An Amusing Event at Greystones Harbour

Congratulations to the talented students in Mr. Dodd’s 6th class who helped mark an historical event that occurred at Greystones Harbour on this date, the 25th October, in 1910. Those in attendance were high in their praise of the historical re-enactment.

Barbara Flynn Photography

You can read more about the occasion on THIS link from Greystones Guide which includes a video of the re enactment of a confrontation between suffragettes Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Hilda Webb and the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Augustine Birrell. Thank you to Greystones Guide for recording this event for posterity.

You can read about the encounter between Augustine Birrell and the suffragettes HERE on the Wicklow Heritage website .

Thank you too, to Rosemary Raughter of the Greystones Archaeological and Historical Society who invited the students from St. Brigid’s to participate. Whenever we pass by the plaque that was put up today we will be reminded that we were there on this day.

Thank you also to Barbara Flynn Photography for the great photos of the occasion.

Music and World War 1 – Ina Boyle (1889-1967)

The centenary of the Armistice brings music that was composed during WW1 into focus. Several works composed by the Irish composer Ina Boyle (1889-1967) reflect the impact of the war on her family and neighbours in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.

On 21 October 1914, soon after the outbreak of the war, Captain Henry Stanley Monck of the Coldstream Guards, son of Viscount Monck of Charleville House, was killed in action in St. Julien. There are two plaques in St. Patrick’s Church, Enniskerry – where Boyle’s father, Rev. William Foster Boyle, was curate – a Monck Memorial and a Great War Memorial to commemorate ten members of the parish who lost their lives in the war. A brass communion rail and chancel, designed by Lord Powerscourt, was inaugurated in their memory on Easter Sunday 1919.

On 4 September 1915 Captain Grenville Fortescue, 11th Battalion, husband of Ina Boyle’s cousin, Adelaide Jephson, and father of two children, was killed in action in France at the age of twenty-eight. On 24 May 1918 Lieutenant Patrick Bryan Sandford Wood, R.A.F., aged nineteen, eldest son of the composer Charles Wood, who was married to Ina’s cousin Charlotte, was killed in an aeroplane accident on active service in Italy, where he is buried in Taranto Town Cemetery.

In 1915 Ina Boyle composed two anthems ‘He will swallow up death with victory’ a Funeral Anthem, (Isaaih XXV 8,9) for solo soprano, choir and organ, and ‘Wilt not Thou, O God, go forth with our Hosts’, an Anthem for Intercession for choir and organ. The latter was dedicated to the 36th (Ulster) Division,and was to have been performed by the choir of Derry Cathedral but could not be sung as so many of the men in the choir had gone to war.

A hundred years later it was performed for the first time in 2016 in St. Columb’s cathedral Derry, for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Among Boyle’s ‘Early Compositions’ in TCD Manuscripts Library there is a setting for voice and piano, dated December 1916, of Rudyard Kipling’s poignant poem ‘My boy Jack?

“Have you news of my boy Jack? “

Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind—
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide

The most ambitious work composed by Ina Boyle during the war is ‘Soldiers at peace’ (1916), a setting for choir and orchestra of a sonnet by Captain Herbert Asquith, second son of the British Prime Minister. It was performed in 1920 at Woodbrook, Bray by Bray Choral Society, conducted by Thomas Weaving, then organist at Christ Church cathedral.

Although she paid £11.7.0 in 1918 for publication of the vocal score by Novello the work did not have another performance until 3 November 2018, when it was performed in London by the Highgate Choral Society and the New London Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Corp

Dr. Ita Beausang

 

The fires on Bray Head this summer revealed a sign from World War 2

During the World War 2, the country Ireland was neutral. This means that Ireland didn’t take sides in the war between the Allied and the Axis forces.

In the earlier part of the war (between 1942 and 1943), large signs which said Éire, were placed around the coast to let bomber pilots know that they were flying over a neutral country. Originally there were over eighty of these.

There was one on Bray Head, between Bray and Greystones. These signs were made out of large stones. The stones were painted white. The paint faded over time and the stones became overgrown. In Bray the sign could no longer be seen.

This summer, there was a huge fire on Bray Head. The gorse was burned and the sign could be seen again.

You can read more about these signs in ‘The Journal’ online newspaper . You can see photos of the sign too. There is more information and photographs on

EIRE8 – Bray Head

This was an exciting summer for signs from the past. The lack of rain meant that the grass died back. In Newgrange, County Meath crop marks were revealed. You can read about them here:

What are crop marks?

1911 Census details for the Holy Faith Convent in Greystones

The 1911 Census is a wonderful source of information.

Click HERE to see the 1911 Census details for the Holy Faith Convent in Greystones.

On the night of Sunday 2nd April, 1911, there were six members of the Holy Faith Order in the house.

Margaret Gaughron was the local superior.

Frances Murphy, Johanna Aylward, Kate Sheehy and Norah Trant were all described as teachers.

Ellen Maguire was visiting the convent.

The women were all between the ages of 30 and 65.

Norah Trant was from County Kerry.

Margaret Gaughron the head of the convent was from Dublin as was Ellen Maguire who was visiting.

The other sisters, Frances Murphy, Johanna Aylward and Kate Sheehy were all from County Wicklow.

Click HERE to see the details of the Holy Faith Convent in Kilcoole,

where there were seven sisters, six of whom were in their thirties.

There were fourteen boys boarding there that night,

between the ages of four and eleven.

From the Archives: Shopping in 1922

‘Leap Year Times,’ Saturday February 29th 1992

prepared by Mrs. McGloin’s 4th class at that time.

Capa com ilustração de A. Antertre, 1922 Hemeroteca Digital | Old magazines & newspapers | Portugal via Compfight

Greystones Shops 1922

Since we were examing the new shops in Greystones we decided to visit the library and look for any information on what Greystones looked like in the early 1900s. We found a book called ‘A Guide to Greystones’ printed in 1922.

Here are some of the shops we found. We have found out what some of these building are today. 

 

The Gold Hotel on Portland Road no longer exists.

 

Braemar Private Hotel/Lewis’ Hotel. St Brigids School replaced this.

 

The Railway Hotel is now the Burnaby Hotel.

 

The Stanley Stores is now Fenton Fires.

 

Scotts pharmacy now Glennans pharmacy

 

J Mc Kenzie’s is now Mooneys

Ferns is now Poppies.

Moore & Co is now Iretons

McFarland’s Tea was at the Burnaby Stores.

You could get a car at Greystones Motor opposite Railway Station.

Hare Builders coach paints and general contractors were at Clonallan Villa.

 

Edwards and Co sold high class groceries and provisions.

Furnished and unfurnished homes could be supplied by Rochford Doyle Auctioneer

who was based at Bushfield House.

Electrification – When did electricity come to Greystones?

Click on THIS link to see an interactive map showing when places in Ireland got electricity. As you can see from the screen shot below Greystones got electricity in 1930. Delgany had to wait until 1932. Templecarrig had an even longer wait and it was 1949 before Templecarrig had electricity.

A screen shot from the ESB Archives see link to website below.

Click HERE to see some more details about the electrification of County Wicklow. Interesting information HERE contrasting life before electrification and life after.

The De Valera Family and St. Brigid’s Greystones

The following is and extract from

History of

Greystones Convent

and Blacklion School

by

Sister M. Dolorosa

(1964)

President De Valera (and his family)

‘The year was 1917. Sister Mary Rose was called to the parlour  

‘a lady wished to see her’.

As the Sister stood for a moment, framed in the parlour doorway,

the visitor noted the kindly lines in her face.

‘A warm heart beats with’, she though, ‘which all her Victorian dignity,

and the Jansenistic rigour of her generation, cannot hide’.

In her turn, the Sister looked at the dainty figure befor her:

a fair-hair lady with a gentle dignity, and the most winning of smiles.

The nun’s heart went out to her at once.

‘I’m Mrs. De Valera,’ the lady introduced herself.

‘De Valera!’ Sister Mary Rose was conscious of a little inward shiver.

‘The name was not at all common.

Could it be connected with that dreadful Rebel? She sincerely hoped not!’

Like all nuns of the period, she was naively ignorant of the world of politics.

Of course, she knew what rebellions were.

Had she not heard endless discussion in her own home and ’98. 1803 and 1848!

Then there was 1867, when she had been in the Convent for six years,

and the recent trouble in 1916 …

What bloodshed! What loss of life! And all in vain!

Would her dear misguided countrymen never learn sense?

Untrained, and with the most primitive of weapons,

‘with every recurring folly, they were prepared to defy a mighty Empire.

Of what use were pikes against the British cannons?

To be sure, they must have had some guns in 1916: a number of people were shot!’

The mere thought of taking life was enough to make Sister Mary Rose feel faint.

She recoiled in horror from these thoughts,

but was far too well-bred and courteous

to allow them to effect her manner to the visitor.

‘How do you do, Mrs. De Valera. Won’t you be seated, please.’

Her hostess indicated the sofa.

‘Now, what can I do for you?’

‘I have come to ask you to take my two eldest children into the school.

Vivion is almost seven years of age, while Mairín is not yet six.’

A Valued Friendship

The interview proved to be the beginning of a warm friendship

between the Sisters of the Holy Faith in Greystones,

and the family of Éamon De Valera, now President of Ireland.

Moreover, Sister Mary Rose was to live long enough to learn,

that the latest ‘recurring folly’ of her ‘dear misguided countrymen’

was not ‘all in vain’, after all!

The Children Come to School

When the De Valera family took up residence in one of the stucco houses on Kinlen Road, in 1917,

they hardly realized at the time that they were settling among a very unsympathetic and hostile community.

Before they left the district, however in 1922, many had thawed out and succumb to the charm of this family,

the members of which were ready to suffer so much, and make such sacrifices for their ideals.

Vivion and Mairín came to the Convent School and made their First Holy Communion with the Sisters,

before the family returned to Dublin.

Éamonn, Brian and Ruaidhrí, all attended the school, while Emer was a little visitor of four at the time.

On their return to the City, they continued their education in the Holy Faith Schools, Haddington Road,

until they changed their residence to another district.

The youngest, Terry, is the only member of the De Valera family, who did not attend a Holy Faith School.

Since that sad period of our country’s history, having come through many suffering and vicissitudes,

from which they were bravely shielded by their valiant mother, the children,

after distinguished academic careers, have become:

Major Vivion De Valera, MsC, PhD.

Miss Máirín De Valera, Msc, PhD.

(at present Professor of Botany in University College, Galway).

Éamonn De Valera, MAO, MD, FRCPI

(Professor of Gynaecology & Obstetrics in University College, Dublin).

Ruaidhrí De Valera, MA, PhD

(Professor of Celtic Archaeology in University College, Dublin).

Emer De Valera, BA,

(cut short a university career to become Mrs. Brian Ó Cuív).

Toirdhealbhach De Valera is a solicitor.

Alas! Brian’s name is absent from the list.

He met with a sad accident at the age of twenty (1936), when he was thrown from a horse.

This was not the least of the many great sacrifices which this family has been called upon to offer to God.

The Language Movement

…..In 1917, just at the time when the family of President De Valera came to live in Greystones,

the Language movement was in full swing.

The coveted ‘Fáinne’ was becoming quite fashionable.

Understandably, the nuns did not like to be left behind in this particular field,

but at the time, they could not leave their convents in order to attend classes outside.

The delight of the Sisters in Greystones, when they discovered that

they had an experienced teacher of the Irish language in their midst,

in the person of Mrs. De Valera, who was willing to conduct classes in the Convent,

can well be imagined.

Mrs. De Valera gave them every help in the study of the Language. …

Mrs. De Valera also taught Irish to the children in the school in Greystones,

thus the Sisters’ pupils benefited, too.

Ireland’s First Lady

Wishing to put on record an account of this friendship

between the Sisters of the Holy Faith and the family of President De Valera,

we applied to Mrs. De Valera for confirmation.

…Realizing that if she compied with our wishes in writing,

she might be harassed by others looking for written memorials –

a task to which she felt very unequal in her eight-sixth year

– she decided on a personal interview instead;

a privilege for which we would not have dared to hope!

On December 31st, 1964, Mrs. De Valera, as ‘Ireland’s First Lady’,

paid a visit to the Convent to which she had first come in 1917.

The pleasure of this visit for her, must have mingled with sadness.

All the old faces were gone; all the old friends were dead.

There was no Sister Mary Rose to receive her.

And alas! For the ‘Victorian dignity’ and (we hope!) the ‘Jansenistic rigour’

– they had vanished a generation ago.

Instead she was ‘hugged and kissed’

and ‘physically’ conducted to a modern armchair in lieu of the ‘indicated sofa’.

We trust that the warm affection which inspired this conduct compensated for our lost of dignity!

There sat this little lady with the gracious smile, telling us in her own simple and homely way

about the only people who held out the hand of friendship

to her in her years of trial in Greystones from 1917 to 1922:

the Sisters of the Holy Faith.

How even Sister Mary Rose’s heart,

melted in kindness toward the ‘dreadful Rebel’ so as much as to pray

and ask others to pray that Our Lady would make him invisible to his enemies.

An Bhean De Valera was accompanied by her daughter, Professor Máirín De Valera , who related

how impressed the De Valera children had been by the kindness of all the nuns,

but especially by that of Sister Mary Paulinus.

This Sister was in charge of the kitchen.

When any of the children were put out of the school-room ‘in disgrace’,

Sister Mary Paulinus called them into the kitchen,

where their ‘penance’ was changed into pleasure by the enjoyment of some titbit or sweetmeat.

Yes, the Sisters took the De Valera family and the Cause they embraced, to their hearts.

In those early days the Cause was fought under the banner of ‘Sinn Féin’.

The day came when the Sisters went to the polls to vote.

Sister Mary Rose, with all the affection she had for the family of Éamonn De Valera,

never took to the ‘Cause’.

When the Sisters returned after having registered their votes,

she on overhearing some of their whispered remarks, complained:

‘I’m afraid some of you have voted ‘Sinn Féin!’

The sole reason they had for voting at all!…

Informal Chats

When the chaos which reigned between 1917 and 1922 was finally brought under control

and Éamonn De Valera took his place in public life

as President of Dáil Eireann, under the first Constitution,

himself and Mrs. De Valera slipped down to Greystones,

on a few occasions, to have a chat with their old friends in the Convent.

During one of those visits (long before it ever appeared in print)

he described for the Sisters his romantic escape from Lincoln Jail:

how he procured the wax and got an impression of the Chaplain’s key;

how duplicates were made;

the thrill when the expected signal was flashed in the darkness outside;

the awful anxiety when the key which Collins and Boland had brought,

broke in the lock; the relief when his own duplicate worked;

his boyish sense of adventure as he passed the sentry unobserved,

and all the subsequent vicissitudes.

The card which comes every Christmas from Áras an Uachtaráin to the Sisters in Greystones,

is a gentle reminder of all the affectionate traditions which have been

handed down to a younger generation of nuns.

But they need no reminder to keep alive the deep regard

which they will always have for President & Mrs. De Valera

and each member of their family.’

End of extract from Sister Mary Dolorosa’s piece on the History of St.Brigid’s

Kitty Kiernan and Greystones

Kitty Kiernan often visited Greystones.

She had gone to school nearby

in the Loreto Boarding School, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

It was there in November 1908 that Kitty and her sisters

were told by the Mother Superior the sad news

that they had to return home immediately as their mother had died.

This was a shock to the sisters, particularly as it had been their father who had been ill.

Three months later their father also was dead.

 

The family were very unlucky.

The previous year, their nineteen year old twin sisters had died of TB (tuberculosis):

their sister Lily at home in Granard

and Rose in a hospital in Davos, Switzerland,

where she went in the hope of being cured.

Now the four teenage sisters and their brother Larry were orphans.

girls make history-3Creative Commons License Maria Morri via Compfight

Kitty got engaged to Michael Collins in the Grand Hotel in Greystones

(now known as The La Touche Hotel) on Saturday, 8th October 1921.

Locals say they were planning to buy Brooklands on Trafalgar Rd.,

and live there after they married. 

 

Michael Collins was killed in an ambush in Béal na Bláth before that could happen.

The ambush happened on the 22nd August 1922.

 

While they were dating Kitty and Michael had written hundreds of letters to each other.

The first was written by Collins in February or March 1919

and the last was from Kitty on 17th August 1922.

 

On Thursday May 4 1922 there was one addressed to

‘Miss Kiernan No 10’ in Greystones.

It started:

“Kitty dear, I knocked very gently on your door

but there was no answer and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up”

She stayed for some of the time in the Grand Hotel in Greystones while she was ill.

In one of her last letters to Collins, Kitty Kiernan had written:

‘l was terrified that you would take all kinds of risks

and how I wished to be near you

so that I could put my arms tightly around your neck

and that nothing could happen to you.

I wouldn’t be a bit afraid when I’d be beside you,

and if you were killed I’d be dying with you

and that would be great and far better

than if I were left alone behind.

I’d be very much alone if you were gone.

Nothing could change that, and all last week

and this I’ve realized it and that’s what makes it so hard’.

Two Women; Kitty Kiernan and Sinead De Valera – Their Stories, their Connections to Greystones and Their Place in History

 

Introduction

The Irish Free State was an independent state established

on 6th December 1922

under the Anglo Irish Treaty of December 1921.

That treaty ended the Irish War of Independence between

the forces of the Irish Republic and the British forces.

The Easter Rising in 1916 had not been popular with the public.

But the execution of the leaders, changed people’s minds.

On Display at the Museum of Decorative Arts, Dublin. Lynn Gallagher via Compfight

 

This is the story of two women, with links to Greystones,

who had links to people fighting for Irish  freedom

in the lead up to the foundation of the Irish state.

 

You can read their stories below.

Or you can download a powerpoint of their stories here:

Two Women; Their Story & Their Place in History 

 

Kitty Kiernan

The powerpoint tells the story of Kitty Kiernan.

Kitty was engaged to Michael Collins.

They got engaged in The La Touche Hotel on Saturday, 8th October 1921.

Locals say they were planning to buy ‘Brooklands’ on Trafalgar Road,

and live there after they married.

Kitty hoped to have a double wedding with her sister Maud,

who was due to marry her fiancé Gearóid O Sullivan.

 

Michael Collins was assassinated at Beal na Bláth, County Cork

on 22nd August 1922.

At his funeral there were hundreds of wreaths

but only one floral tribute was allowed on the flag-covered coffin;

a single white peace lily.

It was from Kitty Kiernan.

 

Two months later, in October 1922,

Kitty attended Gearóid and Maud’s wedding,

dressed in black,

as she continued to mourn the loss of Michael Collins.

 

Sinéad  De Valera

The powerpoint also tells the story of Sinéad  De Valera.

Sinéad and her children lived in Greystones,

at Craig Liath, Kinlen Road, in the Burnaby

for five years from September 1917 until October 1922.

 Craig Liath was originally called Howbury.

If you are looking for it in the Burnaby it is called Edenmore now.

 

Éamon fought in the 1916 Rising.

In a note from De Valera to his wife Sinéad, written from Boland’s Bakery he wrote:

‘If I die pray for me. Kiss our children for me. Tell them their father died doing his duty.…

We showed that there were Irish men who, in face of great odds would dare what they said’.

.  

Her husband Éamon was sentenced to death after the 1916 Rising.

This sentence  was commuted to penal servitude for life.

After the Rising, Éamon De Valera was taken prisoner.

On 8 May 1916 he was sentenced to death for his part in the Rising.

Later that sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

 

Their fifth child Ruairí De Valera was born on 3rd November 1916

while his father was still in prison.

Having spent time in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin, Dartmoor Jail, Devon,

Maidstone Jail, Kent, Lewes Jail, Sussex and Pentonville Prison

on 16 June 1917 he was released from prison under a general amnesty.

In October 1917 he was elected President of Sinn Féin

 

In his book, ‘De Valera, A Will to Power’, Ronan Fanning explains

‘As president of Sinn Féin, De Valera was voted an annual salary of £500 a year

that enabled him to improve the material circumstances of his family he was to see so rarely before 1925 –

they now had five children – by renting a house in Greystones, on the railway line fifteen miles south of Dublin’.

 

Éamon went to America to raise funds

for the fight for Irish freedom.

Michael Collins visited the family every week,

bringing money and food parcels.

 

The De Valera’s eldest children Máirín De Valera

said that the

‘younger children could not remember my father

– my mother overheard Brian and Ruairí discussing him,

‘Who is Dev?’

‘I think he’s Mummy’s father’’

 

So Sinéad kept their large family together

during the times her husband was in jail,

in America,

on the run,

or busy with politics.

 

Her son Terry De Valera in his memoirs

describes his mother’s life as

‘anxious, stressful and exceptionally long’.

 

Many history books tell the story of

Michael Collins and Éamon De Valera.

We think Kitty Kiernan and Sinéad De Valera

deserve their place in history too.

 

The Gifford Sisters also found themselves involved

in the struggle for Irish freedom through their husbands.

You can read about their stories HERE.

The Gifford Sisters; Muriel & Grace & their Connections with Greystones

We learned about the links between

Muriel and Grace Gifford and Greystones

from the book:

‘Unlikely Rebels – The Gifford Girls and the Fight for Irish Freedom’ 

by Anne Clare published by Mercier Press 2011

 

You can read about what we learned below

or download a powerpoint

about their connections with the town

where we go to school here:

Muriel& Grace Gifford; Their Connections with Greystones

What were the Gifford Sisters’ links with Greystones?

People standing on the beach in AstoriaCreative Commons License simpleinsomnia via Compfight

1. As children the Gifford family used to come to Greystones

on holidays every summer. 

There were twelve children in the family.

The Gifford children  learned to swim in Greystones.

While their father Frederick taught the boys,

their mother Isabella employed a woman called Ellen,

who made sure the girls, would be strong swimmers.

Creative Commons License Simon Greening via Compfight

On page 22 we read:

‘Frederick (their father) took an interest in gardening,

bringing some plants over from England.

One particular return from their two-month annual summer stay

in Greystones, County Wicklow,

was recalled by Nellie (their sister)

because on their arrival home

not only had the grass grown almost knee-high

but the plants her father had put down before leaving

were ‘climbing and sprawling’,

and, most curious of all, low-growing, very red apples were in fruit.

On biting the apples, the children discovered

they were a new ‘fruit’ which they had never encountered before

and which they were told were called tomatoes’

Vintage: Girls In White Dresses dvdflm via Compfight

2. Two sisters of Muriel and Grace; Nellie and  Ada

were bought  hats by their mother that they did not like.

On page 26 of ‘Unlikely Rebels’ it says:

‘The reluctant boater-wearers waited for their chance,

which came with the annual holiday in Greystones,

They walked down to the breakwater,

where the sea was deep,

and whirled the hated hats into the water,

as far as they could,

gleefully watching the little boats riding the waves

till they were so sopping with water that they sank.

They decided to accuse the blameless wind as the culprit

which had ‘unfortunately’ snatched their hats from them, elastic and all.’

Take your ghosts to the seaside (OvO) via Compfight

3. Their mother was called Isabella

and the family lived in Rathmines, in Dublin.

On page 43 of the book we read:

‘Sometimes Isabella’s concern was ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.

And such, in part at least, was the annual holiday in Greystones.

This was considered so socially necessary in Rathmines

that those who could not afford to go would

pull down their blinds as camouflage

and live in the back of the house during the Summer months.’

 

‘Greystones was largely owned by the Huguenot La Touche family

…Then a small fishing village, Greystones was slowly developing

after the opening of the railway line from Dublin in 1850.

There emerged a sort of unwritten law in Dublin

which observed geographical distributions of holiday areas

for Protestants, Catholics and Jews.

 

The Protestants gravitated towards Greystones,

partly because of the influence of the La Touche family

and partly also because Wicklow (the ‘Garden’  of Ireland)

was almost exclusively in the hands of Protestant landowners.

Greystones was, as it were, one of their marine suburbs’.

 

On page 44 ‘There is a description in sister Nellie’s memoirs

of their setting off for the yearly Greystones summer holiday

…seventeen people…Isabella’s ‘husband, her sons and the maids

stagger down the steps with huge baskets laden with crockery,

household utensils, clothes, bedding and food.

 

‘The maids hated the holidays and it is easy to see

that even the going and the coming back were heavy chores;

Nevertheless, their shrewd young charges noted that when

the coastguards started to call at the kitchen

in the rented house at Greystones, the extra drudgery was forgotten

as a bit of flirtation lightened the scene.’

 

On page 46 it says:  

‘Not the least of the Greystones delight for the children

were the establishments that hired out

horse-drawn vehicles by the hour, a half day or  a full day

…The favourite conveyance for the Gifford children however,

was a pony and trap which they were allowed to drive themselves.

The ‘pony’ could be either a donkey or a jennet,

and their favourite haunt was the Glen of the Downs’.

(A jennet is a female donkey.)

 

‘For the Gifford children, these holidays were times of freedom

and wandering over the countryside,

finding fraocháns and wild strawberries

in the fields about the house where they were staying,

picking blackberries to make jam

which was consumed while it was still warm,

getting up at dawn in the chill air to pick mushrooms

and then running back home to put them on the hob upside down,

with a knob of butter before eating them’.

(Fraocháns are bilberries).

 

‘There were days in the cove with Ellen,

days taking turns at driving the trap,

and days when they stood and listened

to the strange new music coming from America via England’.

 

According to the book ‘Unlikely Rebels’ by Anne Clare, Mercier Press 2011

these are links between the Gifford Sisters and Greystones.

Anne Clare based her book on the Gifford sisters on family papers

and a diary kept by Grace that was given to her.

 

Graphics: from Compfight.

Please note: These are not photos of Greystones or the Gifford sisters.

Information in this post from

‘Unlikely Rebels – The Gifford Girls and the Fight for Irish Freedom’

by Anne Clare, Mercier Press 2011

Famous People – Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan planned to live in Greystones.

This is the  house across the road from our school

on Trafalgar Road in Greystones.

Chloe and Kelyn’s Granny and Grandad live there.

It is called Brooklands.

In the summer of 1922 Michael Collins and his fiancée

Kitty Kiernan planned to buy this house,

once they were married.

Tragically Michael Collins

was killed in an ambush

in West Cork on 22nd August 1922 .

Michael Collins is a famous Irishman.

He was a leader in the Irish struggle

for independence.

Links for Teachers – Greystones – 1911 Census

Greystones Aaron van Dorn via Compfight

Click HERE to see the 1911 Census for Greystones. Greystones doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the census for 1901 Click on this LINK to a telling census entry from James Joseph Hazlett which may or may not be a ‘sign of the times.’

From the Archives – Suffragettes in Greystones

Suffragette ATCsCreative Commons License Nancy Williams via Compfight

Usually Irish suffragettes didn’t hold demonstrations

like women in the rest of the United Kingdom.

They felt that they wouldn’t have had

enough members to make an impact.
Suffragettes ecolabs via Compfight
In the United Kingdom, women suffragettes

had various methods of protest.

They included the militants

chaining themselves to railings,

setting fire to mailboxes and buildings,

going on hunger strike while imprisoned

smashing windows

However on 25th October 1910,

they did protest when they met the Chief Secretary for Ireland,

Augustine Birrell at Greystones Harbour.

Birrell was not in favour of getting the vote for women.

You can read more about what happened in this article

by Rosemary Raughter of Greystones Archaeological & Historical Society

on the ‘Our Wicklow Heritage’ website.

 

From the Archives – Applewood Past and Present

Barley / Gerste ICreative Commons License Christian Schnettelker via Compfight

A Project from 1995 (approximately)

by then students. Alison O’Doherty, Lorna Power & Claire Reade

‘The Owners

A tenant by the name of Thomas O’Mahony was one of the previous owners of Applewood Heights and St.John’s. The fee for the keep of the land was just a pound a week, a fortune at the time.

In later years the land of Applewood was owned by the Evans family, then by the Taylors who used the land to grow barley. In 1970 a group of German Scouts camped in Taylor’s field.

Louis McGuire was the auctioneer who sold the land on behalf of the Taylor family to various builders. Paddy Hickey provided the planning permission for the builders.

The first house was built is now No.36.

The Beginning of the Heights

Applewood attracted many young couples from Dublin. It was also a new opportunity for the people of Northern Ireland to get away from the war and bloodshed.

However, the first residents near the top of the estate were unfortunate due to low water pressure. This only enable them to use water at night. During the day it was unavailable.

At the moment there are 194 houses in Applewood. In the past 5 years 10 new houses (Applewood Drive) have been built.

The Price

The original selling price for the house was (according to locals) £8750, a great expense at that time. Today the houses are priced at £85,000.

The Residents Association

The Residents Association have worked hard resolving the following:

  1. Potholes in the roads
  2. Speeding through the estate
  3. Open spaces at each end of the estate

Interesting Facts

Two of the houses were built on sandpits.

One of the greens was a muddy swamp and while building one of the houses, a bulldozer sank into the swamp. It was pulled out by two other bulldozers.

Under the estate like most of Greystones is rock.

Applewood has always been said to have been an orchard, but in fact it was a barley field.

The estate of Applewood is now in its 22nd year.

Applewood was one of the first major estates in Greystones.’

Famous People – Éamon De Valera – President of Ireland (1959–1973)

The Dublin GPO Witness History exhibition Diego Sideburns via Compfight

In 1917 the late Eamonn de Valera sent his two eldest children,

Vivian and Máirin to the Holy Faith convent school in Greystones

when the family lived at Kinlen Road in The Burnaby Estate.

All but one of the de Valera family attended the convent in Greystones.

 

Schools Long Ago – Interviews with parents and grandparents

Micklehurst Primary theirhistory via Compfight

Students interviewed their grown ups, their parents and grandparents

about what school was like when they were young.

 

The earliest account was from 1938.

“Many children walked and when it rained they ran.

Some drank a little bottle of milk at break time.

The boys wore shorts, a jacket and cap.

The girls wore a smock or pinafore

over their clothes to protect them.

When it was cold children

would wear their coats in school”.

 

This is an account from 1946:

“There were 55-60 boys in a class

and the classroom was heated by a fire.

The children all sat in rows of desks all facing teacher.

In the summer term, many children came to school barefoot”.

Some people remembered high windows.

They let in plenty light but the children

couldn’t look out and be distracted.

 

“There was wooden desk with a top that lifted up

where we kept our books, copies and pencils.

We enjoyed playing with friends, chasing,

football, hurling, skipping and hopscotch.

Great times, loads of fun no worries”

 

“When we are eager to grow up and leave school,

we hear people say that they are your happiest days

and we aren’t sure if we believe them but later

you realise they were right and your school friends are friends for life”

 

Thanks to all the ‘older people’,  who agreed

to be interviewed about school long ago.

We can see that some things are the same

and some things are very different.

Evie Hone – Stained Glass Artist

stained glass

Photo taken by Leon

We are very lucky to have

beautiful stained glass windows

in Holy Rosary Church in Greystones.

 

Two of them are by the famous artist Evie Hone.

Here is the one called: ‘The Good Shepherd’

 

Evie Hone the stained glass artist

is associated with Greystones,

because two of her stained glass windows

are in Holy Rosary Church.

 

You can read more about Evie Hone

and her work in Greystones HERE

on the Holy Rosary website.

Did you know Willy Wonka lived in The Burnaby?

Let's Go Buy Some Toys

Thomas Hawk via Compfight

Ok so we decided we would start at the very beginning

and then we heard some sad news. Gene Wilder

who starred as Willy Wonka in the 1971 version of

Charlie and the Chocolate factory died on 29th August of this year.

 

‘What has this to do with Greystones?’ you may ask.

Well Gene Wilder lived in The Burnaby in 1969

when he was making a film in Ireland.

 

Click on ‘The Burnaby’ above to read all about this

on the online newspaper, ‘The Greystones Guide’.

 

The internet is a great resource for learning

but please supervise your children online!