A Limerick architect and engineer who also worked in Askeaton

The Parochial House or Presbytery in Askeaton, Co Limerick, was designed by the architect and engineer Brian Edward Fitzgerald Sheehy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

The old rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick, now known as Ballindeel House, was designed by the celebrated Limerick-based architect James Pain, who probably also designed Saint Mary’s Church, the Church of Ireland parish church, which was rebuilt at the same time.

But architectural interest in the former rectory should not eclipse similar interest in the Parochial House or Presbytery at the west end of Askeaton, beside Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, which also has an interesting architectural history.

The Parochial House or Presbytery was designed by Brian Edward Fitzgerald Sheehy (1870-1930), who worked as an architect and engineer in Limerick from the 1890s until the 1920s, and it was built in 1911 by the well-known church builders John Ryan & Son.

Brian Sheehy was born on 26 September 1870, the son of George Lake Sheehy, a ‘gentleman farmer’ of Moviddy, Newcastle West, and Elizabeth (nee Fitzgerald).

He was educated at Blackrock College, and was then articled to the Dublin-based architect and engineer Samuel Gordon Fraser of Dublin.

Sheehy had returned to Limerick by 1903, and was in private practice from then, living at 57 O’Connell Street (formerly George’s Street). He married his wife, Elizabeth Sheehy, daughter of Major Brian E Sheehy, of Cherrygrove, on 28 October 1908 in Croom, Co Limerick. She was a sister of the barrister Richard J Sheehy.

Sheehy was the engineer with the Newcastle West District Council, the old District Council and Board of Guardians of Croom and the Co Limerick Health Board, and he was the architect to the Thomond Artisans’ Dwellings Company, Limerick, and the Ennis Asylum Board, Co Clare. As a consulting engineer, he frequently appeared in court as an expert witness.

Professionally, he was an associate member (1901) and then a member (1912) of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (ICEI), and a council member from 1926 until his death; a licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1925); and a member of the Society of Architects, the Royal Sanitary Institute, and the Institute of Water Engineers.

During his career, he carried out a large number of engineering schemes, water, sewerage, and buildings in Munster.

His engineering works included the Doneraile Water Supply scheme, Co Cork, for Mallow District Council (1900), the water supply schemes in Thurles, Co Tipperary (1901), Ennistymon and Lahinch, Co Clare (1903-1906), Newcastle West, Co Limerick (1928), Rathkeale, Co Limerick (1929), and works on the National Bank in Limerick and bank branches in Doneraile, Co Cork, Bruff, Co Limerick, and Caherciveen, Co Kerry.

His architectural works included new offices in Limerick for the Irish Co-op Agency Society (1901), a grandstand at Garryowen (1903), 16 artisans’ houses and 24 labourers’ cottages in Mallow (1903-1904), six houses at Park View Terrace, Limerick (1911), four houses on Military Road, Limerick (1911), houses in Nicholas Street, Limerick (1913), and a new bridge over the River Feale in Listowel, Co Kerry (1910).

He also worked on alterations and extensions for Saint Munchin’s College, Limerick (1909-1911) and the Municipal Technical Institute on O’Connell Avenue, Limerick (1923-1926) and convents, schools, banks, hotels and factories throughout the south-west and mid-west.

His church works included alterations to Meelick Church, Co Limerick (1903), a new convent and chapel at Saint John’s Hospital, Limerick (1903), the parochial houses in Charleville, Co Cork (1904), Kilmallock, Co Limerick (1908), and Croom, Co Limerick (1908), the convent in Kilfinane, Co Limerick (1904), and a temperance hall on the corner of Cecil Street and Henry Street, Limerick (1907-1909).

His best-known and most successful church building must be Saint Colman’s Church, Kilcolman, Co Limerick, built on a difficult and challenging site in 1912-1913.

Shortly before working in Kilcolman, Sheehy designed a new parochial house for the parish in Askeaton. At the same time, he remodelled and extended the national school in Askeaton in 1911, and he designed a new post office for Askeaton that year.

Sheehy’s pupils and assistants included the architect and engineer Patrick John Fitzgerald Munden (1883-1962), who was working with him in from 1910 to the end of 1912, while the parochial house, school and library were being built in Askeaton. A few years later, Munden was involved in the Howth gunrunning, and was arrested in Dublin Castle in 1916. Munden was an unsuccessful independent candidate in the 1923 elections, but he sat on Rathmines Town Council.

Sheehy died at the age of 59, on 6 January 1930 at his home, 57 O’Connell Street. The Limerick Chronicle reported his death the next day and noted that he ‘was a member of an old West Limerick family.’

Saint Colman’s Church, Kilcoman, Co Limerick, built in 1912-1913 … also designed by Brian Sheehy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A round tower and church near Croom on the site of a hermitage

The church ruins and round tower at Dysert Oenghusa near Croom, Co Limerick, date back to an eighth century foundation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

After visiting Croom, Co Limerick, and its two parish churches earlier this week, two of us visited the former monastic site at Dysert Oenghusa, near Croom, with its church and round tower.

This was the site of a hermitage founded by Saint Aengus the Culdee in the eighth century, and was closely associated with the Culdee movement in the early Irish Church.

A monastery on the site was first mentioned in 1033, and the site includes a 20 metre high round tower and the ruins of a church dating from to the 15th or 16th century.

Dysert Oenghusa or Dísert Óengusa, which is now a National Monument, is in the townland of Carrigeen, 1.8 km west of Croom, near the headwaters of the River Maigue.

Inside the church at Dysert Oenghusa facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Saint Aengus or Óengus of Tallaght (Óengus mac Óengobann or Óengus the Culdee), an eighth century culdee, is believed to have founded a hermitage here in the year 780.

The Culdees or Ceilí Dé – Servants of God – were strict religious communities. Aengus came to the Croom area ca 780 and set up a hermitage at Carrigeen. He remained for only two years. He joined the monastery at Clonenagh, near Mountrath, Co Laois.

He later entered the monastery at Tallaght founded by Saint Maelruain, and was the author of the Félire Óengusso (‘Martyrology of Óengus’) and possibly the Martyrology of Tallaght. When Saint Maelruain died in 792, Saint Aengus left Tallaght and returned to Clonenagh, succeeding his old teacher Maelaithgen as abbot and he was consecrated a bishop.

As he felt death approaching, he retired again to his hermitage at Dysertbeagh, dying there ca 814 or 824. He died was buried at Clonenagh, and his feast day was commemorated on 11 March.

Inside the church at Dysert Oenghusa facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The hermitage at Dysert Oenghusa was succeeded by a monastery that is mentioned in the annals for 1033, and some early ruins on the site have been dated to the early 11th century.

The round tower, built in the 12th century, is 20.65 metres (67.7 ft) tall with a diameter of 5.28 metres (17.3 ft) and a Romanesque doorway 4.6 metres (15 ft) above ground level.

The church, with antae, dates from the 15th or 16th century. It is a simple rectangle 15.5 metres (51 ft) by 5 metres (16 ft). The church was abandoned in later centuries and fell into ruin.

Later lore claimed the tower had been built in a single night by a witch. The site was visited and sketched by John Windele in 1833.

The door into the round tower at Dysert Oenghusa is 4.6 metres above ground level (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Dysert Oenghusa church and round tower were lovingly restored over a 9-10 year period in conservation work that cost €1.3 million.

Conservation works that were completed last year focused primarily on the round tower. During archaeological excavations beneath the tower to provide foundations for new stairs, extensive evidence was found of human remains, including 49 people who were buried beneath the surface east of the round tower.

A new steel stairs allows access to the first floor of the tower through the doorway and the internal wooden floors have been rebuilt. In addition, the site has been fenced and landscaped, signs have been put in place, and car parking space has been provided.

Inside the round tower at Dysert Oenghusa (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The tower and church were officially opened to the public last year [16 July 2019] after many years of conservation work. The tower is now accessible by the new stairs leading to the first floor, with entrance through the Romanesque doorway.

To reach the monument from Croom, follow the Church Road out of Croom towards Ballingarry; after about 2 km take a right to Eircode V35 TV05.

The round tower and church were opened to the public in 2019 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Saint Mary’s Church, Croom, from a thatched roof to a Gothic Revival church

Saint Mary’s Church, Croom, was first built in 1814-1821 and redesigned by RH Byrne in 1929-1932 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

After visiting the Church of Ireland parish church in Croom, Co Limerick, beside Croom House, two of us crossed the street to visit the Roman Catholic parish church, was first built at the beginning of the 19th century on a site that was once part of the grounds of Croom Castle.

The Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption was probably built by Father Laurence Hartnett in 1814-1821, although some accounts say the church was first built in 1808. The confusion is compounded by the fact that there were two parish priests in Croom named Laurence Hartnett, an uncle and nephew.

Before 1641, the area around Croom was known as Ballingaddy parish, comprising the townlands of Croom and Toureen. Before Croom became a parish centre in 1711, the parish church was at Anhid. Only one wall remains of Anhid church, however, in the centre of Anhid graveyard. The old water font was removed from Anhid church in 1969.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Croom, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Croker family of Croom Castle donated the site for Saint Mary’s Church. The church was originally rectangular in shape, with a thatched roof and flagged floor. Two wings were later added, giving the church its present T-shape.

According to Samuel Lewis in 1837, the parish of Croom was the head of the Roman Catholic district comprising the parishes of Croom, Anhid, Dunaman, Carrigran and Dysart.

The church was lengthened in the 1850s, and a new slated roof was added. The sacristy was built in 1898. At this time, the Lyons family of Croom House had their own gallery in the church.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The church is a good example of the Gothic Revival style and a striking feature in the landscape. It was rebuilt in 1929-1932, with the addition of the baptistry in 1929 and chancel in 1932. The walls were raised 10 ft all round and buttressed outside. A new roof was laid, and the flagstone floor was overlaid with pitch pine boards. This work was designed by the Dublin architect Ralph Henry Byrne (1877-1946), and the church was solemnly reopened on Sunday 4 April 1932 by Bishop David Keane of Limerick.

Ralph Henry Byrne was born in Largo House, 166 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin, a son of the architect William Henry Byrne (1844-1917), a former pupil of JJ McCarthy. Ralph Byrne was articled to his father in 1896 for five years before joining him as a partner in 1902. After his father’s death in 1917, Byrne continued the business under the name of William H Byrne & Son.

Byrne’s principal works are churches, convents, schools and presbyteries, along with a number of banks, and he restored the Church of Our Lady of Refuge in Rathmines after a disastrous fire in 1920.

The altar and sanctuary area in Saint Mary’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The coherence of Byrne’s decorative theme in the church in Croom is seen in his use of pointed arch windows and a bellcote, while the interesting canted end bays display an innovative interpretation of the Gothic Revival style. The interior is especially rich in decoration, with well-made quadripartite rib vaults and decorative marble fittings.

The church has a three-bay nave, with canted gable-fronted end-bays at the nave, single-bay transepts and a lower sacristy with an addition at the south side.

The other features include pointed arch windows, hood-mouldings, limestone sills, stained-glass windows, including a Y-tracery stained-glass window, double-leaf timber panelled doors with flanking limestone fonts, quadripartite rib vaults with rosettes and foliate corbels, timber galleries with a recessed pointed arch blind arcade.

The altar canopy with fluted Corinthian-style columns and a marble reredosby Ludwig Oppenheimer (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

There is a pedimented altar canopy with fluted Corinthian-style columns and a marble reredos, and there are marble altar railings to altar. The mosaics behind the High Altar were designed by Ludwig Oppenheimer ca 1915.

The pitched slate roof has a pointed arch open-work bellcote at the gable-front, with a render cross finial, and a render bracketed eaves course.

Following the liturgical reforms introduced by Vatican II, the altar, sanctuary and floors were renovated in 1969. More recently, the stonework on the outside of the church was exposed, and the church was painted. The exposed stonework gives an indication of the original height of the thatch before the new roof was laid.

The Archangel Michael depicted in a window in the former Lyons family gallery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A plaque inside the side door on the right is dedicated to Henry Lyons of Croom House, who died in 1885 aged 57. Inside the side door on the left is a plaque to Lawrence Hartnett, Parish Priest, who is buried in the church.

Stained-glass windows donated by parishioners include windows depicting Saint Anthony, Saint Bridget, Saint Patrick, Saint Theresa and the Holy Family.

Another plaque on the stairs to the right gallery recalls the Lyons family, and the stained-glass window depicting the Archangel Michael in the gallery is dedicated to the Lyons family. The window in the facing gallery depicts the Archangel Gabriel.

Two parish priests are buried within the church: Father Lawrence Hartnett, Parish Priest of Croom and Ballybanogue, who died on 27 August 1861, aged 73; and his successor, Father John Quinlan, Parish Priest for 31 years, who died on 19 May 1892, aged 72. Other priests of the parish are buried in the surrounding churchyard.

The Croker family of Croom Castle donated the church site (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The church in Croom is on a mediaeval site with the graves of poets

The Church of Ireland parish church in Croom, Co Limerick, stands on the site of an earlier mediaeval church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

Two of us were visiting Croom in east Limerick earlier this week, enjoying the colourful streets and shopfronts, strolling along the banks of the River Maigue, wondering at the ruins of Croom Castle, and visiting the two parish churches: Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland parish church, which stand across the street from each another above the west bank of the river and below the walls of the castle.

The Church of Ireland parish church stands beside Croom House and is on the site of an early mediaeval church, although nothing remains of the older, original church.

The list of priests who have been rectors and vicars of Croom dates back to the early 14th century, when John de Shortmad is referred to as ‘late Vicar of Cromou.’ His successor was known simply as Sir Simon, while in 1376 John Route was referred to as the ‘Parson of Cromit.’

The poet Daibhi O Bruadair, who was living at Springfield Castle In the late 17th century, praised the quality of the beer produced by the Rector of Croom, Canon John Lillys. The Parish of Croom was united with the neighbouring parish of Adare in 1687, when Canon Edward Ingram succeeded Lillys as Rector and Vicar of Croom and Vicar of Adare.

His successor, Canon Stackpole Pery, was the father of both Edmund Sexton Pery, Viscount Pery, and William Cecil Pery, Bishop of Limerick and ancestor of the Earls of Limerick.

The church in Croom was probably built in the 1780s, repaired in the 1830s and extended by James Edward Rogers in 1868 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

For over a century, the Croker family of Croom Castle provided the rectors and vicars in the parishes of Adare and Croom from the mid-18th until the second half of the 19th century: the Revd Richard Croker (1756-1823) was Rector and Vicar of Croom and Adare (1784-1823), the Revd Edward Croker (1787-1863) was Vicar of Croom (1823-1863) and Vicar of Adare (1824-1828), and the Revd Thomas Croker (1800-1872) was Vicar of Adare (1828-1872).

Thomas Bunbury (1829-1907), who was Rector of Croom in 1863-1872, later became Dean of Limerick (1872-1899) and then Bishop of Limerick (1899-1907).

The present church was probably built ca 1780 with a grant from the Board of First Fruits, and in the 1830s the Ecclesiastical Commissioners granted £151 for the repair of the church. Samuel Lewis wrote in 1837 wrote that ‘The church stands on the western bank of the river Maigue, and is a small neat edifice, in the early English style of architecture, with a square tower: it appears to have been erected on the site of a larger building.’

The church has a three-bay nave, slightly recessed single-bay chancel added in 1868 by the Gothic Revival church architect James Edward Rogers (1838-1896), single-bay vestry at the north-east and a three-stage square-plan tower at the west end, with crenelations.

Many details of this church are of artistic merit, including carved stone details such as the label mouldings, copings and limestone door surrounds.

The nave has pointed arch windows with Y-traceried stained-glass windows, the chancel has a pointed arch window with a Y-traceried stained-glass window, and the vestry has a pointed arch window with limestone surrounds. However, I was unable to gain access this week to see these stained-glass windows dating from 1913-1914 and by Ethel Rhind of An Túr Gloine.

The tower has a timber battened door on the south side with a pointed arch, chamfered limestone surround and carved hood-moulding and door. At the second stage, the tower has blind quatrefoil motifs with limestone surrounds, and at the third stage has timber louvered vents.

The tower has quatrefoil motifs, louvered vents and crenelations (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The architect James Edward Rogers, who added the chancel and vestry, was born in Dublin in 1838, went to school at Guildford Grammar School, and matriculated at Trinity College Dublin in 1855. He then became a pupil of Benjamin Woodward while Woodward was working on the Oxford Museum.

Rogers became a companion of William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who were decorating Woodward’s debating hall at the Oxford Union with scenes from Arthurian legends, and they went ‘hunting in the parish churches on Sunday evenings to find a Guinevere.’

When Woodward was dying from tuberculosis and spending the winter of 1859-1860 in Madeira, Rogers visited him in Algiers or the South of France. JP Mahaffy later described Rogers as ‘Woodward’s favourite pupil.’

Woodward died in May 1861, and Rogers graduated BA from Trinity the following winter. Rogers soon set up his own practice, working from his father’s address at 20 Upper Mount Street, but later worked from 205 Great Brunswick Street and at 179 Great Brunswick Street, working closely with William Stirling and James Franklin Fuller.

Most of his work was with the Church of Ireland, and he was architect to the Diocese of Meath until disestablishment in 1869.

Other works by Rogers include a window for Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (1864); the Carmichael School of Medicine in North Brunswick Street, Dublin (1864); Saint Mary’s Church, Howth (1864-1866); Saint Patrick’s Church, Monaghan (1865); Saint Paul’s Church, Kilfergus (Glin), Co Limerick (1865-1870); Kenure Church and Rectory, Rush, Co Dublin (1866-1867); Holmpatrick Church, Skerries, Co Dublin (1868); the Caledonian Insurance offices at 31 Dame Street, Dublin (1868-1870), which shows strong influences of John Ruskin; and Saint Bartholomew’s Vicarage, Ballsbridge (1872-1873). He also enlarged Saint John’s Church, Listowel, Co Kerry.

Rogers was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (1864), a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1874), proposed by James Franklin Fuller, James Joseph McCarthy and Thomas Newenham Deane, and an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy (1871).

Rogers moved to London in 1876, resigned from practising as an architect in England, but continued to exhibit his paintings at the Royal Hibernian Academy. He illustrated the Revd Sabine Baring-Gould’s Troubadour-Land: A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc (1891). He died in London in 1896.

The Maigue poet Sean O Tuama is buried in Croom churchyard (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The churchyard in Croom has ornate gravestones and vaults, including those of the Croker and Dickson families of Croom Castle, and the Lyons family of Croom House. But the most visited grave is that of the Maigue poet, Sean O Tuama.

Croom was united with Bruff in 1922, with Kilpeacon in 1952, and with Adare in 1958, and the Adare Union was united with Kilmallock when Archdeacon Brian Snow retired in 1995.

The last rector to live in the old rectory in Croom, Canon Frederick Knowles (1907-1980), was Rector of Croom in 1937-1952. His son, the Very Revd Philip Knowles, was Dean of Cashel.

Today, Croom is one of the four churches in the Adare Group, which includes Adare (Saint Nicholas), Croom, Kilmallock (Saint Peter and Saint Paul) and Kilpeacon (Saint Beacon, Crecora). The rector is Canon Elizabeth (Liz) Beasley.

The parish church in Croom is one of four in the Adare group of parishes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Croom Castle, Crom Abu, and the debts that brought down the Croker family

Croom Castle, Co Limerick … built by the FitzGeralds on the site of an earlier O’Donovan fortification (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

During our visit to Croom, Co Limerick, earlier this week, two of us walked around the walls and ramparts of Croom Castle, standing above the bend on the River Maigue that gives Croom its name.

The castle was rebuilt by the FitzGeralds of Kildare on the site of an earlier O’Donovan fortress, and the history of Croom Castle has been inter-twined over the centuries with the history of Croom.

Croom Castle was once one of the principal residences of the Kildare branch of the FitzGerald dynasty. Their ancient rallying cry, ‘Crom a Boo,’ became the motto of the Earls of Kildare and the Dukes of Leinster.

At the bend on the River Maigue, below the walls of Croom Castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Until the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the territory around Croom was the domain of the ancient Uí Cairpre Áebda (Cairbre Eva), of whom the O’Donovans were the principal family. The Ui Chairpre were a member of the larger regional kingdom of the Uí Fidgenti, once squeezed between the rival Kingdom of Desmond to the south and Kingdom of Thomond to the north.

Uaithne mac Cathail), ancestor of the O’Donovans, is said to have lived in the Cromadgh or Croom area ca 960. The O’Donovans were associated with the Croom area in the 1130s, when they are mentioned in the Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil.

Ruaidhri, son of Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair, made a great predatory attack from Thomond in 1151, when he burned Cromadh and carried away many cows.

Some O’Donovans remained in the Croom area after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans and, according to Samuel Lewis in 1837, Dermot O’Donovan built the first-known castle at Croom sometime during the reign of King John or shortly before.

Croom Castle was besieged on at least three occasions during the reign of Elizabeth I (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

According to Samuel Lewis, this early castle was built to secure the country that the O’Donovans had recently taken from the MacEnirys, their Ui Fidgheinte kinsmen.

It is believed that the tower castle was built in the early 13th century, following earlier attacks on the town.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the FitzGeralds were besieged in Croom Castle on at least three occasions. The last of these sieges was in 1600, when Carew, the Lord President of Munster, led a force of 1,500 men in an attack on the castle. The castle garrison was commanded by Pierce Lacey,who made his escape at night under cover of darkness, and the castle surrendered the following morning.

The Countess of Kildare was living at Croom Castle in the winter of 1601 when the northern chief, Red Hugh O’Donnell, arrived in Croom with his men after their overnight march across the frozen Slieve Felim to link up with the Spaniards who had landed at Kinsale.

Croom Castle and manor were restored to the FitzGerald family by James I, but they forfeited Croom once again during the wars of 1641.

Charles II gave Croom Castle to his illegitimate son, the Duke of Ricmond (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

After the restoration, King Charles II granted Croom Castle in 1678 to his six-year-old illegitimate son, Charles Lennox (1672-1723), Duke of Richmond, who later lived in the castle for several years.

The castle was fortified against the Williamite force in 1691 by Jacobites who later took refuge in Limerick.

The Duke of Richmond sold Croom Caste to his agent, John Croker, in 1721. Later, a residence was built at Croom Castle with some of the stone and rubble from the old castle.

Autumn apples … an apple tree beneath the walls of Croom Castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

This attached two-storey house was built ca 1730, within the bawn of the mediaeval castle. It has rubble stone walls, square-headed windows with stone sills, and stone chimneystacks. The crenellations on the walls may date from the 19th century.

For over a century, the Croker family of Croom Castle provided the rectors and vicars in the parishes of Adare and Croom from the mid-18th until the second half of the 19th century: the Revd Richard Croker (1756-1823) was Rector and Vicar of Croom and Adare (1784-1823), the Revd Edward Croker (1787-1863) was Vicar of Croom (1823-1863) and Vicar of Adare (1824-1828), and the Revd Thomas Croker (1800-1872) was Vicar of Adare (1828-1872).

John Croker was the father of Captain Edward Croker married Lady Georgina Ellen Monck of Charleville House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, one of the 11 daughters of Henry Stanley Monck (1785-1848), Earl of Rathdown, in 1841. His father was disappointed that Edward was not marrying an heiress who might shore up the family fortunes; her father questioned Edward’s motives in marrying his daughter and was concerned about his mounting debts.

The Dickson coat-of-arms on the family vault in the Church of Ireland churchyard in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Edward Croker’s debts mounted up between 1849 and 1859, reaching close to £70,000, while the Croom Castle estate was valued at £2,158. By then the Dickson family were living at Croom Castle as agents and tenants of the Croker family. But the sale of Croom Castle was complicated and led to a lengthy legal dispute.

Samuel Dickson of Limerick was the father of the Revd Richard Dickson (1776-1867), Rector of Kilkeedy (1799-1867); Stephen Dickson, a barrister, who died in 1839 and Major General William Dickson.

General Dickson married Harriet Dallas and they were the parents of two sons, Samuel Auchmuty Dickson (1817-1870), who lived at Croom Castle, Co Limerick and Major General William Thomas Dickson, 16th Lancers, and two daughters, Mary Eleanor who was disinherited when she became a Roman Catholic nun, and Fanny Charlotte, who married Mortimer Sackville-West (1820-1888), 1st Baron Sackville, in 1847. Her nephew was the father of the English novelist, poet, journalist, letter writer and diarist Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962).

Samuel Auchmuty Dickson of Croom Castle was born in Madras, India, in 1817. After failed attempts to be elected in Co Limerick (1850), Reading (1852) and Kingston upon Hull (1854), he was elected Conservative MP for Limerick (1859-1865). He died in 1870;at the time, his brother, General William Dickson, owned 8,559 acres in Co Limerick and 513 acres in Co Tipperary.

Meanwhile, Croom Castle and its demesne were advertised for sale in February 1864. The Croker estate at Croom, including 450-500 acres, was sold for £8,000 in 1872. The Croker Estates Act 1888 was designed to settle many outstanding issues dating back to Edward Croker’s marriage settlement in 1841.

The gates of Croom House in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Croom Castle was bought by the Lyons family, descended from Denis Lyons (1749-1809) who in 1779 married Christian daughter of Thomas Casey, MP. The Lyons family were the owners of the mills in Croom and also lived at Croom House.

Their successors, Henry Lyons of Croom House and John Edward Lyons owned 1,665 and 1,329 acres in Co Limerick in the 1870s, while William Henry Lyons of Cork and later of Croom Castle, owned 388 acres in Co Cork and 1,313 acres in Co Limerick.

Henry Lyons (1828-1885) of Croom House was High Sheriff of Co Limerick in 1860 and in 1873 married Olivia Montagu (1850-1928). She was a daughter of Lord Robert Montagu (1825-1902) and a granddaughter of George Montagu (1799-1855), 6th Duke of Manchester. Lord Robert Montagu was Conservative MP for Huntingdonshire (1859-1874) and for Westmeath (1874-1880).

The descendants of Henry Lyons were still living in Croom in the mid-20th century.

Today, Croom Castle is little more than a large, undistinguished ruin. Two walls of the tower remain standing, although both have collapsed to about half their original height, with the other two walls of the tower collapsed into a very large pile of rocks and bricks.

The house at Croom Caste is of architectural importance as it remains relatively intact. It retains its archaeological significance as it was built within the bawn of the mediaeval castle. It was bought by Michael Corry in 1936, and more recently offered self-catering accommodation.

The house at Croom Caste is of architectural importance and remains relatively intact (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Croom is a colourful place to visit, even on a rainy autumn afternoon

Croom, Co Limerick, is colourful, even on a rainy autumn afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

On a rainy afternoon earlier this week, two of us visited Croom (Cromadh, ‘Bend in the River’) in Co Limerick. Croom is 8 km south-east of Adare, on the River Maigue, north of the point where the Camoge River joins the River Maigue after forming a loop to the south and west of Monasteranenagh Abbey.

Croom was of considerable importance from an early date. Its history dates back to pre-Christian or early Christian times, and three ringforts have been located north of the Croom-Rathkeale road, a mile from Croom.

Two single-banked ringforts were demolished in 1972-1973 when new houses were being built. When the sites were excavated, Elizabeth Shee-Twohig found human and animal remains, an iron knife, a bronze penannular ring and a bone comb side-plate. A preservation order was placed on a third ringfort nearby. In all, over 65 ring forts have been identified in the area.

Colourful pubs and shopfronts near the river in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Although the River Maigue is now tidal only as far as Adare, it was once tidal as far as Croom, making it a transit route for the Viking ships in the ninth and tenth centuries. Traffic and commerce along the Maigue River involving Danish Vikings and the Ui Donnabhains provide an insight into the alliance between these two groups in the late tenth century.

The earliest mention of Cromadh in the historical annals is in 1151, when ‘a great predatory excursion was made by Ruaidhri, son of Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair (Rory O’Connor), into Thomond; and he carried away many cows, and burned Cromadh.’

However, Croom did not develop as a town until the castle was built. The town was walled in 1310, and over the intervening years both town and castle often shared the same story. Croom was an important crossing on the River Maigue, giving access to Connello and West Limerick.

Croom was the principal base in Munster of the FitzGeralds of Kildare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

For a time, the FitzGeralds of Kildare had a Munster base in Croom. They owned extensive lands in the Maigue valley, including lands at Croom and Adare, while their rival kinsmen, the FitzGeralds of Desmond, owned much of the rest of Co Limerick.

Although Maynooth later became the principal seat of the FitzGeralds of Kildare, they retained their Maigueside lands and castles by the River Maigue adopted Crom Abu as their motto.

The Countess of Kildare was living at Croom Castle in the winter of 1601 when the northern chief, Red Hugh O’Donnell, arrived in Croom with his men after their overnight march across the frozen Slieve Felim to link up with the Spaniards who had landed at Kinsale.

The civil survey in 1654 after the Cromwellian wars found that in Croom ‘there is a broken bridge on the river of Maigue near the castle.’

The grave of Sean O Tuama in the Church of Ireland churchyard in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Ten years later, Daibhi O Bruadair, one of the last the great Gaelic poets in Co Limerick, wrote, ‘now Croom itself is a misery, scattered little town, which is situated on the banks of the Maigue, and the beer of that village has no strength in it, except, indeed, that I hear that good minister of the place has a fine old brew which is delightful to drink.’ The rector of Croom at the time was Canon John Lillys.

Although Daibhi O Bruadair did not speak favourably of Croom, apart from its rector, some Gaelic poets who lived there in the 18th century warmly sang its praises. Indeed, Croom owes much of its later fame to the school or court of Gaelic poetry, Scoil Eigse or Cuirt Eigse that flourished there in the 18th century.

The poets who frequented the school were known as Fili na Maighe, the Poets of Maigue. They included Sean O Tuama (1709-1775), owner of the pub where the poets met and who is buried in the Church of Ireland churchyard.

Other poets in Croom included Aindrias Mac Craith, a hedge-school master from Kilmallock, who was known as An Mangaire Sugach or ‘The Merry Pedlar.’ The Maigue poets wrote love songs, elegies, drinking songs, patriotic songs. Slan le Maigh (‘Farewell to the Maigue’) by Aindrias Mac Craith is the best-known of their poems.

The mills at Croom date from the 18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

The Lyne or Lyons family, who were living in Croom by the early 18th century, are associated with both Croom House and Croom Castle. There is a ruined mill along the banks of the River Maigue and a newer mill built by Henry Lyons in 1788 and a working mill until 1927.

A workhouse was built in Croom in the early 1840s to house the destitute. It became a general hospital serving Co Limerick in 1924, and in 1956 it became a Regional Orthopaedic Hospital.

Croom railway station opened in 1862. It closed to passenger traffic in 1934, to goods traffic in 1963, and finally closed in 1967. The town has been by-passed by the N20 Croom Bypass since 2001.

The Maigue Poets celebrated in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

A new Civic Centre opened in Croom in 2014 and includes a restaurant, library, public computers and function hall.

Today, the well-preserved ruins of Croom Castle lie hidden from view behind high walls.

It was a rainy afternoon, and with the Covid-19 restrictions there was nowhere to get a coffee. But Croom was still a colourful pace to visit, and two of us went off in search of Croom Castle, the two parish churches, and the Round Tower and church ruins at Dysert Oenghusa.

Colourful cottages near the churches and the castle in Croom (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)