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January 23, 2008
Some notes from the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society Journal
Some notes of interst on Kildare Town and Grey Abbey from the pages of the Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society. My thanks to the Society.J O U R N A L
Of The
Co. KILDARE ARCHAELOGICAL SOCIETY
AND
SURROUNDING DISTRICTS.
VOL. IV.
JULY, 1903 – 1905.
( 65 )
Notes.
Fragments of Celtic Slabs in St. Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare. – Visitors to this ancient and historic Celtic ecclesiastical site must be struck with disappointment at the very few monuments belonging to that early period which are now visible; the Round Tower and the high unsculptured granite cross being the only two pre-Norman remains now existing in the cathedral grounds. This may be accounted for by the erection of the Anglo-Norman cathedral in the thirteenth century, when the Celtic crosses, Irish inscribed slabs, and other remains, may have been injured, ignored, or even broken up and used for building material. Even at the present day there are no Anglo-Irish monuments of an earlier date than the seventeenth century, with the exception of the Bishop’s Effigy and the sixteenth century effigy of Sir Maurice FitzGerald, of Lackagh. That Celtic slabs were at one time in existence here is proved by the fact that three small fragments were rescued during the last restoration of the cathedral, and now are deposited in the west end of the cathedral, where they are carefully preserved by orders of the Dean of Kildare.
Rubbings from these three small fragments (two of which belong to one another) are illustrated on the opposite page.
W. FITZG.
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J O U R N A L
Of The
Co. KILDARE ARCHAELOGICAL SOCIETY
AND
SURROUNDING DISTRICTS.
VOL. V.
1906 – 1908
(a note on John Hewetson from Kildare? - being part of the following article - full article can be located in Vol. V of the Journal.)
THE HEWETSON COAT-OF-ARMS
PATRICK HEWETSON, M.D.
BY JOHN HEWETSON.
PATRICK HEWETSON, Doctor in Physic, of Betaghstown, Clane, County of Kildare, the founder of “Hewetson’s School,” Clane, was a descendant of John Hewetson or Hewsonne, of the City of York, born before or in the year 1498, and elected a Freeman of that city as “Johannes Hewson,” in the 30th year of Henry VIII (1537-8); he was living there in the reigns of Mary I and Queen Elizabeth. He married Margaret Lambert, second daughter and co-heir of John Lambert, of Calton and Skipton, County of York, Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who died 1569 (a descendant of William the Conqueror, through his granddaughter Gundred, daughter of William, Earl Warren and Surrey, and widow of Roger de Bellamont, Earl of Warwick). He had seven sons and one daughter. Of the sons, we need mention but two, Thomas and Christopher.
I. Thomas, his eldest son, was of Kildare, and of Baskin, County Dublin, a captain in the army of King Charles I, who by his wife, Eleanor, had issue – (a) John, (b) Thomas, (c) Dominick, and (d) George.
(a) John of Kildare, colonel in the army, owner of “both abbeys,”[i] County Kildare, and also possessed of lands at Titchfield, in the County of Southampton. He was born at Settrington, Yorkshire, in 1613, and was High Sheriff of Kildare, 1656. His death took place on the 2nd February in 1658, at the age of 45. According to his wish, he was interred in the “Church of the Abbey of Kildare,” where a monument, erected as memorial of him by Christian, his wife, can still be seen.[ii] County Kildare, and also possessed of lands at Titchfield, in the County of Southampton. He was born at Settrington, Yorkshire, in 1613, and was High Sheriff of Kildare, 1656. His death took place on the 2 February in 1658, at the age of 45. According to his wish, he was interred in the “Church of the Abbey of Kildare,” where a monument, erected as memorial of him by Christian, his wife, can still be seen.
NOTES.
The Grey Abbey at Kildare. – The following is a translation from the Latin of an entry in “The Earl of Kildare’s Red Book” (p. 35b, of the original:-
“In the Chapel of the Bless Virgin Mary of the Church of the Friars Minors of Kildare, lies the Lord Thomas, son of the lord John fitzThomas, Earl of Kildare, Justiciary of Ireland, and Lord of Offaly, who caused this Chapel to be erected. His wife was Johanna de Burgo, who presented many gifts to the Friars of Kildare, which are too numerous to specify . . . . He (the Earl) died at his Castle at Maynooth on the 9th of April in the year of our Lord MCCCXXVIII, and was buried before the Altar of the Blessed Virgin.
“Item. – To his right, his son Richard, who succeeded him in the Earldom, lies in front of the Altar of St. John; he died at Rathangan in the year of our Lord MCCCXXIX, without male issue.”
W. FITZG.
[i] The ruins of a considerable part of one of the abbeys, viz., the “Grey Abbey,” still remained in 1786.
[ii] The Dean of Kildare has kindly copied the inscription here mentioned, line for line, as it appears on the monument:-
Here: vnderneath : Lyeth : the : body : OF : Iohn : He= wetfon : efq : he : waf : born : att : fettrington : in : Yorkefhire : anD : dyed : the : 2 : day : of : febru : 1658 aGed : 45 : yeares : this : monument : waf : erected : af : a memorial : of : him : by : Chriftian : hif : wif : by : whom : he : had : : iffue : one : fonno [sic] : and : two : daughterf : the : yo= unger : dyed : the : yere : of : her : age : and : if : inter= ed : by : her : f[ather]r.
The last line is cut on the projecting frame of the mural slab, and a chip occurs in the word “father”. The age of the daughter is omitted. The son was Col. Thomas Hewetson, of Grange, Co. Kildare; and the daughters Dorothy and Elinor, the latter being buried in her father’s tomb.
Some notes of interst on Kildare Town and Grey Abbey from the pages of the Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society. My thanks to the Society.
Posted by mariocorrigan at January 23, 2008 10:41 PM