A Comberford contribution to the unique collection at Lichfield Cathedral Library

The Duchess of Somerset’s bequest is at the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition at Lichfield Cathedral Library

Patrick Comerford

I was back in Lichfield this week as two of us visited the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition telling the story of Lichfield Cathedral Library and the Seymour Family.

The exhibition, which opened in the Chapter House on Saturday (22 April), offers an opportunity to explore why Lichfield Cathedral Library is unusual – perhaps unique – among cathedral libraries and its link with the Seymour family.

The Cathedral Library, as it is today, began in 1674 with a gift of over 400 books from the private collection of William Seymour, Duke of Somerset, donated by his widow, the former Lady Frances Devereux. His books reflect the wide-ranging interests of a wealthy intellectual in the 17th century and they are different from the books normally found in a cathedral library.

The mediaeval library at Lichfield Cathedral was almost totally lost during the English Civil War. In the 1670s, a new library was established with the gift of more than 400 books from the widowed Duchess of Somerset.

Frances Devereux inherited her husband’s library when he died in 1660, and bequeathed the collection to Lichfield. She wrote in her will: ‘for the respect which I and my family have received from the City of Lichfield, I give the books which were my late deceased husband’s, to the Church of Lichfield to be put in the new library there.’

Lichfield Cathedral’s Library then inherited a wide range of books that are associated with the library of a prominent 17th century intellectual rather than with a cathedral.

The exhibition explores William Seymour’s library, illustrating the types of books he and his ancestors included in their libraries and how this reflected the culture of their time. It also invites visitors to consider what books we choose to have in our homes these days and whether books are still relevant in a digital age.

The exhibition includes the only three books known to have survived at Lichfield from the mediaeval collection.

The bequest from the Duchess of Somerset includes the Lichfield Gospels, an eighth century Gospel Book dating from 730, making it older than the Book of Kells yet a little younger that the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The opening folio contains a faded signature, Wynsige presul, which may refer to Wynsige, Bishop of Lichfield from around 963 to ca 975, and folio four refers to Leofric, Bishop of Lichfield in 1020-1026.

The book was in Lichfield Cathedral until 1646, when the cathedral was sacked during the English Civil War and the cathedral library was looted. Later, the book was recovered and was returned to the cathedral by the Duchess of Somerset.

The Gospels have been on public display since 1982, and the Bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance on the Lichfield Gospels at their enthronement.

Lady Frances Devereux by Anthony van Dyck … the ‘trulie virtuous ladie’ named in the will of William Comberford, she left her books to Lichfield Cathedral

The Duchess of Somerset, the former Lady Frances Devereux (1590-1674), was a sister of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and the youngest child of Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who also Lord of the Manor of Lichfield.

She married William Seymour (1587-1660), later Duke of Somerset, at Drayotn Bassett in 1616. As the Dowager Duchess of Somerset, she also held properties in Comberford, Wigginton and Tamworth. When she died on 24 April 1674, she left her collection of 1,000 books to Lichfield Cathedral.

Her collection also included a book of pedigrees given to her by her close friend, Colonel William Comberford of Comberford, Lichfield and the Comberford Hall and the Moat House on Lichfield Street, Tamworth.

William Comberford had been the Royalist High Sheriff of Staffordshire and he took an active role in the siege of Lichfield during the English Civil War. When William died in 1656, he left a book of pedigrees of the Nevilles, Earls of Warwick, to his friend Lady Frances, then Marchioness of Hertford and later the Duchess of Somerset, saying: ‘The book of pedigrees of the Earles of Warwick, I give and devise to the Right Honorable and trulie virtuous ladie, the Marchioness of Hertford, for whose sake … I bought the same.’

His affectionate words and the terms of the bequest reveal a close and intimate friendship with the woman who restored the Lichfield Gospels to Lichfield Cathedral. Her donation of books to the cathedral included this book that William Comberford bought for her.

Lady Frances Devereux’s father, Robert Devereux, had once been Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, but he fell out of favour and was executed in 1601. Two years later, in 1603, her widowed mother, Frances (Walsingham), married Richard Burke (1572-1635), 4th Earl of Clanricarde, who built Portumna Castle, on the banks of the River Shannon in Co Galway, in 1610-1618.

Lady Frances was a half-sister of the 5th Earl of Clanricarde, who lived at Portumna Castle throughout the Civil Wars of the 1640s and 1650s, while she was living in Lichfield. Portumna Castle remained the main seat of the Clanricarde Burkes for generations, and after recent conservation and restoration work, parts of the castle are now open to the public.

The Duchess of Somerset’s children included Lady Jane Seymour (1637–1679), who married Charles Boyle (1639-1694), Viscount Dungarvan, who was MP for Tamworth (1670-1679). Another daughter, Lady Mary Seymour (1636-1673), married Heneage Finch (1628-1689), 3rd Earl of Winchelsea, and their descendants in the Thynne family would later own Comberford Hall for almost 30 years (1761-1789).

But more about the exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral later this week.

• The ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral opened on Saturday (22 April) and remains open during visitor opening hours until Sunday 3 September 2023.

Lichfield Cathedral opens exhibition of books with links to a ‘trulie virtuous ladie’ and friend of William Comberford

Lady Frances Devereux by Anthony van Dyck … the ‘trulie virtuous ladie’ named in the will of William Comberford, she left her books to Lichfield Cathedral

Patrick Comerford

Lichfield Cathedral is reopening to visitors for sightseeing from Monday (17 May 2021). Earlier this year, Lichfield Cathedral became the first cathedral in England to host a vaccination clinic to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, expressing a fresh, renewed relationship between healing, science, creativity and faith that goes back to its foundation by Saint Chad.

On Monday too, a new exhibition opens in Lichfield Cathedral: ‘Fantastic books and where to find them.’ To coincide with Monday’s reopening, the cathedral is showcasing some of the lesser-known books from the library collection.

Lichfield Cathedral’s Library has an extraordinarily broad and varied collection of books gifted to the cathedral, including a significant bequest by the Duchess of Somerset in 1673.

The books in this collection are reminders of the discourse around science and faith. How we have lived and worked together for centuries, and how debate, discovery and conflict, have changed the way societies have thought about and described the world around them.

Visitors to this exhibition are invited to discover ancient but living texts that paint a picture of the world as seen by generations before us and that have been influential in how we explore the world around us.

The exhibition explores the following themes, following the movements of creation:

● Earth’s Beginning
● Light
● Nature
● Stars and Astronomy
● Creatures and Fantastic Beasts
● Humanity
● Peace and Rest

The bequest by the Duchess of Somerset in 1673 included the Lichfield Gospels, an eighth century Gospel Book dating from 730, making it older than the Book of Kells yet a little younger that the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The opening folio contains a faded signature, Wynsige presul, which may refer to Wynsige, Bishop of Lichfield from around 963 to ca 975, and folio four refers to Leofric, Bishop of Lichfield in 1020-1026.

The book was in Lichfield Cathedral until 1646, when the cathedral was sacked during the English Civil War and the cathedral library was looted. Later, the book was recovered and was returned to the cathedral by Lady Frances Devereux (1590-1674), Duchess of Somerset. The Gospels have been on public display since 1982, and the Bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance on the Lichfield Gospels.

The Duchess of Somerset, the former Lady Frances Devereux, was a sister of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and the youngest child of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , who also Lord of the Manor of Lichfield.

She married William Seymour (1587-1660), later Duke of Somerset, at Drayotn Bassett in 1616. As the Dowager Duchess of Somerset, she also held properties in Comberford, Wigginton and Tamworth. When she died on 24 April 1674, she left her collection of 1,000 books to Lichfield Cathedral, including the Saint Chad’s Gospels and a book of pedigrees given to her by her close friend, Colonel William Comberford, of Lichfield, Comberford Hall and the Moat House on Lichfield Street, Tamworth.

William Comberford had been the Royalist High Sheriff of Staffordshire and took an active role in the siege of Lichfield. When William died in 1656, he left a book of pedigrees of the Nevilles, Earls of Warwick to his friend, Frances, Marchioness of Hertford, later the Duchess of Somerset, saying: ‘The book of pedigrees of the Earles of Warwick, I give and devise to the Right Honorable and trulie virtuous ladie, the Marchioness of Hertford, for whose sake … I bought the same.’

His affectionate words and the terms of the bequest reveal a close and intimate friendship with the woman who restored the Lichfield Gospels to Lichfield Cathedral. Her donation of books to the cathedral included this book William Comberford had bought for her.

Lady Frances Devereux’s father, Robert Devereux, had once been Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, but he fell out of favour and was executed in 1601. Two years later, in 1603, her widowed mother, Frances (Walsingham), married Richard Burke (1572-1635), 4th Earl of Clanricarde, who built Portumna Castle, on the banks of the River Shannon in Co Galway, in 1610-1618.

Lady Frances was a half-sister of the 5th Earl of Clanricarde, who lived at Portumna Castle, and lived there throughout the Civil Wars of the 1640s and 1650s, while she was living in Lichfield. Portumna Castle remained the main seat of the Clanricarde Burkes for generations, and after recent conservation and restoration work, the ground floor of the castle is open to the public, while conservation work continues on other parts of the castle.

The Duchess of Somerset’s grandchildren included Charles Boyle (1639-1694), Viscount Dungarvan, who was MP for Tamworth (1670-1679).

The new exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral is open during visitor opening hours from Monday next 17 May to Monday 19 July.

In search of a Comerford family in the area near Silvermines and Nenagh

Kilmore House in Silvermines, Co Tipperary … a house with links with a branch of the Comerford family I am trying to trace (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

In recent months, I have continued my genealogical search for further details of Comerford families who have lived in Co Limerick and neighbouring area.

I have already noted how the Ennis Chronicle reported from Limerick on Monday 5 October 1795 on the marriage the previous Thursday at Silvermines, Co Tipperary, of William Ferguson, son of John Ferguson, of Limerick, and a Miss Comerford, daughter of Michael Comerford of Silvermines, Co Tipperary.

The Ferguson family were woollen merchants and drapers in Limerick and also lived in Rathkeale, Co Limerick. However, I have had a little more difficulty in tracing the Comerford family of Silvermines, who seem to have lived for some generations at Kilmore House, near Silvermines and Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

So, on my way back from Dublin to Askeaton yesterday, two of us took a diversion near Nenagh, and in the warm summer sunshine went in search of Kilmore House.

Kilmlore House is a detached, three-bay two-storey house, built around 1800, with what may be an earlier lower three-bay, two-storey block to the rear. The form and scale of this house are enhanced by the retention of features such as timber sash windows, the slate roof, and the elaborate doorcase.

There are interesting monolithic limestone piers at the gates at either end of the avenue, and there are interesting large cylindrical piers built into the walls of some of the outbuildings.

The interesting monolithic limestone piers at the gates at either end of the avenue at Kilmore House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

John Comerford, who lived at of Kilmore House in the mid-19th century was the father of both John Comerford, of Kilmore House, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and an only daughter Mary Comerford (1849-1879).

The elder John Comerford had died by the time his daughter Mary was married in 1870. On 12 October 1870, in the Church of Ireland parish church in Silvermines or Kilmore, she married James McCutcheon (1837-1891), of Castle Street, Nenagh. The officiant was the Revd A Adams and the witnesses were Thomas R Grey and Jane E Grey. Mary died in 1879 and seems to have had no children.

Mary’s brother, John Comerford, gentleman, of Greyfort, Borrisokane, married Elizabeth Alice Grey. The Landed Estates database at NUI Galway shows that the Grey family was living at Greyfort from the mid-19th century, and that Thomas R Grey was living in Greyfort House, with 500 acres, in the 1870s.

John Comerford and his wife Elizabeth Alice (Grey) were the parents of Georgina Frances Beatrice Comerford, who was born on 7 February 1870 at Kilmore, Silvermines, Co Tipperary.

John Comerford died on 19 December 1870 at the age of 26. His will was proved at Limerick on 31 January 1871 by his executors, his father-in-law, Thomas R Grey, of Greyfort, Borrisokane, and his brother-in-law, James McCutcheon, merchant, of Nenagh.

When John Comerford died in 1870, his widow, Elizabeth Alice (Grey), appears to have moved back to Greyfort House.

The road leading to Kilmore House in Silvermines, Co Tipperary … a house with links with a branch of the Comerford family I am trying to trace (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

On 27 November 1900, Georgina Frances Beatrice Comerford, daughter of John Comerford, gentleman, of Greyfort, Borrisokane, and Elizabeth Alice Grey, married Joseph Ernest Hardy in Borrisokane Church of Ireland parish church.

Joseph Ernest Hardy describes himself as a gentleman farmer, of Cranna, Portumna, Co Galway, and the son of Edward Hardy. Later, he reversed the order of his given names, and was known as Ernest Joseph Hardy.

The Hardy family was associated for a number of generations with Dartfield House, Co Galway. The history of this house has been researched in detail by Mark Thomas for the site Abandoned Ireland.

Dartfield belonged to the Wall family in the 1640s, and later passed to the Blake family of Ardfry. Joseph Henry Blake (1765-1803) was made Baron Wallscourt in 1800 for supporting the Act of Union. That year, he sold Dartfield to Robert Blake, a lawyer, of 4 Temple Street, Dublin. Robert Blake married Elizabeth Aylmer of Seneschalstown, Co Kildare, and they were the parents of at least one son and two daughters: Henry Blake; Elizabeth who became a Loreto nun at the convent in Rathfarnham and died in 1861; and Maria Louisa.

As a child, Henry Blake (1793-1851) inherited the fortune of his uncle, James Deane Aylmer of Seneschalstown. He studied law at Trinity College Dublin and Lincoln’s Inn, London, and was called to the bar in Dublin in 1816. By 1824 he was living at 8 Temple Street, Dublin and at Seafield, Oranmore, Co Galway.

In 1827, he built a new house at Dartfield, and it soon became a meeting place for the local hunt, the Galway Blazers. He hired the landscape designer James Frazer (1793-1863) as his head gardener, and another well-known garden designer, Alexander McLeish, head gardener at Terenure Park, Co Dublin, advised on the planting of the demesne.

Henry Blake was a JP and a Whig and publicly supported Daniel O'Connell. In 1839, he was one of a group of Co Galway landowners who called on the government to retain the Corn Laws.

Henry died aged 61 in 1851. He made his widowed sister, Maria Louisa Blake, the administrator of his estate. Her husband, James Henry Blake QC (1801-1841), died in London in 1841, leaving a daughter Emilia Julia Aylmer Blake.

After a number of conflicts with her tenants, Maria Blake and her daughter Emilia spent quite a lot of time abroad, particularly in Brighton and France. By 1869, Joseph Hardy was living at Dartfield, and by 1873 this was an estate of 1,304 acres.

Hardy was the owner of a small mill in 1837, and moved into grazing in 1846. By 1880, he was grazing some 6,000 acres for five landlords including Lord Dunsandle and Lord Clonbrock. This figure seems have include 800 acres around Dartfield.

Meanwhile, Mary Louisa Blake died in Chelsea on 17 October 1876. Her daughter, Emilia Aylmer-Blake was an accomplished poet and writer. On 3 July 1877, in Kensington Parish Church, she married the actor and playwright William Gowing as his second wife, and Gowing assumed the name Aylmer. Emilia had previously been engaged to the Count de Charette de Bois Foucauld, a landowner from Brittany.

Emilia was uncomfortable in Co Galway society, as the diary of Lady Gregory shows. Her interest in Dartfield lay mainly in seeing that it functioned peacefully and that the rents were paid.

Joseph Hardy was a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Church of Ireland synod and a Ballinasloe Union guardian. But he seems to have had limited tact and empathy and called in the police in a number of disputes with his tenants in the 1870s and 1880s. He died at Dartfield aged 71 on 30 January 1891. By then, his estate had been reduced to 1,800 acres.

The Hardy family continued to live at Dartfield, and eventually acquired the estate and Ernest Joseph Hardy, one of Joseph Hardy’s sons, seems to have been in charge. But by 1900, Ernest Hardy had moved to Cranna at Portumna, Co Glaway, at the time of his marriage that year to Georgina Comerford, only daughter of John Comerford of Kilmore, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

The 1901 census shows that his brother James North Hardy (49) was living at Dartfield by then with his wife, Mary (40) and their children.

Ernest Hardy died on 28 May 1918 aged 55, with his wife, Georgina Beatrice Hardy, present at his death. Georgina Frances Beatrice (Comerford) Hardy lived on for almost and another half century, and died on 8 June 1957, aged 85, at Cranna, 5 Maryville Terrace, Leslie Avenue, Dalkey.

They are both buried in the Church of Ireland churchyard in Portumna, Co Galway. Their gravestone reads:

Erected by his wife
in most loving memory of
Ernest Joseph Hardy
who entered into rest at
on the 28th May 1918
‘Thou with Christ and Christ with me
thus united still are we’
Also his wife Georgina Beatrice
Died 8th June 1957

Ernest Joseph Hardy’s brother, James North Hardy, died aged 70 in late 1921, leaving his son, Cecil Aylmer Hardy, in charge of Dartfield. Cecil continued to farm at Dartfield until 1946, when he went to live in Glenageary, Co Dublin. He visited Co Galway occasionally, and on 7 April 1951 he was found dead in his car outside the entrance gates of Dartfield.

The estate was inherited by his daughters, Pamela Potterton, who married Hubert Potterton in 1952, and Alison Hardy. The Dartfield estate was sold in portions in the 1950s and the 1960s, and by 1966 Dartfield was standing empty.

Pamela Potterton died in March 1967; she was only 42. Dartfield was sold in 1984, and the house continued to slide into further decay. In 1993, it was bought by Willie Leahy, Master of the Galway Blazers.

Dartfield in Co Galway … a house with links with a branch of the Comerford family I am trying to trace (Photograph: Abandoned Ireland)

A tour of ancient church sites on the banks of the Shannon

Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert ... so small and so remote it is hard to imagine this was the centre of a cathedral city (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Patrick Comerford

It was one of those summer days filled with sunshine – and there have been some of them this summer. I was staying in Athlone, and found the town was a good base for visiting some of the most Ireland’s earliest monastic sites on the both banks of the River Shannon.

In the course of that one summer’s day, I visited Saint Brendan’s Cathedral in Clonfert, the ruins of Portumna Priory and Clonmacnoise, where I was brought on a journey through Irish church history from the time of Saint Patrick through the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the mediaeval changes and the Reformation to the Church of Ireland of today.

A small and remote cathedral

The West Doorway of Clonfert Cathedral is the greatest Hiberno-Romanesque masterpiece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Saint Brendan’s Cathedral in Clonfert, south Co Galway, is one of four cathedrals still open in the United Dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe. Sunday services are only four or five times a year and the cathedral is so small and so remote, it is hard to imagine that this sleepy village was once a cathedral city.

Saint Brendan the Navigator, who is buried here, founded a monastery in Clonfert in 563. The monastery predates stories of the saint’s voyages, and Clonfert became one of the foremost monastic schools in Ireland and the inspiration for many great missionary ventures across Europe.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul ... Victorian glass in the early 13th century east windows (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The monastery was burned in 1016, 1164, and again in 1179, but in its heyday Clonfert may have had 3,000 monks. The centuries-old Yew Walk, with its cross-shaped paths, looks like church transept with a green ceiling. Local lore says the monks walked under the trees in silence, reading their daily office. However, the Diocese of Clonfert was not organised until 1111 and the diocesan boundaries were not fixed until 1152.

The first stone cathedral here was built around 1167 by Bishop Petrus Ua Mórda, and the earliest part of the cathedral dates from this period. The West Doorway is the crowning glory of the cathedral and the greatest masterpiece of Hiberno-Romanesque work, and the cathedral is listed in the 2000 World Monuments Watch.

The doorway has eight orders of jambs, surmounted by seven orders of arches and crowned by a triangular pediment bordered by carved ropes. The triangular pointed hoods and decorations form a unique mediaeval gallery with a truly fabulous variety of motifs, including human faces, bizarre beasts, formalised flowers and interlacing geometrical shapes, representing the way all creation points to the Trinity.

Inside, the early 13th century east windows in the chancel are among the best late Romanesque windows, filled with Victorian glass of a paired Saint Peter and Saint Paul, each decorated with strange swastika-shaped halos.

A mermaid, with a comb and mirror in the 15th century chancel arch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The chancel arch, inserted in the 15th century, displays angels, a rosette and a mermaid holding a mirror and a comb. The supporting arches of the west tower are decorated with 15th century heads. The vestry at the north side of the cathedral also dates from the 15th century.

The cathedral also has a 15th century carved font and gravestones of great antiquity, one with a Celtic cross and a Latin inscription in Celtic lettering. At one time, there were two transepts, but the Gothic north transept has been demolished and the Romanesque south transept is now in ruins.

Impoverished diocese

Clonfert was such a remote, small and impoverished diocese that many mediaeval bishops refused to live there, and there were lengthy periods when it was without a bishop.

Robert, a Benedictine monk who became Bishop of Clonfert in 1296, was also a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Canterbury. Robert Petit, a Franciscan friar who became bishop in 1320, was a suffragan bishop in Worcester and Exeter. Another Franciscan, Seán Ó hEidhin, was made Bishop of Clonfert twice, in 1438 and again in 1441, but was challenged by three rival claimants and probably never took office. Instead, he was a suffragan bishop in Worcester, London and Exeter, and when he died was a vicar in Essex.

The monastery survived until the 16th century. During the reign of Elizabeth I, there were proposals for a university in Clonfert, but the university went to Dublin instead.

Clonfert Palace was built in 1640 by Bishop Robert Dawson, and was home to the bishops until Christopher Butson died in 1836. When Clonfert and Kilmacduagh were united with Killaloe and Kilfernora, the palace was sold to the Trench family. The last tenant was the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. The palace was destroyed by fire in 1954, and the ruins are now covered in ivy, with trees growing in and around it.

Clonfert is part of a wider parish spread through three counties – Galway, Tipperary and Offaly – and three provinces – Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The Revd Alan Nevin is Rector and the other churches are in Eyrecourt, Portumna and Banagher.

A ruined priory

Portumna is on the northern shores of Lough Derg, where the Shannon divides Co Galway from Co Tipperary. (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Heading south, I stayed in the parish as I passed through Eyrecourt to Portumna on the northern shores of Lough Derg, where the Shannon divides Co Galway from Co Tipperary. The lawns to the south of Portumna Castle sweep down to the lake shores, with the ruins of Portumna Priory a few paces to the east.

The lawns to the south of Portumna Castle sweep down to the shores of Lough Derg (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The priory was built around 1254 by Cistercian monks from Dunbrody Abbey, Co Wexford, but became a Dominican priory around 1426 at the insistence of Pope Martin V.

The ruined priory in Portumna once served as the Church of Ireland parish church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The priory was dissolved at the Reformation and passed to the Earls of Clanricarde, who built Portumna Castle. The priory was revived in 1640, and Patrick Sarsfield was married there in 1689. But the friars left again in 1712 and the priory church served the Church of Ireland parish until a new church was built at the castle gates in 1832.

The ruined cloisters in Portumna Priory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The ruined priory is now a national monument. The church has fine windows in the east wall and south transept, an unusual west doorway surmounted by a window, and partially restored cloisters.

River-side monastery

Clonmacnoise, on the banks of the Shannon, stands at the crossroads of Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

From Portumna, I crossed the Shannon and followed the road north through Banagher, along the east banks of the Shannon, to Clonmacnoise in Co Offaly. This ancient monastic site stands at the crossroads of Ireland where the main east-west road along the Esker Ridge crossed the river as it flowed from north to south through the Midlands.

Clonmacnoise was founded in 548 by Saint Ciarán and seven companions. He died of the yellow plague within a year later but Clonmacnoise grew and expanded, despite constant raids and attacks. The early wooden buildings gave way to stone structures and the population grew to 2,000 by the 11th century, making the monastery a major centre of learning and creativity.

The rich heritage of Clonmacnoise includes the Cathedral, several churches, high crosses and towers, and numerous carved mediaeval graves (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Clonmacnoise had links with both the Kings of Connacht and the Kings of Tara, and many of them are buried here. In the 12th century, Clonmacnoise became the seat of a diocese, but it was always overshadowed by the neighbouring, richer and more powerful Diocese of Meath.

In the late 12th century, as Athlone became the main trading town in the midlands and the pivotal crossing-point on the Shannon, the monastery fell into decline. The people living in the monastic city drifted north to Athlone and – apart from the ruined castle – none of the domestic buildings now survive.

The arrival of continental religious orders, including the Augustinians, Benedictines, Cistercians and Franciscans, hastened the decline of the monastery. It was finally laid in ruins by the English garrison in Athlone in 1522.

High crosses and round towers

The Cathedral is the largest church in Clonmacnoise (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The site has a rich heritage that includes the Cathedral, the Church of Ireland parish church, several other churches, high crosses, round towers, and numerous carved mediaeval grave slabs.

The Cathedral, the largest church, was built in 909 by Flann Sinna, King of Tara, and Abbot Colmán. The last High King, Rory O’Connor, was buried near the altar in 1198. The west doorway dates from 1200 and the Gothic-style north doorway or “Whispering Arch” was inserted by in the 1450s by Odo, Dean of Clonmacnoise. The carved images over the north door represent Saint Dominic, Saint Patrick and Saint Francis.

The Gothic-style north doorway or ‘Whispering Arch’ was inserted by in the cathedral by Odo, Dean of Clonmacnoise, in the 1450s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Temple Melaghlin (1200) is also known as the King’s Church, and generations of Melaghlin Kings of Meath are buried here.

Temple Dowling and the South Cross ... of the three great high crosses at Clonmacnoise (Photograph: Patrick Comerford 2012)

Temple Dowling is a tiny tenth century church but is named after Edward Dowling, who renovated and extended it in 1689, placing a stone carving of his coat of arms above the door. Temple Hurpan, a 17th century annex, was once used for burials.

Temple Finghín, a 12th century Romanesque church ... the earliest example of a church and round tower in a single structure (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Temple Finghín is a 12th century Romanesque church with a round tower belfry, McCarthy’s Tower, where the nave and chancel meet – perhaps the earliest example of a church and round tower in a single structure. When the church was vandalised in 1864, the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland initiated a landmark prosecution and later repaired the cap of the tower.

Temple Connor, or Saint Kieran’s Church, dating from the early 13th century, has been the Church of Ireland parish church since the 18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Temple Connor, or Saint Kieran’s Church, dating from the early 13th century, has been the Church of Ireland parish church since the 18th century. Clonmacnoise is part of the Athlone union of parishes in the Diocese of Meath, and during the summer a service is held here at 4 p.m. each Sunday and on Saint Ciarán’s Day (9 September) and an annual open-air service takes place on the third Sunday in July.

Temple Ciarán, the smallest church, is traditionally the burial place of Saint Ciarán. But, while excavations unearthed the Clonmacnoise Crosier, no saintly remains were found. To the west, low-lying stones are all that remain of Temple Kelly.

The Round Tower was built as a free-standing belfry by Turlough O’Connor, King of Connacht, and Abbot Gilla Chroist O Malone in 1124. It was hit by lightning 11 years later, and has been rebuilt in stages in the centuries that followed.
The three main High Crosses on the site have been moved to the visitors’ centre and replicas now stand at their original locations.

The Cross of the Scriptures is one of Ireland’s finest surviving high crosses, and has panels with Biblical scenes, including the Crucifixion, Christ in the Tomb, and the Last Judgment. The shaft and base are all that survive of the North Cross, the oldest of the High Crosses. Its decorations, which have been compared with the Book of Kells, include people, animals and geometrical interlacing. The South Cross has a rough carving of the Crucifixion on its west face.

Clomacnoise has been a national monument since 1877, and the Church of Ireland handed it to the Government in 1955. For centuries, the title of Dean of Clonmacnoise has been held by the Rectors of Trim. But Clonmacnoise, with its churches, towers, high crosses, and castle ruins, all on the banks of the River Shannon, remains one of the most important and picturesque ecclesiastical sites in Ireland.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This essay was first published in the Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough) in August 2012.

Visiting a ‘trulie virtuous ladie’ in Portumna Castle

By the shores of Lough Derg on the River Shannon, below Portumna Castle, Co Galway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Patrick Comerford

My visit to the banks of the River Shannon at the end of last week, brought me to a number of monastic and early church sites, including Saint Brendan’s in Clonfert, the monastery at Clonmacnoise, and the ruins of the mediaeval friary in Portumna.

In Portumna, I spent a quiet hour or two in the sunshine on the northern edge of Lough Derg, where the lawns on the south side of Portumna Castle sweep down to shores of the lake and Portumna Harbour, and when I visited the castle I was reminded of a centuries old link between Portumna, Lichfield Cathedral and the Comberford family.

I had been in Lichfield Cathedral the previous Sunday for the Eucharist on the Day of Pentecost. The Gospel that morning was read by the cathedral curate, the Revd Nest Bateman, using the Lichfield Gospels or Saint Chad’s Gospels, which is used in processions on great occasions in the cathedral.

The Lichfield Gospels is an eighth century Gospel Book dating from 730, making it older than the Book of Kells yet a little younger that the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The opening folio contains a faded signature, Wynsige presul, which may refer to Wynsige, Bishop of Lichfield from around 963 to ca 975, and folio four refers to Leofric, Bishop of Lichfield from 1020 to 1026.

The book was in Lichfield Cathedral until 1646, when the cathedral was sacked during the English Civil War and the cathedral library was looted. Later, the book was recovered and was returned to the cathedral by Lady Frances Devereux (1590-1674), Duchess of Somerset. The Gospels have been on public display in 1982, and the Bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance on the Lichfield Gospels.

The former Lady Frances Devereux was a sister of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and the youngest child of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lord of the Manor of Lichfield. In 1616, she married William Seymour (1587-1660), later Duke of Somerset. As the Dowager Duchess of Somerset, she also held properties in Comberford, Wigginton and Tamworth. When she died on 24 April 1674, she left her collection of 1,000 books to Lichfield Cathedral, including the Saint Chad’s Gospels and a book of pedigrees given to her by her close friend, Colonel William Comberford.

Lady Frances Devereux ... “trulie virtuous ladie” named in the will of William Comberford, she left her books to Lichfield Cathedral

William Comberford had been the Royalist High Sheriff of Staffordshire and took an active role in the siege of Lichfield. When he died in 1656, he left a book of pedigrees of the Nevilles, Earls of Warwick to his friend, Frances, Marchioness of Hertford, later the Duchess of Somerset, saying: “The book of pedigrees of the Earles of Warwick, I give and devise to the Right Honorable and trulie virtuous ladie, the Marchioness of Hertford, for whose sake … I bought the same.”

His affectionate words and the terms of the bequest reveal a close and intimate friendship with the woman who restored the Lichfield Gospels to Lichfield Cathedral. Her donation of books to the cathedral included this book William Comberford had bought for her.

Portumna Castle was built between 1610 and 1618 by Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Portumna Castle was built between 1610 and 1618 by Lady Frances Devereux’s mother and step-father. Her father, Robert Devereux, had once been Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, but he fell out of favour and was executed in 1601. Two years later, in 1603, her widowed mother, Frances (Walsingham), married Richard Burke (1572-1635), 4th Earl of Clanricarde, who built Portumna Castle.

Frances Devereux’s half-brother, the 5th Earl of Clanricarde, took up residence at Portumna Castle, and lived there throughout the Civil Wars of the 1640s and 1650s, while she was living in Lichfield. The castle remained the main seat of the Clanricarde Burkes for generations, and after recent conservation and restoration work, the ground floor of the castle is now open to the public, while conservation work continues on other parts of the castle.

Portumna is on the borders of Connaught and Munster, of Co Galway and Co Tipperary, on the banks of the Shannon and at the point where the river enters Lough Derg.

Richard Burke spent £10,000 on building Portumna Castle, and when it was completed it was unequalled in Ireland for elegance, style and grandeur, outshining other castles at Rathfarnham, Kanturk, Carrickfergus, Charlemont and Burncourt. This was one of the first castles in Ireland to incorporate Renaissance refinements already found in Italy and France, giving the mansion a continental air. The Renaissance features include the doorcase at the front entrance and the Tuscan gateway of the innermost courtyard.

Even the layout of the castle is an expression of Renaissance ideas. The plan is that of a compact double-pile house, which is two rooms deep. The building is symmetrical in shape and consists of three storeys over a semi-basement with square projecting corner towers. It measures 29.7 metres by 21.2 metres and the corner towers are 6.5 metres square topped with gunports. A central corridor, 3 metres wide, runs from top to bottom, supported by stone walls with numerous recesses and fireplaces.

The Gothic Gates at Portumna Castle, built to a design by Sir Richard Morrison (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The approach from the north is elaborate with gardens, avenues and three impressive gateways – the Gothic Gates, built after a design by Richard Morrison; the Middle Gateway, which now houses the information office; and the Tuscan Gate – an elegant if perhaps inaccurate interpretation of Italian architectural motifs.

The castle itself was burned down accidentally in 1826, and the family moved into nearby stables. At the death of Hubert George de Burgh-Canning, the 2nd and last Marquess and 15th Earl of Clanricarde, in 1916, Portumna Castle passed to his nephew Henry Lascelles, later the 6th Earl of Harewood. The Portumna estate was bought by the Irish Government in 1948, along with the 1,500 acre demesne.

Portumna Castle remained in ruins until the Office of Public Works began restoration work in 1968. In recent years, the house, the gardens and the gates have been restored faithfully.

Inside the house, the shell and the internal walls have been restored, as well as the roof and chimneys which protect the castle from the weather. The windows, fireplaces, flooring joists and basement have been restored and extensive archaeological work is continuing.

Portumna Castle seen through the Middle Gates (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

At the Middle Gate, which serves as the reception office, there is a cannon and gun carriage from the Battle of Aughrim, reputedly left behind by Patrick Sarsfield on his way from the Battle of Aughrim to the Siege of Limerick.

the formal, geometrical gardens to the north of the castle were first laid out in the 17th century Sir John Danvers of Chelsea and these were the first Italian or Renaissance gardens in Ireland. The restored 17th century walled kitchen garden has been organically planted with fruit trees, flowers, herbs and vegetables.

Portumna Priory

The cloisters at Portumna Priory, which was founded as a daughter house of Dunbrody Abbey, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

The ruins of Portumna Priory lie close to the castle, to the south-east on the way to the lakeside. The priory was founded ca 1254 as a Cistercian house attached to Dunbrody Abbey, Co Wexford, but it passed to the Dominicans ca 1426 on the suggestion of the Pope.

The priory was once dominated by a tower that is now only half its original height. The remains of the lengthy church has fine traceried windows in the east wall and south transept. There is also an unusual west doorway, surmounted by a window.

To the north of the church is an attractive cloister, partially restored in 1954. The friary was dissolved at the Reformation, and passed into the possession of the Clanricarde Burkes in 1577, although it was revived briefly in 1640. Patrick Sarsfield and Honora de Burgo were married in the church in 1689, 18 months before the Battle of the Boyne.

Later the Priory served as the Church of Ireland parish church in Portumna until a new church at the end of the castle drive was built in 1832.

Lingering a little longer by the shores of Lough Derg in Portumna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

After lingering a little longer on the northern shores of Lough Derg, we left Portumna and crossed the Shannon where it is divided into two channels by Hayes Island. The channel on the Co Galway side is about 73 metres wide; the channel on the Tipperary side about 79 metres wide. Across the river, the five-span bridge, which was built in 1911, has a central section resting on the Island that divides the river.

From the Tipperary side of the Shannon, we turned north to Clonmacnoise, where we spent the rest of the evening.

Summer begins on the banks of the Shannon

On the shores of Lough Derg and the Shannon at Portumna Harbour this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Patrick Comerford

The first day of June is traditionally the first day of summer in Ireland, although we have had some warm sunny, summer days for much of the month of May.

I woke to a dull start in Athlone this morning, but eventually it turned out to be a beautiful day by the River Shannon, visiting some monastic sites along the banks of the river in counties Westmeath, Roscommon, Galway, Tipperary and Offaly, all within a short range of each other.

On the banks of the Shannon in Athlone earlier in the day (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

At first, I went for a walk along the west bank of the Shannon, below Athlone Castle, and was delighted to come across Liturgical Book Restorers, a unique shop at 17 Main Street.

This part of Athlone has a continental charm about it, with an engaging little second hand book shop on the same terrace of houses and Sean’s Bar, which claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland, with the fantastic claim to date back to the year 900.

We climbed up the hill, and in Saint Paul’s bookshop I found two copies of a biography of Desmond Tutu I had written in 1987 – selling for 50 cent each.

In the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, I enjoyed the Harry Clark windows, and on the way back to the car I was impressed by the variety of restaurants in the Athlone.

The Hiberno-Romanesque doorway in Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert, Co Galway, this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

But it was still only noon, and we headed out west and then south to Clonfert in Co Galway to visit Saint Brendan’s Cathedral.

The history of the cathedral dates back to the founding of a monastery in 563 by Saint Brendan the Navigator, who is buried in front of the west door of the cathedral.

Clonfert Cathedral was listed by the World Monuments Watch in the 2000 World Monuments Watch. The soft sandstone structure has weathered severely and conservation efforts have not fully coped with all the problems. The deterioration has been compounded by substantial biological growth.

Nevertheless, the most startling sight at Clonfert is the cathedral’s Hiberno-Romanesque doorway. It is in six orders and has an amazing variety of motifs, including animal heads, foliage and human heads. Above the doorway a pointed hood encloses triangles alternating with bizarre human heads, and below is an arcade enclosing more human heads.

I expected the cathedral to be closed, but an Italian group of tourists was due, and the door beneath this Hiberno-Romanesque work was ajar.

Portumna Castle ... seen through a a window in one of the gate lodges this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

From Clonfert we drove south to Portumna, on the shores of the Shannon and Lough Derg. Although no guides were available for a tour today, Portumna Castle was open, and I spent some time exploring this tastefully restored treasure from the 17th century, before wandering around the walled kitchen garden.

I was reminded of a connection between Portumna Castle and the Comberford family and Lichfield Cathedral. But this is another story for another day.

Beneath the slopes of the southern lawns of Portumna Castle, I whiled away some more time in the sunshine on the shores of Lough Derg, by the boats in the harbour and then by the reeds on the lakeshore. Fish were jumping, ducks were basking, and one swam was swimming between the jetties and the boats looking for bread. Summer has truly arrived, with boat owners tending their crafts, camper van owners preparing for a bank holiday weekend in the sun.

Looking out at the Shannon from the monastic ruins at Clonmacnoise in the late evening sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

But it was time to move on, and – after stopping briefly at the ruins of Portumna Priory – we headed east across the Shannon, and then north again through the Tipperary and Offaly countryside, all the time keeping the Shannon on our left, until we arrived at Clonmacnoise.

This was my first time to visit this monastic foundation which dates back to the sixth century. The site stands on a bend on the river, and for an hour or two I was captivated as much by the beauty of the location as the history of the site and the grandeur of the buildings. But this too is another story for another day.