale of businesses or leases and indeed as an excursion destination, such as the picnic in the demesne organised by Messers. J. Watkins & Co., celebrated brewers in September 1882 and the visit of the Ancient Order of Foresters, Dublin District in May of 1885.[7] However we find a small article in 1913 which explained that dogs were not allowed to run free on the estate.[8] The demesne was reported closed in August 1899, ‘…except on special permit,’ due, ‘…to the conduct of some excursionists who, being privileged to meander through the extensive and lovely grounds, did a considerable amount of damage.’[9] Special permission was granted however to St. Thomas’s Dominican Choir, Newbridge as a surprise treat when they visited Maynooth on their annual excursion that same month.[10]

The estate was not only a tourist destination but a place where local school children were entertained on the demesne by the Duchess in October 1892 and the County Kildare Archaeological Society (some 180-200 guests) were entertained to luncheon in Sept. 1893 as they visited, Taghadoe and Maynooth. Lord Walter and the Duke (the first president of the Society 1891) were key members of the Society and on this particular occasion both made presentations and the Duke gave a tour of the house.[11] When notification was given that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was to visit Ireland in 1885 speculation on the itinerary included a visit to the Duke and Duchess at Carton.[12] In April 1899 the Duchess of York was taken for a jaunt in an open carriage to Carton from the Viceregal Lodge and was received by the young Duke who was to enter Eton the following month.[13] On Wednesday 5 July of that year the Duke and Duchess of Connaught were entertained at the house on their way back to Dublin from the Curragh.[14] As the country prepared for the Queen’s visit in 1900 a diary of the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby was republished in the Observer which recalled the Queen’s first visit to Ireland in 1849. She attended a breakfast or garden party at Carton on 10 August, walked the grounds and was entertained by among other things a local jig-dancer.[15] In 1904 the Duke of Leinster entertained Cardinal Vanutelli, the Papal Legate, at Carton after his visit to Maynooth College.[16]

There is something fascinating about the marriage reports and announcements. A FitzGerald wedding of course was extremely newsworthy and there is a large report on the marriage of Lady Alice, eldest daughter of the Duke of Leinster and his wife Lady Caroline Gower, to Major Charles J. O. Fitzgerald, of the 3^rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, Indian Service. Lady Alice was dressed in white satin and brocaded silk with bodice to match and was given away by her father. The report of the actual wedding is less than a third of the whole which began with a lengthy history of the family and ended with a lengthy list of presents and present givers. Representatives of the tenantry of Maynooth and Moyglare had presented an epergne (sort of table centrepiece) the previous Saturday at Carton. It is a testament to The Kildare Observer that the list of gifts began with an illuminated address from the parishioners of Castledermot  and an address by the pupils of Castledermot school, followed by a silver service from the Carton, London and Dublin households and outdoor employees which was followed by a handsome photographic album from the tenants and employees of Kilkea Castle. Only then does the official list begin with the Duke and Duchess ending rather un-dramatically with a butter dish from Mrs. Bennie. Handsome floral arches with sentimental mottoes were erected in the main street of Maynooth with a large arch at the entrance to Carton bearing the motto, ‘The House of Geraldine’ and ‘Crom Aboo’ on the reverse. The Church was decorated by the Duke’s men and on leaving the church the party returned to Carton for the wedding breakfast.[17] Yet once again the town figured prominently in the personal life of the family. One reason for this was their actual presence, ‘Unlike many of the Irish nobility, the Fitzgeralds have always been residents in Ireland, which fact gives unusual historic interest to Carton.’[18]

An editorial in the Observer of 1883 sums up the celebrity of a FitzGerald wedding with a report from the World on the forthcoming wedding of the Marquis of Kildare – ‘All Ireland takes an interest in the Kildare-Dunscombe nuptials. It is indeed a great day for the Dunscomes [sic] (whose patronymic is Brown), in which they see a daughter of their house united to the heir of the illustrious Geraldines.’[19] The Marquis and Lady Hermione Wilhelmina Duncombe (born in 1864), eldest daughter of the Earl of Feversham (Faversham in text), were married at St. Paul’s Knightsbridge and according to the newspaper report the church had been crammed with spectators from an early hour. The wonderful description of the dresses of the bride and her ten bridesmaids, their flowers and ornaments are similar to those of modern society magazines. Once again an exhaustive list of presents and present-givers was supplied. Apparently the happy couple set out almost immediately after their wedding breakfast in 19 Belgrave Square, the town residence of the Earl of Feversham, to Eaton Hall, seat of the Duke of Westminister were it was planned they would spend a few days before returning to Kilkea Castle. On the day of the wedding the Duke had organised ‘an elegant dejeuner’ for some 400 schoolchildren in the local schools in Maynooth which was provided by a Dublin caterer. The racket court at Carton was fitted up as a banquetting hall where over 100 employees were treated to a ‘substantial dinner.’ The town was illuminated in the evening and a large bonfire lit in front of the courthouse with a fine pyrotechnic display at the Leinster Arms Hotel. The arms and legend of the Leinster family and the words ‘Cead mille failthe to the bride of Kildare’ were shown to great effect. ‘Both’ Maynooth bands entertained the crowds in the streets.[20] The town was again decorated and similarly illuminated on the occasion of the 6^th Duke’s majority in 1908 on his return to Carton.[21]

Flowers from the estate were also used locally on occasion, such as the Harvest Thanksgiving Service at Maynooth or at times at Celbridge Workhouse – indeed the Duchess is recorded as having visited the house to see a woman in the hospital, wife of a blacksmith on the estate. It was mentioned in the same report that the 3rd Duke had written down observations on the workhouse when he had visited.[22]

Just as the most prominent family in the county and indeed Ireland would entertain they would often be reported at entertainments elsewhere.[23] The lands at Kilkea and Carton feature quite regularly in the reports on the Kildare Hounds and as expected shots were held on the lands.[24] The fascination of the press with the family was sometimes almost vulgar in its adoration. In 1883 apparently the Duke refused the Order of the Garter and the Observer carried a report by ‘Atlas,’ again from the World. ‘It may be doubted whether any father and son, except the late and present Dukes of Leinster, ever refused the much-coveted blue ribbon for which so many magnates have clamoured. The late Duke refused it twice…The present Duke’s refusal was based on his having already declined the Order of St. Patrick; and being the soul of scrupulousness, his Grace thought that, in view of this, he could not accept the Garter’[25] Commenting on the later death of the Duke in 1887, the Observer noted, The deceased Duke was deservedly popular among his dependents, and was personally liked by all classes of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.’[26]

The economy and administration of the local area and Maynooth Town was inextricably linked to the great house and a note on the sale of Maynooth Courthouse as discussed under Grand Jury business clearly demonstrates the power of the family in this regard. While the sale of the courthouse (property of Mr. Maunsell) was recommended there was a worry over the need for a public room for the revision of voters. A letter from the Duke at Carton allayed their fears, ‘…I am willing to buy the house on the same conditions as before, viz.―to keep it as a Town Hall, free for all business connected with county business.’ A commission was appointed to oversee the sale which had the power to settle the purchase price at one shilling.[27] The house was acquired and operated as a Town Hall for public meetings and concerts etc.[28] It was burned in March 1920 and the Duke awarded compensation of £565, with 10 guineas costs.[29]

Sales at carton of timber etc. contributed locally to the economy of the estate and the town in terms of revenue and employment.[30] A large estate on the doorstep could provide other benefits as when the men form the demesne helped save the Presentation convent and schools from fire in November 1911.[31]

The family was of course represented on the Grand Jury and were often prominent on Grand Jury committees etc. and were constantly called upon for committee and society patronage.[32] The Fifth Duke for example was President of the Kildare Archaeological Society and also the Celbridge Branch of the Unionist Alliance. At a meeting of the latter Colonel Dease, expressing his regret at the death of the Fifth Duke, told the assemblage, ‘The last thing his Grace did was to express his wish that his sons should be brought up at Carton, where they should know all their neighbours, and he hoped they would become as good Irishmen as he had been.’[33] Both Lord Walter and Lord Frederick served on at the Local Petty Sessions courts and attended a meeting of Magistrates in Co. Kildare to consider the presentation of an address to King Edward VII in honour of his visit to Ireland in July 1903. On this occasion the Royals visited Maynooth College but not Carton though Lord Frederick was among the spectators in the grounds.[34]      

A death in the family was of course a major news story but once again the details of the death of the Fourth Duke in 1887 were mostly lost in a full column re-iterating the history of this ancient family. We are told that he died at Carton on Thursday 10 February after a short illness in his 68^th year and was survived by his wife the Duchess, Lady Caroline Levenson Gower. He had represented Kildare as MP from 1847-1852 and was to be succeeded by his son Gerald, Marquis of Kildare. The report simply declared the internment would take place on Saturday at 12 o’clock. Celbridge Board of Guardians suspended business for the day on Friday 11February as a mark of respect for the ‘irreparable loss,’ of their Chairman, who ‘… was a constant attendant at our meetings and in every way as chairman gave entire satisfaction to every member of this board.’[35] Ironically a letter from the Duke’s agent, Charles Hamilton, from 4 February was printed in the same issue whereby the Duke refused to accept anything less than 18 years purchase of the fixed rents from his tenants in Athy.[36] Once again his battles with his tenants over the terms of their agreements and leases proved just as newsworthy as his personal circumstances.

The description of his funeral is wonderful and re-emphasises the importance of the local newspaper as a reference tool and a means of preserving the history of the county which otherwise may have been lost. He was buried in the railed off family plot at Carton which he had constructed – ‘…a small mound within a couple of hundred yards of the house,’ which contained four simple graves for three of his daughters and one son, Lord Robert who had died in 1868. The funeral was a private affair according to the wishes of the family and desire of late Duke and, ‘Consequently none of the gentry of the neighbourhood attended.’ The plain oak coffin was borne from the house by his four sons. The Archbishop, Lord Plunket attended the funeral, read the service and performed the last rites assisted by Rev. Canon Whelan. Some one hundred people attended the funeral and these included servants, farm labourers and some people from Maynooth but ‘None of the tenantry were present.’ It was a very simple but affecting affair. Window blinds were drawn in the town and the shutters of shops closed, ‘…but no further demonstration of feeling was permitted to take place.’ Messages of condolences were received from all parts of the three Kingdoms, including the Queen and the Lord Lieutenant, the latter expressed a desire to attend, ‘…but this was not acceded to.’ Floral tributes from prominent families were received. Other tributes and marks of respect were paid at Athy and Rathangan.[37]

The death of the Fifth Duke on 1December 1893 of typhoid fever was not so well covered though motions of respect and sympathy were recorded by the Celbridge Board of Guardians, a large public meeting of people of Maynooth, the protestant parishioners of Maynooth, Athy Town Commissioners and the County Kildare Archaeological Society.[38] The public meeting passed a somewhat predictable resolution to express the townspeople’s sympathy and their sense of ‘great loss’ to be forwarded to the family the Rev. Dr. Tristram, while extolling the virtues of the much lamented late Duke, noted, ‘The income which he derived from this country was spent in this country, amongst its people,’ an example if followed by others might improve the prosperity of the country. Rev. J. Hunt, who occupied the chair, observed, ‘… that there is scarcely a family in the town of Maynooth that has not directly or indirectly experienced the advantage of having a residential duke at Carton.’[39] The details of the Duke’s will were published in the paper and Lord Frederick FitzGerald of Parkhurst, Isle of Wight and Charles Hamilton of Dunboyne were appointed executors and Lord Frederick and the Duchess as legal guardians to his son, the Marquis, now 6^th Duke of Leinster who was still a minor and would be of delicate disposition throughout his life, often wintering abroad. No specific provision for the upkeep of Carton was made and this meant it fell to the trustees.[40]

The Duchess died in March 1895 at Mentone, having left Carton the previous June, for a change of air to help try and recover from the onset of illness. Renowned for her beauty, commented the Observer, she had not taken an active part in country life or the hunting circuit though she did enjoy racing at Ascot and Punchestown and the art galleries in Dublin and London. She was a socialite unlike her husband and was active in charitable works and organisations. The blinds were drawn at Carton and the gate lodges on the demesne and the shutters pulled down in the businesses of Maynooth. Another death recorded a more historic connection as it was reported Helen McCorquodale died in Richmond Surrey on 17 April 1896, daughter of Lady Pamela and Lord Edward Fitzgerald.[41] The romance of Lord Edward and Lady Pamela was ever a popular theme in the newspapers.[42] A reprint of the Dr. John Armstrong Garnett’s diary, physician to Lord Edward at his death in June 1798, records his last visit from his brother Henry and aunt Lady Lousia Connolly, Lord Clare and Dr. Lindsay. Earlier that day Lord Edward ‘…ate about a dozen heads of asparagus (from Carton, presumably also),’ an unusual little annotation of interest.[43]

From time to time however the history of the family or reports and sketches on various individual family members were a commodity an editor could rely upon and make use of.[44] A wonderful story is told in an exposé of Lords Walter and Lord Frederick about Lord Frederick’s participation with the military at an eviction in the north of Ireland. An old peasant who had been reading ‘that the men who resisted extermination were following in the footsteps of Tone and Lord Edward,’ asked him, ‘“Tell me, yer honour, aren’t you a relative of Lord Edward?” “I am,” answered the Major of the Rifles. “An’ why are ye here,” asked the peasant, ‘an’ Lord Edward such a friend of Mr. Parnell’s?” Lord Frederick was dumfounded, but managed to reply, “Well, you see, Lord Edward is dead for nearly a hundred years.” “Divil may care,” replied the peasant, “If he was alive wouldn’t he be on Mr. Parnell’s side?” “To tell you the truth,” answered the officer, “I believe he would be.”[45] On another occasion Lord Frederick was listed for having subscribed £5 to the Evicted Tenants’ Restoration Fund and his election to the new County Council in 1899 and for successive years unopposed demonstrated his and his families support in the area.[46] Another wonderful snippet records the near fatal escape from fire of the young Duke and his brothers while on a visit to Lord and Lady Feversham.[47]

Charity and public works were always associated with the family, particulalry by their public service and by the outward expressions of charity by the Duchess, Hermione who died in 1895.[48] With the onset of World War I, the family again demonstrated their charity and the Duke of Leinster pledged £1,000 to the National Relief Fund in 1914; Lord Frederick and Lord Walter subscribed £10 each; Lord George £5; Lady Mabel £2; Lady Nesta £1 1s.; Lady Eva £1.[49] A Garden Fête was held at Carton 2 September 1916 to raise funds for supplying food and comforts to the 600 prisoners of war of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and some £300 was raised.[50] It was opened by the Lord Lieutenant, who was met by Lord Frederick and the committee, and the attendance apparently ‘…was the largest ever seen in this magnificent demesne.’[51] On Monday 11 Sept. Lieut.-Colonel Lord Frederick presided over the first meeting and was subsequently unanimously elected as chairman of the County Kildare War Pension’s Committee.[52] Lord Frederick offered some 117 volumes (presumably from the library at Carton), to the Naas Free Library Committee in 1907.[53]

 

---