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It happened 150 years ago this year and of the seventeen men publicly executed outside North Tipperary’s County Gaol in Nenagh, between 1842 and 1858, the true story of William and Daniel Cormack is one of the few that still remains fresh in folk memory, not just only here in County Tipperary and on the island of Ireland, but also in the USA, Australia, England and Canada.
I first heard about the Cormack Brothers as a small boy living in Co. Wexford and when I arrived here, to reside in Co.Tipperary in 1975, over the next 23 years, I listened intently to the constant and various arguments and debates, with regard as to their true guilt or innocent.
 "Guilty or Innocent?" Reprinted Then in 1998, a marvelous book, entitled appropriately ‘Guilty or Innocent?‘ by author and Tipperary historian Nancy Murphy, appeared on our book shelves. Now for the first time, lovers of history and Tipperary folklore, had compiled together and easily accessible to them, the full factual details of the Cormack Brothers trial, their execution and their exhumation.
The book was the outcome of years of extensive research, carried out painstakingly by the author, into newspapers, official and private correspondence, the Trant Papers, the Petitions for Reprieve, Parish Registers, Poor Law Rate Books and other land records. The book put together, accurately and for the very first time, the known truth, without bias. Not surprisingly the book was sold out within weeks of its original publication date and up until this week was commanding figures of in excess of €64 to €130 in just secondhand condition.
Now, due to popular demand Relay Books, Tyone, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary have agreed to republished ‘Guilty or Innocent?‘ in a limited edition, to meet the renewed interest in the Cormack Brother’s fate this year, being the 150th anniversary of their death.
The Cormack Brother’s murder trial is too complex to discuss in this blog, but Chapter 18, of this well researched book, examines aspects of the Cormack Brother’s case to be questioned, under the following headings :
Were the members of the Grand Jury correct in sending the Cormack Brothers for trial?
The conduct of the investigation as revealed in the trials;
The conduct of the trials by prosecution, defence and presiding Judge;
The quality of the evidence and consequently whether the second Trial Jury was justified in their verdict;
Were there grounds for appeal, for a case stated by the judge for judgement by the Superior Court, and ultimately for mercy by the Lord Lieutenant?
Finally, and leaving the law aside, has the widespread belief in the Cormack Brother’s innocence been justified? The author quotes the indirect evidence for this and leaves a conclusion to the reader.
Within the last few months, the tiny village of Loughmore,Co.Tipperary, native parish to William and Daniel Cormack, have marked the anniversary of their execution and exhumation, by an impressive and evocative recreation of the 1910 funeral of the brothers exhumed remains. They also staged a play, “The Cormack Brothers”, in the parish centre over seven nights, playing to full houses and standing room only.
The limited republished edition of ‘Guilty or Innocent?‘ in paperback, retails at just €12.90 plus €2.00 for postage and packing.
This book is an excellent read for factual history lovers and if you enjoy a story where ‘truth is stranger than fiction’, you can now obtain a copy of this publication from any of the following retail outlets:- Bookworm,Thurles. - J.Walsh, Main St., Templemore. John Ryan, Bookshop, Friar Street, Thurles. The book is also available from Relay Books, Tyone, Nenagh, (Email relaybooks@eircom.net.)
Take it from me this book is one good read.
It was on the 15th November 1996 that the Minute Book of the Thurles /Rahealty Famine Food Committee was first discovered in St. Mary’s Church Thurles Co. Tipperary. The book had been put in an old apple box with some unwanted prayer and hymn books in 1850 and then placed on the top floor in the bell tower for safe keeping. Over the next 146 years the 2nd and 3rd floors leading to the 4th floor bell tower became unsafe and the contents of the apple box were forgotten. Then in 1996 it was decided to fully restore the church and its 13th century tower resulting in the box and its contents being located and identified.
This minute book contains valuable information of both local & national importance, concerning the ‘Great Famine’ period 1846 and 1847.
 Lila Stanley, Linda Stanley, Kathy Langley & Mary Russell In this book the locations of the soup kitchens in Thurles are given, together with details of their running costs and those employed there.
On Sunday next 15th November for the first time since 1849 a group of ladies from this parish Church will make history by manufacturing this soup, based solely on the recipe contained in these historical minutes.
Visitors to the Church on Sunday next from 10.00am until 6.00pm can view the large collection of famine memorabilia contained in the Famine Museum and if they wish can also taste, for the first time, this famine soup which was given, mainly free, to those forced to attend the 3 soup kitchens then established here in Thurles during the 1845 to 1849 period.
All tours on the day will be accompanied by a guide.
This event will be followed later in the evening by the second annual Famine Memorial multi denomination service which will take place in St. Mary’s Church also on Sunday next, 15th November at 8.00 pm. This ceremony will be conducted by the Rector of St. Mary’s, Rev Peter Cole-Baker assisted by local historian Rev. Monsignor Dr. Maurice Dooley, latter retired parish priest of Loughmore, who will also preach the sermon. Music for this famine memorial service will be provided by members and musicians of the Thurles Cathedral Youth Choir and Phoenix Productions under the direction of local Councillor & Solicitor Mr. Gerard O’Brien.
A warm invitation is issued to all who wish to attend any part of this full day event on Sunday next and elderly persons are advised to come early for the memorial service to ensure seating.
Front and rear gates to St. Mary’s Church will be open, to allow for easy access and car parking.
A quiet plot at Deansgrange Cemetery in Dublin gives no clue as to whose final resting place it might be, let alone the role this Tipperary man previously played in changing the course of this country’s sporting history.
 Thomas St George McCarthy Cup. The occupant of this lonely spot, for the past 66 years, is none other than Tipperary man Thomas St George McCarthy, who with possibly thirteen other men gathered in Thurles’s, Haye’s Hotel, Co Tipperary on that day, 1st of November in 1884, for that inaugural meeting of the GAA. Thomas who died at the age of 80 in 1943, because of reduced means, would have no headstone afforded him, to mark the grave he bought for himself, while still living.
While fellow founders names like J. K. Bracken, Maurice Davin, Michael Cusack of Cusack Stand fame and patron Archbishop Thomas Croke are referred to by the GAA as household names, McCarthy lay with nothing to prove his personal legacy to the Irish Nation.
Why you ask? The answer is simple, Thomas St. George McCarthy, born at Bansha, Tipperary was an Irish Rugby Union International player. Born son of a Kerry man who was a former Revenue Police Lieutenant, RIC County Inspector and a Resident Magistrate, who worked in Tipperary and resided in Bansha, Thomas McCarthy himself was a District Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary based at Templemore, County Tipperary. His involvement in the GAA is particularly notable because in a later period there would be a ban for many years in the GAA on people who played rugby, cricket and soccer (Rule 21) from joining the Association and this ban would also apply to members of the British police and armed forces.
McCarthy moved to Dublin from Bansha in 1877 and became a close friend of Michael Cusack, sharing Cusacks dream. He was coached by Cusack for his RIC cadetship examination in 1882, in which he took first place. He joined the Trinity College University Football Club in 1881 and was capped against Wales in 1882. In the same year he won the Leinster Senior Cup with Trinity. His involvement with the GAA was brought about by the belief that this new initiative would encourage young men onto the sports field and away from the consumption of hard liquor.
He had a great love of hurling, and was a regular attender at matches including Croke Park to which he travelled from his home in Ranelagh,Co. Dublin.
However, plans are now in train to redress this injustice and the GAA propose to erect a commemorative gravestone at Deansgrange, which is to be unveiled in November 2009.
The two police forces in Ireland, the Garda Síochána (South) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (North) have already honoured McCarthy by introducing the Thomas St. George McCarthy Cup for competition by members of the Garda and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Perhaps it’s now the correct time for Tipperary, Templemore and Bansha to honour him also, before the year runs out.
A capacity crowd of parents, students and teachers were held spellbound by a very realistic enactment of the founding meeting of  the G.A.A. by a group of Thurles actors in Tipperary Institute on Wednesday last.
Organised by Tipperary Education Support Centre in Thurles, the enactment was brought to life with a script devised by author and historian Tom Noone from contemporary records of the event, and played by members of Thurles Drama Group.
The actors, in genuine period costume supplied by St. Mary’s Famine Museum, decided on a most original concept, by having all the cast enter the auditorium through the audience and then taking their places among the audience, just as they would have done at an actual meeting.
The narrator gave the reasons for the meeting and invited Michael Cusack to open proceedings. What followed kept everyone’s interest at a high level as various points in favour of the proposed association were made, clarification sought on a number of issues, elections held and acknowledgements made of the sterling work done by Cusack and the new President of the fledgling organisation, Tipperary man Maurice Davin. The meeting concluded with the reading of Archbishop Thomas William Croke’s charter for the association.
The cast pictured above comprised Donal Taylor, Tom Noone, Flan Quigney, Martin Fitzgerald, David McElgunn, Liam Ryan and Jimmy Duggan.
Among the capacity audience were Most Rev. Dr. Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel & Emly, Nicky Brennan, immediate past president of the G.A.A., Barry O’Brien, Tipperary Co. Board chairman, Tim Floyd, Tipperary county secretary, and a large number of the Tipperary hurling panel.
 Michael Cusack 1847- 1906 founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association Among the many functions being held country-wide to mark the 125th anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association, is a novel idea arranged by a number of teachers in the Co. Tipperary Education Centre here in Thurles.
All of the primary schools in town were invited to submit projects to mark this special occasion, and the response from the students has been magnificent.
The results of their endeavours are on show in Tipperary Institute, and include videos conceived and produced by the students themselves, along with drawings, displays, pictures and essays.
All the work will be recognised on Wednesday 4th November in the Institute at a function to be attended by a number of dignitaries, including members of the Tipperary Senior hurling panel.
Now this is where the novel idea comes into being.
A number of local actors will stage a re-enactment of the very first meeting of the Gaelic Athletic Association, held in Miss Hayes’ Hotel, Main Street, Thurles, on November 1st 1884, with a specially commissioned script based on contemporary accounts of the meeting.
It is hoped to have a link with the Michael Cusack Centre in Clare during the presentation.
This event promises to be an historical and educational evening.
The salaries of ministers in both governments of the 1920s were fixed at £1,500 a year, which would have the purchasing power today of around €100,000 per year. Éamon de Valera, coming to power in 1932, reduced this figure by one-third, to about €1,000 a year, which again would have the purchasing power today of around €70,000 in money terms.
With regard to Politicians expenses, here in Co Tipperary, 6 Dail deputies and 4 Senators have claimed, on top of their salaries, close to €1.2 million in allowances and expenses since the 2007 Irish General Election.
As to travelling expenses, after the civil war all ministers travelled to and from their offices using public transport, usually Dublin Trams.
 Back Row: Eamon de Valera, Kevin O'Higgins and Rory O'Connor at O'Higgins' wedding in 1921. O'Higgins was later to sign and order O'Connor's execution . Ministerial cars, as we know them today, were not introduced until after the murder of 35 year old Irish Minister for Justice, Kevin O’Higgins, as he made his way to Mass, on Booterstown Avenue in Dublin.
This murder was undertaken by three Anti Treaty members of the IRA in 1927, namely Timothy Coughlin, Bill Gannon and Archie Doyle, who were never apprehended, (IRA Amnesty) in revenge for O’Higgins part in the executions of 77 IRA men during the civil war.
At that point, the Defence Forces insisted that senior Ministers of State travel should in future be by an Army car, guarded by an armed escort.
Today Government Ministers must have a fuel guzzling Mercedes Benz together with garda driver on call at a moments notice to ferry them around like rock stars. If security be the issue, why not use the Army again, they appear to do a great job securing our bank’s money
Present cost of keeping the Government’s jet sitting on the ground is €4,500 per hour and this increases to €7, 100 per hour when in flight.
On Friday last the government stepped up its caointe (Irish for wailing) warning that the coming budget will be awful. Their propaganda being the expected mix of reassurance and fright delivered in the one breath before each budget. Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney has threatened us with the International Monetary Fund( IMF ) despite Brian Cowan’s claim some months ago that the IMF had no intention of interfering in our monetary affairs.
Meanwhile back at the ranch Professor Brendan Drum (HSE Chief ) has justified his 2007 €70,000 bonus, despite the fact that in 2007 Ireland was rated only 28th out of 29 countries in Europe, in relation to our health service delivery.
How our National Lottery funds have been doled out, now appears to be in question, following claims once again of political interference for political gain.
I wonder how many of our readers have actually read George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
The pig character Napoleon and his fellow pigs also became corrupted by the absolute power they held over the farm. To maintain their popularity with the other animals, Squealer secretly painted additions to some of the communities democratic commandments to make them more beneficial to the pigs, while keeping them free of accusation of law breaking. An example of this was the law “No animal shall drink alcohol” later appended with the words “to excess” ). The laws are eventually completely removed, and replaced with just one law “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others“.
To restore just a modicum of confidence in our political system these matters now need to be promptly resolved.
The Government’s greatest failure over the past year has been its total inability to provide any inspired leadership. This government has still not managed to convince the public regarding the sheer scale of the major problems facing this country and continue to govern under the law that states “Some animals are more equal than others“.
Leadership can only be shown by example, thus people in positions of wealth and power must be also fully accountable.
 St Ailbe's Church The 51st Tidy Towns Awards was announced recently at a ceremony in Dublin and yes it’s official, Emly, in West Co. Tipperary has deservedly been named the tidiest town in Ireland and for the first time.
Emly was the overall national and regional winner with a winning score of 305 points.
Two other Tipperary towns have also won gold awards in this year’s competition, previous winner Birdhill was close behind Emly on 302 points and Clonmel won its category with 290 points.
In North Tipperary Roscrea fared the best of the bigger towns on 270 points, followed by our own Thurles on 258 (Up 7 points on 2008) and Nenagh on 239.
In South Tipperary, Cahir was 30 points behind Clonmel on 260 and followed by Cashel 255 while Carrick-on-Suir scored 254 points.
National Tidy Towns Winner Is Emly Co Tipperary
The winning town of Emly is centered around it’s very beautiful local parish church, dedicated to its patron saint, St. Ailbe. Emly is one of the oldest centres of Christianity in Ireland and up until the early middle ages was the seat of the premier diocese in the south of Ireland remaining a Cathedral city until the 16th century. The full name of Emly in the Irish language is ‘Imleach Iubhair’ which literally means ‘The Border of the Lake of the Yew Trees’. The wood of the English Yew was used for bows by Celtic and Teutonic warriors, a practice which eventually led to the demise of the great Yew forests of Western Europe
St. Ailbe was Bishop of Emly in Munster and died about 528 AD and it is very difficult to sift the truth from the myths and legends which have gathered round the life of this Irish saint. Beyond the fact, which is itself disputed, that he was a disciple of St. Patrick and was probably ordained priest by him, we know really nothing of the history of St. Ailbe. Legend says that in his infancy he was left in the forest to be devoured by the wolves, but that a she-wolf took compassion upon him and suckled him. Many years afterwards, when Ailbe was bishop, a wolf, pursued by a hunting party, fled to the Bishop and laid her head upon his lap. Ailbe recognised and protected this wolf, and every day thereafter she and her cubs came back to be fed by him. It is also believed St. Ailbe loved hospitality and taught his parishioners the importance of same in respect of those who travelled through the area.
Archbishop Thomas Croke, of GAA fame, laid the foundation stone of the present church in Emly on the 30th May 1880. The work was completed in 1882 and officially opened on 6th January 1883. This church replaced an earlier one built in 1810 and which is now used as the towns parish hall. The nearby graveyard contains the towns most famous items of antiquity, St. Ailbe’s Cross and St. Ailbe’s Well, which from ancient times to current date are held in veneration by the the towns inhabitants who still assemble here, on the 12th of September each year, to celebrate the anniversary of St. Ailbe’s death.
Emly also rightfully lays claim to two other notable historical figures, Dermot O’Hurley and Terence Albert O’Brien both of whom were beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27th September 1992.
Dermot O’Hurley (c. 1530 – 1584) was a the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the diocese of Cashel during the reign of Queen Elisabeth 1 and was put to death for treason. Despite severe torture, which included having his legs roasted over a roaring fire, the Archbishop refused to embrace protestantism.
Terence Albert O’Brien (c.1600 – 1651) was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Emly. During the Irish confederate wars O’Brien opposed a peace treaty that did not guarantee Catholic interests in Ireland and following the 1651 siege of Limerick by Ormondists and Parliamentarians, he with others, following their surrender, was executed by General Henry Ireton.
In past years a very ancient canoe, resembling those used by south sea islanders, was dug up in the adjacent bogs near the village, together with gold armlets, ancient coins, and some brass swords.
Tourists, visiting Tipperary, should halt awhile in this area and experience the country-style hospitality which still exists long after St. Ailbe.
The annual nine day Solemn Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help will commence in Holycross Abbey, Thurles , Co.Tipperary, on Tuesday next September 8th and continue daily until Wednesday, September 16th . The Abbey’s parish priest is presently Rev.Fr. Thomas Breen.
Mass Times for this years Solemn Novena
 Holycross Abbey 1841 Daily Times
Abbey: 7.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. – 7.30. p.m. – 9.30. p.m.
Marquee: 10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. – 7.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.
(Note: Confessions before, during and after each session.)
Sunday Times
Abbey: 7.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m. – 12.30. p.m. – 2.30. p.m. – 7.30 p.m. 9.30 p.m.
Marquee: 10.30. a.m. – 12.30. p.m. – 2.30. p.m. – 7.30. p.m. and 9.30. p.m.
(Special Note: Special ceremony for the sick (anointing of the sick) on Saturday 2.30 p.m. during the Novena.)
During this Solemn Novena each year thousands of Christian pilgrims gather at this historic Abbey, in search and, more importantly, often finding the spiritual and natural healing they so earnestly seek in their lives.
History Of Holycross Abbey
The Holy Cross Abbey (Mainistir na Croise Naofa) is a now a beautifully restored Cistercian monastery in the village of Holycross, five miles from Thurles town. Situated on the River Suir (Abhainn na Siúire) this Abbey takes its name from a relic of the True Cross or Holy Rood. The fragment of that Holy Rood was brought to Ireland by the French Plantagenet Queen Isabella of Angouleme, in approximately 1233.
The beautiful Queen Isabella (1188 – 1246) was the second wife, and then widow of King John (1166 -1216 – Legendary enemy of English folklore hero Robin Hood). Queen Isabella married King John at the tender age of 12 years becoming mother of Henry 111, (Henry of Winchester). Following King John’s death she remarried one Hugh X of Lusignan and during her two marriages she gave issue to 14 children all of whom survived into adulthood.
Queen Isabella bestowed this relic on the original Cistercian Monastery in Thurles, which she then had reconstructed and from hence it derives it’s present name, ‘Holy Cross Abbey’.
Following the attempted dissolution of the monasteries through the Tudor conquest and the Cromwellian War (1649 – 1653), HolyCross Abbey slowly fell into ruins towards the middle of the 17th century, and instead now slowly become a place for public burial, amid its ruins, particularly after 1740.
Following special legislation in the Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann) on its 50th anniversary,(21st of January 1969), Holy Cross Abbey was rightfully restored as a place of Roman Catholic worship and was correctly recognised primarily as a national Irish monument of great exception.
The Sacristan of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome provided an authenticated relic of the Holy Cross, and the emblem of the Jerusalem Cross, also referred too as the Crusader Cross, has now been returned to the Abbey.
The thousands of tourists who make a pilgrimage to Holycross each year from all over the world, speak of the Abbey’s great beauty, peace and serenity.
True Tipperary hurling fanatics in particular, of which there are no shortage, will not want to miss the chance to view the only really significant painting with a GAA hurling theme, presently in the ownership of the Irish State, which has just gone on public exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin’s Parnell Square.
 'The Tipperary Hurler' ‘The Tipperary Hurler’, a painting by Limerick born artist Seán Keating, (Born 28th September1889) was an accredited artist and former president of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Seán, was the father of the 1970s Labour Party minister Justin Keating, former who died in 1977.
This painting is based on a sketch made by the artist at Croke Park, of Tipperary man and former hurler John-Joe Hayes from the townsland of Ballerk, near Thurles Town, Co.Tipperary. This beautifully portrait depicts a strong, rugged yet determined subject matter and was begun by the artist sometime between 1923 and 1925.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final of 1923 was held at Croke Park, in Dublin on 9th September. The match was contested that year by Kilkenny and Tipperary, with John Joe Hayes playing for Tipperary and with Kilkenny taking the coveted title by 4-2 to 2-6.
This painting was first exhibited in Amsterdam during the Olympic Games of 1928 and was eventually donated to the Hugh Lane collection in 1956 by the late Patric Farrell, an American who served as a producer and director of the Irish Theater and the Museum of Irish Art in the New York of the 1920’s and 30’s, and who only ever visited Ireland once in 1965.
The artist finished the painting using as his model, student Ben O’Hickey, who was at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art with Keating, to complete the painting. Ben O’Hickey later was to become a founder member of the IRA in Bansha, Co Tipperary.
Amongst Seán Keatings other recognised paintings are ‘An Aran Fisherman and His Wife’ (1916), ‘Men of the South’ (1921) (latter hangs in Cork’s Crawford Gallery and depicts a group of IRA men preparing to ambush a military vehicle) ‘The Mountainy Man’ (1926) and ‘Homage To Hugh Lane’ (1924), amongst many others.
A major exhibition of other paintings by Keating, curated by Dr Eimear O’Connor, is currently on show at the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
John Joe is depicted in the portrait wearing the jersey of the Commercials Hurling Club (CHC), which was founded in 1886 by young hurling lovers from the midlands of Ireland who had moved to find work in the many bars and shops of Dublin city.
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Theo visits these towns now once again, taking the same routes he did fadó (long ago) on Bus Éireann. This week Theo stops in The Horse and Jockey, Thurles Co. Tipperary. It was always a halfway station to stop off and get a bit of grub and you on the way to a match, in the mecca of hurling, over the road in Thurles. Theo learns more about the founding of the GAA, in the place it all started, in the Haye’s Hotel. He also visits the famous Holycross Abbey, the St Mary’s Famine Museum and yes he does remember the Trip to Tipp.
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