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THE LAND
LEAGUE When I first started working on my own family tree my wife informed me that some of her ancestors had been involved in Land League activities in the 1880’s and that her great-grandfather, Patrick Waters, a schoolteacher, had been imprisoned in Kilmainham jail in Dublin and had died there. I mentally filed this information away as a subject for future research. Some years later, while researching in the North of Ireland Family History Society Library I came across a series of articles in the 1972, 1973 and 1974 editions of Seanchas Ard Mhacha. These articles were entitled “ Crossmaglen Conspiracy Case” and were written by Kevin McMahon who was then on the teaching staff of St Joseph’s High School in Crossmaglen. The articles referred to a trial at Crumlin Road Courthouse, Belfast that started in March 1883. Reading these articles encouraged me to further research the connection to my wife’s family. In Belfast Newspaper Library I obtained reports of the trial at Crumlin Road Courthouse, Belfast, from the Belfast Newsletter, Belfast Evening Telegraph and Belfast Morning News papers. I also obtained a copy of “The History of the Crossmaglen Conspiracy” which appeared in the newspaper The Irish Volunteer in March 1915. In Dundalk Library I obtained further copies of the trial reports, which were in the Dundalk Democrat and Dundalk Herald newspapers. At the Public Records Office (P.R.O.N.I.) in Belfast I read their papers on the conspiracy (T/3194/1). Kevin McMahon had deposited these papers at P.R.O.N.I. In one of Mr Mc Mahon’s articles he had an illustration of the main characters in the trial that he had obtained from the Graphic Newspaper. I checked with the Belfast Newspaper Library but they did not have any copies of this paper. A phone call to the National Library, in Dublin, revealed that they had copies of the Graphic from 1870- 1922. These would cover the relevant period. A trip to Dublin followed and I found the sketch in the issue dated April 7 1883. Among the people sketched are Patrick Waters, my wife’s great grandfather, and in the dock, Michael Waters, his grand nephew. (The newspaper has misnamed Michael as Richard). In the 1880’s Patrick Waters was the schoolmaster at Clonalig National School, near Culloville, south Armagh. The National School system had started in 1831. Patrick was assisted at the school by his grandnephew Michael. In the later court case some witnesses identify Michael as a teacher, while others a say that he is a school monitor. There is not now any visible sign of this school but some of the older residents can still point out the site. There is now a Clonalig National School, built in 1901, on Concession Road, about a quarter mile from the original school. Patrick Waters’ son in law, Patrick Rush, who was a stonemason, worked at the building of this school. Patrick Waters married Brigid Ward on February 7, 1861. They had five children. I have found birth certificates for Mary Anne born 1864 and Alice born 1870 at the Family History Centre of Latter Day Saints. A son, John Francis, baptised 13 December 1861, a daughter, Catherine baptised 28 September 1866, and another son, Richard baptised 2 February 1869 are recorded in the baptismal records of the Parish of Upper Creggan, Crossmaglen, County Armagh held in the Cardinal O’Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive, Armagh. Catherine was my wife’s grandmother. Catherine married Patrick Rush, a stonemason, of Rathkeelan, Crossmaglen, in St. Patrick’s Church, Crossmaglen on November 5 1895. In the 1901 census they were living in Clonalig, Crossmaglen with four of their children and Catherine’s sister Mary Anne. Patrick Rush was not registered at Clonalig on the census night. As he was a stonemason it is probable that he was working elsewhere in the country. The census enumerator lists Patrick Rush as the landholder of the property. The prosecution witness, Patrick Duffy, and other witnesses at the trial describe Patrick Waters as being the uncle of Michael Waters but from the following family tree it can be seen that he is Michael’s granduncle. PATRICK WATERS=BRIGID WARD WATERS=? OWEN WATERS=BRIGID JOHN FRANCIS PAT WATERS=JANE MURPHY MARY ANNE CATHERINE RICHARD ALICE MICHAEL WATERS Owen Waters’ wife, Brigid, in evidence, described her husband as “brother of Patrick, the teacher, and Michael’s father’s uncle. In the latter part of the 18th century the agitation for land reform in Ireland increased. Many landlords were trying to clear tenants from their lands. Many of the tenants were tenants at will, which meant that they could be easily evicted and were vulnerable to unexpected rent increases. This brought back memories of the Famine years of the 1840’s when many tenants were evicted from their holdings any many people died at the roadside. In 1879, Michael Davitt, whose own family had been evicted from their farm in County Mayo during the Famine, formed the Mayo Land League. His intention was to lead a campaign to establish the three F’s. These were the right to freedom of sale, fixity of tenure and fair rents. The Irish National Land League was set up in Dublin on October 21, 1879. By 1880 the League had spread throughout Ireland and Charles Stewart Parnell became its president. The League encouraged farmers and farm labourers not to work on the farms from which a farmer had been evicted. In September 1880 Parnell, in a speech in Ennis, County Clare referred to the problem of a man taking over a farm from which another farmer had been evicted “You must show him on the roadside when you meet him, you must show him in the streets of the town, you must show him in the fair and the market place, and even in the place of worship, by leaving him severely alone - putting him into a kind of moral Coventry – show him your detestation of the crime he has committed”. The League introduced this tactic against Captain Boycott, who was land agent on Lord Erne’s estates in County Mayo, after he had issued an eviction notice against one of lord’s tenants. When local farm workers refused to work on the property he brought in volunteer workers from Cavan and Monaghan. These volunteers had to be protected by hundreds of police and military. These volunteers successfully harvested the crops worth around £35 at a cost of around £3,500. The use of boycott was a very successful tactic for the League. * The volunteers lived in tents during the harvesting and the Belfast Newsletter pointed out that Captain Boycott charged them 9d a stone for their potatoes. Although, according to its constitution, the League was a moral force movement, the Government regarded it as a physical force movement, because it seemed to incorporate some of the old secret societies that had existed earlier in the century. The activities of the League extended into Ulster. In 1880 Michael Davitt addressed a solidly Protestant meeting in Armagh, which was chaired by James Weir, master of the local the Orange Lodge. When a branch of the League was formed in Crossmaglen, in 1880 both Protestant and Catholic tenant farmers joined. Estlinn O’Ruairc writing in The Irish Volunteer in 1915 states that its first president was a Protestant, as was the secretary. The actions of some of the landlords did not help the situation. One of the targets of the League was Mr John McGeough. He was a Justice of the Peace and owned 7213 acres of land at Silverbridge, just north of Crossmaglen. On April 6, 1882 a Sub-Inspector Bigley of the Royal Irish Constabulary reported to Mr G.E.Hellier, Inspector General of the Force, on Mr McGeough “………. in this district alone he was obliged to evict 30 families, including 3 sub-tenants, in the period February 11 to November 16, 1881. On December 19 1880 and February 18, 1881 he received threatening letters. At the last Sessions he obtained 40 ejectment decrees for non-payment of rent. He personally served the 40 tenants last week with ejectments and proposes to serve seven more. Yesterday, he went out, as if fowling, and served two more in the same townland he evicted tenants from last Thursday. Serving processes himself makes him more obnoxious”. The1881 Land Act gave legal recognition to the three F’s and a Land Commission was established to decide on fair rents and make loans to tenants of up to 75% of the purchase price of their farm. Many landlords were reluctant to accept the changes brought in by the Land Act. This caused divisions within the League. Militants, who were fed up with the slow rate of progress, wrote threatening letters to landlords, their agents, local magistrates and other officials, caused criminal damage, maimed animals, and in some cases, killed landlords and their agents. *See “The Boycott Relief Expedition” North Irish Roots Vol. 16, No.2, 2005. Government responded by introducing the Protection of Person and Property Act. Habeas Corpus was suspended, the Land League was banned, and hundreds of people across the country, including Parnell and Davitt were arrested and interned. The Act came into law in March 1881 and was due to expire in September 1882. The Dundalk Herald newspaper (September 23, 1882) reported that five people were arrested in the Crossmaglen area and “ Nugent and four others, one of them a National school teacher named Michael Waters”. Another paper, The Irish Volunteer, stated that six people were arrested: - “ and the youngest of the Crossmaglen prisoners was called Michael Waters and that he was arrested in January 1882”. The Kilmainham Jail Register for April 1882 shows the following details for Michael Waters: - Transferred from Armagh: Number 396 Michael Waters Age 18 years Height 5ft 8 3/4 ins Hair Dark Brown Eyes Grey Complexion Fresh Marks Burn mark on left shoulder. Born Monegilla, Co Armagh. Last Residence Monegilla, Co Armagh. Occupation National School Teacher. Religion Roman Catholic Education Mid (?). When Committed 14 April 1882 Offence Writing letter threatening murder. By whom committed Chief Secretary Sentence ( ) Expiration of Sentence 26 April 1882 How disposed of Transferred to Naas. Remarks P.P.P.Act (Protection of Person and Property Act). The Crossmaglen Baptismal register shows: - 27 March 1863 ----- Michael Waters of Pat Waters and Jane Murphy. Sponsors; James Waters and Ann Waters. In 1882, Forster, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, asked for the renewal of the Act, and also for a number of new powers, the most important of which was suspension of trial by jury. (Irish juries, throughout this period of land agitation, had shown a marked tendency to favour Land League suspects. Once the power of internment had been granted it is hardly surprising to find the police using it as an easy option). The government refused to renew the P.P.P. Act. However, while the internment had continued, efforts were being made to substantiate a case against some of the prisoners. In the 1880’s local Resident Magistrates exercised authority at the local level, and reported directly to the Under-Secretary in Dublin. Among the numerous documents in the government files in Dublin Castle are letters and reports from a Major James Blair, R.M. of Tannagh, County Monaghan. On March 13, 1882, he wrote to the Under-Secretary “that ample discretion be confided in me to produce trustworthy evidence”. On May 7, 1882 Major Blair sent a file to the assistant Under- Secretary and in a covering letter says “every endeavour is being made to procure documentary evidence to render a prosecution successful”. In September 1882, when the Act expired, the prisoners were released. Major Blair had asked to be kept informed of the release date. When the prisoners from the south Armagh area were released from jail they were immediately rearrested on a warrant issued by Captain Keough R.M. on a charge of treason felony and conspiracy to murder. Those arrested on release from Kilmainham Jail were Michael Waters, Denis Nugent, Patrick Geoghegan, Patrick Finnegan and James Hanratty. Four other men were also arrested in the south Armagh/ north Monaghan area. On 25 September John Donnelly was also arrested. The Dundalk Herald of 3rd September 1882 says about the arrests “It is believed that the police possess important information which will show that the organisation with which the prisoners are alleged to be connected, is closely allied to the Land League”. Michael Waters was returned to Kilmainham Jail now as prisoner 971. There is a cross reference, in the register, to the previous entry, but his height is now given as 5ft 6 ¾” and his weight as 12 stone 2 pounds. The first preliminary hearing was at Forkhill Petty Sessions on 8Th July 1882. A further Special Court Of Petty Sessions was held in Armagh on 30th September 1882. There the prisoners faced a charge “on the 1st January 1882, and at other times and various places in the counties of Armagh and Monaghan, with others conspired, combined and agreed together to commit murder and other crimes. The reporter from the Dundalk Herald, in Armagh for the hearing, expected that the prisoners would be put on trial at Armagh Winter Assizes. However in an address to the Grand Jury for Armagh on 10th March 1883, Mr Justice Lawson stated “… a number of men were arrested there (Crossmaglen) lately on a charge of treason-felony, but by the direction of the Attorney General, the place of trial was changed to Belfast. The final full trial commenced at the Crumlin Road Courthouse, Belfast on Wednesday 21st March 1883. There were two main civilian Crown witnesses: - Patrick Duffy who had worked as a blacksmith at Kilkeel and Culloville and had also acted as a bailiff, and Edward O’Hanlon who had worked with Duffy as an assistant bailiff. They both gave evidence that three secret societies namely the Bogmen, the Rednecks and the Ribbonmen had been amalgamated into one society called The Patriotic Brotherhood. They stated that the Patrick Waters, the schoolmaster, had sworn them both into the society, at Clonalig School. They stated that the object of The Patriotic Brotherhood was to put down landlordism, agents, and bailiffs and to kill or murder any person who made himself obnoxious to members of society, and to free themselves from British rule. Patrick Duffy also gave evidence that Michael Waters was the secretary of the Crossmaglen branch of the Society, and that he kept records. A hand printed book was produced in court and Constable Gartland, in evidence, alleged that the book recorded the meetings of the Brotherhood. In the book was the name Michael Waters and the constable stated that he believed that Michael was the author of the book. This book became known as the “Crossmaglen Book” and it implicated 153 men from the area. A further 65 men were named in the “Mullaghbawn” book and other alleged conspirators were named in the “Cullyhanna Book”. At one of the preliminary hearings the magistrate did not allow the defence team, to examine the “Crossmaglen Book” because the court ruled many other men named in the book were not before the court. Later on during the hearings, Edward O’ Hanlon withdrew all his evidence against the prisoners and stated that he was the author of the “Mullagbawn Book”. He was then arrested and joined the other prisoners in the dock. There were now twelve prisoners. Denis Nugent, Joseph Daly, Thomas Kelly, John McBride, Michael Waters and Edward O’Hanlon were in one group and Peter Devlin, Patrick Finnegan, Patrick Geoghegan, James Hanratty, Peter Coleman and Bernard Smith were in the second group. During the trial the prisoners were held in Crumlin Road Prison. Following a six-day trial the twelve were found guilty. The first group were then brought forward and Mr. H. McNeille-McCormick asked if they had anything to say. Denis Nugent replied: “I am not guilty Sir”. Joseph Daly added, “Neither am I”. Each of the prisoners made similar statements. They were then sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging up to ten years penal servitude. Before, and throughout the trial, the prisoners had protested their innocence. After sentencing Michael Waters was transferred to Mountjoy Jail in Dublin. Bernard Smith, sentenced with Michael Watters, was released, on grounds of ill health, a few months after his conviction. However a memorial for Michael’s release was rejected although a prison doctor and a specialist, whom he consulted, agreed that his condition was critical. In a debate on the case, in the House of Commons, on August 21 1883, Mr Healy, M.P., said that Bernard Smith, who was spitting blood, was released and he queried as to why Michael Watters had not also been released as he was suffering from consumption. Michael Water’s health had been undermined during his time in Crumlin Road Jail, Belfast awaiting trial. In the winter of 1882, the cells were constantly flooded with freezing water, most of the pipes having burst during a severe frost. Mr Small, M.P. raised the matter in the House of Commons, but the Chief Secretary denied that the cells in Belfast jail had been flooded. However a warder called Largey of 2 Boundary Street, Belfast, contradicted the official reply. He said, “ Michael Watters complained to me of the hardships that he was undergoing, and said that it would take his life or something to that effect”. This was confirmed by an affidavit from another warder in the jail called William John Allen. On June 27 1883, a few months after Michael’s imprisonment, his grand uncle Patrick Waters received a telegram from the governor of Mountjoy Jail, in Dublin. It read; “Your nephew is dangerously ill suffering from intestinal infection which may terminate fatally. Wishes to see uncle.” Patrick Waters hastened to the prison to see his grandnephew and also sent a petition to Lord Lieutenant Spencer. On October 16 1883 a further petition for Michaels release was sent through Fr. Bernard Mooney, C.C. Crossmaglen to Dublin. There was no acknowledgement of either petition. Patrick Waters and his solicitor again went to the Mountjoy Jail. They were then informed that Michael had died on 22 October. He was already buried and the authorities refused to release the body to the family. Michael was aged twenty years. Michael’s death was registered in north Dublin by the deputy coroner for Dublin on 3rd November 1883. The date and place of death was given as 22nd October at Mountjoy of a male convict prisoner. The cause of death was given as intestinal disease. Under column 7 (Rank, Profession or Occupation) it stated: - Convict under sentence of penal servitude for ten years. His age was given as twenty years. I have been unable, as yet, to locate Michael’s grave. A media report, in January this year, mentioned the possible sale of the Mountjoy Jail site. It also stated that there up to forty graves within the prison. The rest of the prisoners were released in 1889. CONCLUSION. There was a lot of truth in the oral family history. My wife’s great-grandfather was involved in Land League activities but it was his grand nephew who died in jail. Though Michael had served two periods of imprisonment in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, he actually died while serving sentence in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin. Bibliography A fuller account of these events can be read in Kevin McMahon’s three articles in the 1972, 1973 and 1974 editions of Seanchas Ard Mhacha and I am indebted to him for his permission to quote from the articles. Copies of these journals are held in the library of the North of Ireland Family History Society. A New History of Ireland by Christine Kinealy. Sutton Publishing. Land and the National Question in Ireland 1858-82, Paul Bew. Gill and Macmillan. Michael Davitt by D.B. Cashman. The Land War Facsimile Documents 1879- 1903. A History of Ulster by Jonathan Bardon. The Blackstaff Press. Land Owners of Ireland 1876 page 209. A Story of Ireland by John McCormack. Mentor Books. I am thankful to P.R.O.N.I. for access to their conspiracy papers (T/3194/1). I also wish to thank the staff at the National Library, Dublin, Belfast Newspaper Library, Dundalk Library and Ballynahinch Library, (Irish and Local Studies Section) and Kieran McConville of Cardinal O’Fiaich Library, Armagh. Syl. Maguire. North of Ireland Family History Society. Lisburn Branch B1403
APPENDIX 1. MAP OF TOWNLANDS IN THE AREA. 2. MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF PATRICK RUSH AND CATHERINE WATERS 3. BIRTH CERTIFICATES FOR ALICE AND MARY ANNE WATERS 4. A1901 CENSUS RETURN FOR CLONALIG, CROSSMAGLEN, CO. ARMAGH 5. TYPICAL LAND LEAGUE POSTER 6. COPY OF THE SKETCH IN THE GRAPHIC NEWSPAPER
7. A
COPY OF THE DEATH CERTIFICATE OF MICHAEL WATERS WITH A
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