On 1st January 1801, the Act of Union[1] between Ireland and Great Britain came into force, the Irish parliament was abolished, and Ireland was now run by the ‘Castle Administration’ headed by the Lord Lieutenant, based in Dublin Castle.
The formation of a ‘modern’ Irish police force is usually dated to 1814, when Robert Peel, Chief Secretary of Ireland, formed the ‘Peace Preservation Force’. This was the first uniformed police force, and most members were former soldiers, commanded by military officers, and with a mounted section known as Dragoon Police. Remarkably, each horse carried two policemen, with one sitting on a raised pad at the back and carrying a rifle.
The Irish Constabulary was formed in 1822, under an Act providing for a permanent, trained police force. Old soldiers were now discouraged from joining, and new recruits received three months formal training. The first police station[2] (or barracks as it was known even into the 1960s) in Poyntzpass was at the top of Railway Street. The force was renamed the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in 1867.
Reports of ‘police brutality’ are as old as the police themselves, and justice was certainly dispensed in a summary fashion two hundred years ago – but not with total impunity. In July 1825, police sergeant William Morrow, and constables John Holland and George McIntyre were found guilty at Ballybot (Newry) Sessions of assaulting Patrick Cumming at Poyntzpass on 15th June.
A Murder At Corgary
Later that year, on 13th July, farmer Charles Feris and his son and daughter were attacked while returning from turf cutting to their home in Corgary, near Dromantine. They were pelted with stones, and then two shots were fired. One hit Charles in the leg, shattering the bone. His leg had to be amputated and he died soon afterwards.
There was public outrage, and an advert published in the Drogheda Journal offered an astonishing three hundred pounds, contributed by rich subscribers, to anyone who “will prosecute[3] the offender or offenders to conviction.” This was a huge sum, given that a dispensary doctor’s annual salary was only about £50 at the time. It was accompanied by an offer from the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland of a pardon to any of the attackers who turned King’s Evidence, other than the man who fired the fatal shot.
During the 1800s, as in this case, newspapers regularly printed long, minutely detailed reports of those who had contributed money to worthy causes, and the amount they had contributed, even if it was only a few pence. It is unclear whether this was due to newspapers being desperate to fill their columns, or to a Victorian view that it was not enough to merely do good, you had to be seen to do good. Perhaps both.
The ‘Fatal Affray’ of 1828
On Christmas Day 1828, a fight[4] started in James Whigham’s[5] pub next to the canal bridge. It was between the supporters of Charles Brownlow who was in favour of Daniel O’Connell’s movement for Catholic emancipation and those of Col. William Verner who vehemently opposed it.
James Bain died after being struck on the head by ‘a loaded whip’. Horsewhip handles were often filled with lead shot to give then a better balance and action. But in those lawless days, no-one was safe when travelling and the handle of a loaded whip also made a handy cudgel if you were attacked. John Campbell and four others were tried at Downpatrick Assizes; Campbell was sentenced to 18 months hard labour for manslaughter, and the others to lesser terms.
Holding the trial in Downpatrick was an error by the authorities, who, like many, assumed that the canal was the boundary between Armagh and Down; in fact, it was a small stream which flowed down the other side of Whigham’s premises so the trial should have taken place in Armagh.
If 18 months hard labour for manslaughter seems to us a relatively mild penalty, other sentences handed down at the same assizes seem brutal to us; two men were sentenced to be hanged for stealing a horse, and others to seven years transportation for sheep stealing! Two hundred years ago, property always seems to have trumped human life.
But perhaps their sentence was not as remarkable as it first seems. In those days, a horse was everything to a farmer; without it, he could not plough his fields, collect lime or take his surplus produce to market. If you stole a man’s horse, you might condem him to poverty.
The affair rumbled on for some time. On 25th September 1829, a mob tried to burn down the house of Arthur Wilkinson, an ex-soldier and a prosecution witness at the trial of Campbell and the others. Arthur worked at the coal yard attached to Whigham’s pub, and lived close to it. Poyntzpass magistrates and other prominent citizens raised a subscription[6] of almost £200 and offered a reward of £20 for “Private Information as may lead to the Conviction of those concerned in the Outrage.” Major Thomas D’Arcy, inspector General of Police for Ulster, wrote to the Castle Administration in October and was directed to offer a £50 reward for information about the attack.
The Protestant Ascendancy
Despite having a reputation of being a caring, fair, and equitable landlord, Maxwell Close[7] was still a staunch and vocal member of the Protestant ascendancy. On 22nd January 1829, he chaired a large protest meeting was held in Armagh “for the purpose of petitioning the Sovereign and Parliament against making further concessions to Roman Catholics” and stated:
“…my experience of Roman Catholics not only here, but on the Continent, has since convinced me that it is impossible to conciliate the Roman Catholics…I must disavow all enmity towards Roman Catholics: on the contrary, I feel compassion for the unhappy predicament in which they are placed by their own adherence to false principles.” (!)
Close was no different from so many on both sides of the divide in Ireland down the centuries, holding an unshakeable conviction (1) that your own views are utterly and obviously correct, (2) that God is on your side, and (3) that your opponents are obviously either senile, manipulated by dark forces, or downright evil!
Feelings on both sides were clearly inflamed. In early May 1829, the Newry Telegraph reported:
“The inhabitants of Poyntzpass were alarmed, it appears, one evening last week…by the appearance in that village, about the hour of eight, of a party of people with drums and music, and playing party tunes, such as “Croppies Lie Down”, “The Protestant Boys”, etc. Very fortunately they did not remain long in the village but after marching through it they returned back by the road they came, that leading to Tandragee. They had hardly got clear the village, however, when an opposite party assembled, in considerable numbers, and shouted defiance to the music party.
The latter cried out (as we are informed) that they would “Take the Pass”. “We have possession of it” replied the other party, “and we’ll keep it still”. There appeared too much excitation on both sides; And to the merciful interposition of Providence, it is entirely ascribed that a serious conflict did not ensue. After some further bantering, the music party proceeded on their way homewards; Their opponents also, after some noisy demonstrations of triumph, separated and returned to their homes.
In consequence of a report that the hostile parties meant to reassemble on the Thursday following, that respectable and vigilant magistrate William Loftie Esq. proceeded to the Pass, accompanied by Dr Patton, and a party of the Tandragee yeomanry. It is with pleasure we add that their attendance was unnecessary, as no attempt was then or has been since made to disturb the tranquilly of the villagers.”
About that time, 39 Poyntzpass residents ‘of various religious denominations’, fed up with repeated sectarian demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, signed a petition to the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin, complaining about ‘the evils of party processions in the area, particularly an Orange procession during the recent Easter festival’.
Disenfranchisement
1837 saw a flurry of long tabular advertisements in local papers, placed by grand jury clerks, listing all those who had applied to have their freeholds registered in the previous few weeks, with a sum of money (typically £10, £20 or £50 alongside the name), so that they could be registered as voters.
It was the result of a major and blatant disenfranchisement of voters by the English parliament. Prior to the 1829 Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act, any man owning freehold property with a value of two pounds or more – the so-called “forty-shilling freeholders” – was entitled to vote in a county constituency parliamentary election. However, the act raised the property qualification five-fold, to ten pounds, depriving tens of thousands of smaller farmers of their vote. Of course, the larger landowners, who still qualified, were overwhelmingly Protestant, and the poorer ones who lost the right to vote were largely Catholic.
The act was a cynical attempt to negate some of the rights restored to Catholics in the Catholic Emancipation Act (which was passed by Parliament on the same day!)
More Public Disorder
On Saturday 2nd June 1832, the first reported ‘riot’ occurred in Poyntzpass, after the fair. It appears to have been apolitical (unlike others that followed). The Newry Telegraph reported:
“On Saturday last (being the fair day of this town), there was a party riot which at one time assumed a formidable appearance. Towards the evening, when the dealing people had nearly all left the fair, groups of men and boys (the greater part of them strangers) were seeing gathering in from different directions, and, among the rest, were observed a number of surly looking fellows come up from the neighbourhood of Lisnagade or Loughbrickland.
These persons, having collected together in knots, strolled about for some time, but at length mustered all their forces, on both sides, and commenced a desperate battle, which there is very little doubt would have terminated with very serious consequences, had it not been for the timely interference of the Police.
This active and useful body, having previously understood what was likely to occur, were on the alert, and turned out the instant the attack commenced, fully armed and accoutred. Having seized on some of the ringleaders, and otherwise showed much spirit and steady determination, they – assisted by the respectable inhabitants – succeeded in separating the two parties, and prevented a second onset. But it was not until after a long and wearying exertions that the town was restored to peace.
“The cheering and noise having reached the ears of the Rev. Savage Hall, of Acton Glebe, that gentlemen, accompanied by Conway R Dobbs Esq, of Acton Castle, hurried into town, and lent their zealous and effective aid to the Police, and those spirited inhabitants who had already cooperated with the Constabulary, in putting down such a disgraceful disturbance, and clearing the belligerents out of the town.
“Upwards of twenty of the ringleaders in this affair were brought before our respectable and worthy bench of magistrates at Tandragee this day and put under bail to keep the peace. The gentlemen of the surrounding neighbourhood, in Down and Armagh counties, (as this place borders on both) should interfere with their respective tenantry, in order to prevent any of them from engaging in party feuds like this, which are likely to bring disgrace to this hitherto peaceful neighbourhood.”
Child Abduction
A few weeks later, on 24 July 1832, Catherine Magennis appeared in court charged with having abducted Bridget Campbell’s child at Poyntzpass on 5 May. Her defence was that she had had to leave her previous employment in Newry, due to the ‘attentions’ of the son of the household; she had abducted the child (but always intended to bring it back) to take to him and pretend that it was their illegitimate offspring, with the intention of blackmailing him into paying for a new set of clothes for her.
The Dangers Of Ploughing!
Serious disorder occurred on 16th February 1835, when the Donaghmore branch of the North East Society held their third annual ploughing match on James Carswell’s farm at Fourtowns. A dinner was held afterwards at David Woods’ premises (probably Tierney House). At 8pm, just as the judges were announcing the results of the competition, a large angry mob attacked the house and the diners, reportedly smashing all the windows, sashes and shutters.
There had been trouble after the previous year’s competition and Trevor Corry, a Society Vice-President, had asked the police to attend as a precaution, and so the six policemen present defended the diners. Several policemen were seriously injured, and one of the attackers (a Magennis) was killed when the police opened fire; his brother was also said to have been mortally wounded.[8]
The Sham Fight
Everyone who lives in the Poyntzpass area is familiar with the annual Sham Fight[9] that takes place in Scarva demesne on 13th July each year, commemorating the encampment of about 30,000 men of William III’s army there in 1690, and William’s subsequent defeat of James II at the Battle of The Boyne. But when and how did the tradition begin?
The first newspaper record of a ‘sham fight’ at taking place at Scarva appears in the Dublin Evening Post in 1835. However, it was not a report about a large, organised celebration; it was just one of many individual reported incidents in an article about large numbers of Orangemen appearing in front of grand juries at different assizes across the country, all charged with disorder around 12th-14th July that year.
The area around Poyntzpass seems to have been somewhat of a hotbed, with disturbances reported in Scarva, Loughbrickland, Drumsallagh and Killysavan. The phrase ‘sham fight’ in the report seems simply descriptive, rather than being an established name, and it seems to have been a moderately small disturbance, so this may have been one of the very first occurrences, before it became an organised event.
By 1847, as reported by the Meath Herald, attendance had reached “several thousands”. By the 1870s, the Sham Fight was a huge event in the annual Orange calendar. In July 1877, the Belfast Telegraph reported that a special excursion train, with reduced fares, had been arranged to carry the Brethren from Belfast to Scarva. The Belfast News-Letter said of the 1884 event:
“The sham fight which…took place yesterday was by far the most imposing…within the memory of ‘the oldest inhabitant’…The spacious field within the demesne of Mr. John Temple Reilly D.L…was crowded by at least 40,000 loyalists…The chivalrous exchange of courtesies between the representatives of the rival Monarchs, when the bloodless strife had come to an end was highly gratifying…It is unnecessary to say that the Jacobite army was to all intents and purposes annihilated.”
Real Fights!
Back to the real fighting! Orange disturbances were widespread once more in 1838; the Newry Telegraph reported on multiple court cases tried in sequence in late March 1839, covering disturbances the previous 12th July at Newtownhamilton, Loughgilly, Divernagh, Tyrones Ditches, and Keady.
The next serious sectarian disorder in the village seems to have been centred on New Year 1842. In January 1842, Freeman’s Journal, quoting The Vindicator[10], carried the headline “Orange Rioting At Poyntzpass, County Down”.
“An orange ball came off in the neighbourhood of Poyntzpass, on Friday night, 31st ult. The True Blues of the locality assembled, to a man, at an early hour, and great number of them armed. They commenced the ball by firing several shots outside the house, to the great alarm and annoyance of their Catholic neighbours. All then went quietly on until between three and four o’clock in the morning, when they thought proper to visit the village of Poyntzpass, a distance of not more than 200 perches[11] from the scene of their orgies.
Knowing that there was a teetotal soiree in the house of a respectable widow, named McGuire, they came to the door demanding admission, but the teetotallers being on the alert, immediately made the doors secure inside; whereupon the rioters commenced bawling out furiously, “To hell with the Pope and O’Connell”.
This continued for some time. One individual in particular, the ringleader of such mobs on many occasions, and lately an inmate in Armagh gaol, was the loudest in his outpourings against the Pope and Popery. He also violently denounced one respectable family, who often generously assisted him when he was not able to help himself.
Strange to say, the police did not take the least notice of the above doings of the De Grey[12] saints.”
The final sentence is infused with heavy sarcasm!
On 15th September 1845, a farmer called Henry Convery died in a field on the edge of the village after a scuffle with one Michael Flannigan, who was harvesting the crops in the field and severed one of Convery’s arteries with his shearing hook.
1847 saw the first Petty Sessions[13] being held in Poyntzpass.
Before this, according to the 1838 Ordnance Survey Memoirs:
“A manor court is held on the first Saturday of every month, seneschal Mr. Mitchell, Markethill. The jurisdiction of the court extends to debts, fines, and damages under 5 pounds. There is also a court leet once a year, generally in April or May, to decide on trespass, poundage, local improvements; the seneschal attends.”
Arson In Drumbanagher
25th August 1863 saw an arson attack on hay lofts at Drumbanagher belonging to Peter Quinn, Col Close’s agent; damage was estimated at £240. The Newry Reporter said that at least four separate attempts had been made to burn both his outbuildings and his house. Quinn seems to have been well liked and respected in the area and by the estate’s tenants.
A meeting of magistrates from the surrounding districts was held in Ballybot courthouse a few weeks later, and £400 was raised, of which £100 was offered as a reward for information leading to the conviction of the perpetrators. But four years later, no-one had yet been prosecuted, and a public meeting was held in Poyntzpass to see what could be done.
On 17th July 1867 there was yet another arson attack on Peter Quinn’s property; this time, a stack containing about five tons of oats was destroyed.
In December 1867, Richard Hazley of Poyntzpass, formerly Quinn’s chief clerk, who had been given notice to quit by Quinn just before the fire, appeared before magistrates charged with the offence, and of trying to cause Quinn’s house to catch fire by stuffing wood into his chimney. Hazley’s right to keep firearms in his home had been withdrawn the previous October. He was committed for trial at Armagh Assizes where evidence was given that while still employed by Quinn, he had pressurised others not to renew the insurance policy on the premises later destroyed.
He was eventually discharged because written evidence accumulated by the investigating officer, Constable Gilmore, did not reach the Grand Jury in time for the trail. Gilmore was later charged with neglect but found innocent. He was given a small fine at an internal disciplinary hearing.
The Central Protestant Defence Association
In March 1868, a meeting was held at Mullaglass schoolhouse to form a branch of the Central Protestant Defence Association. Prominent speakers included Maxwell Close and Peter Quinn.
In 1868, prior to the traditional 15th August celebrations:
“In nearly all the chapels in the district the Roman Catholics were cautioned from the altar not to make any display. At Poyntzpass 50 of the constabulary arrived from the county of Donegal, as it had been arranged to have a Fenian demonstration in the neighbourhood. The brethren, finding that their plans had been discovered, left by the early train for Camlough. Before going, however, the Constabulary took the names of 27, and also divested them of green ribbons and green feathers.”
Those wearing green ribbons on their clothing were known Ribbonists or Ribbonmen. It was a popular grass-roots nationalist movement among poor Catholics, opposed to landlords and to the Orange Order.
Drunken marches by mobs from both sides of the green/orange divide were fairly commonplace. On St. Patrick’s Day 1869, a large ‘drumming party’ of about 500 Catholic men from Aughantaraghan, Glen and Barr marched past the Crack Bridge and through Drumbanagher into Poyntzpass, firing shots in the air as they went[14]. On their return, they were met by a Protestant group near Demoan Wood, and three shots were fired at them, one of which killed a man called Hugh McNally.
Three Protestants—William Clarke, Thomas Robinson and Thomas Clements—were tried at the Petty Sessions on 27th; Clarke was charged with having fired the fatal shot. 31 Catholics were later charged with taking part in what was characterised as an illegal ‘Fenian’ parade.
The incident was specifically mentioned during a parliamentary debate on the Party Processions (Ireland) Bill in July that year, as an example of what the authorities needed to prevent from happening. It was referred to as a ‘collision’ between the opposing parties.
The Orange Hall – Fundraising
On 8th March 1871, a ‘soiree’ was held in the village to raise funds for the building of an Orange Hall.
Local businessman and linen merchant John Bennet, who was also Master of Poyntzpass LOL 189, donated the land and some money, and laid the foundation stone on 6th May. It opened with great ceremony on 5th July, followed by a well-attended anti-Home Rule meeting in a field at Acton. Naturally, a march to the field was de rigeur, and it was followed by many fiery speeches, especially from Protestant churchmen. One of the speakers estimated that 7,000-10,000[15] people attended.
The Newry Telegraph reported that about 3,000 Orangemen from some 25 lodges
“…during the greater part of the forenoon marched through the village…accompanied by fifes and drums. About two o’clock…the brethren…marched to the rendezvous at Acton. The procession was headed by one of the lodge officers carrying an Orange tree…a somewhat novel feature…”
Getting hold of an orange tree in rural Ireland 150 years ago can’t have been a trivial task!
However, more money was still needed, and so on 6th November 1878, a meeting was held in the Manchester Hall, Tandragee where it was announced that the proceeds of the meeting would be devoted to “the liquidation of a debt on the Poyntzpass Orange Hall”.
The Benefactor Sues!
But there was more drama to play out…fast forward to 19th January 1899, almost 30 years after the hall opened. The hall’s main benefactor, John Bennet, was now the Rev. John Bennet, lived far from Poyntzpass and had fallen on hard times. At Ballybot Quarter Sessions, Bennet sued the trustees of Poyntzpass Orange Hall for the recovery of unpaid rent – five shillings a year which (in the years it was paid) he gave straight back to the Lodge! The trial was rather chaotic and neither party could produce a copy of the lease until the very end of the case.
The judgment was given at the following Quarter Sessions in April, in favour of Bennet, with the judge remarking that he would allow the parties to go to another tribunal if they wished. Bennet was also awarded £1 travel expenses!
On the run-up to St. Patrick’s day 1873, unrest was brewing once more. The Kilkenny Moderator reported that nearly 130 RIC policemen from Kilkenny and surrounding counties had been sent north to Poyntzpass, Newtownhamilton, Keady, Portadown and Camlough, to control the expected political demonstrations.
The Poyntzpass Riots
On 15th August 1875, ‘The Poyntzpass Riots’ occurred, and the incident was reported in newspapers across the British Isles.
According to the Belfast News-Letter, a Home Rule procession of “six hundred Roman Catholics”, led by “three drummers and a man evidently a leader, who was decked out in a very brilliant costume of red and green” marched from Aughantaraghan, through Poyntzpass, past the Chapel to Acton, back to Poyntzpass, past the Orange Hall and up “…the recently renamed King William Street.” Houses were stoned and windows broken. “A heavy shower of rain had a cooling effect on the rioters… A police force under Sub-Inspector Bull proceeded from Newry to Poyntzpass about six o’clock yesterday evening…they dispersed the rioters and now have possession of the town, which is quiet.”
Prominent local businessman William Boyd Bennet (who appears to have been defending his house which was being stoned) was later charged with having shot and wounded Daniel Bailey in the head. In September, Bennet and 17 others (on lesser charges) were committed for trail. In March 1876, Bennet stood trial at Armagh assizes and was found not guilty.
Marcus Searight – A Domestic Fight
We met James Whigham earlier in our account; it was in his pub that the ‘fatal affray’ had occurred in 1828. On his death, his sister Jane Searight inherited the premises beside the canal (later the Railway Hotel) and she in turn left them to her brother Marcus Searight, a former policeman, in her will. Newspapers right across the UK reported a vicious fight between Marcus, about 53, and his son George, about 23, on 13th November 1879.
“SERIOUS ASSAULT AT POYNTZPASS – A FATHER AND SISTER STABBED.
The town of Poyntzpass, a few miles from Newry, has been the scene of a serious family quarrel. It appears that as a family named Seawright were at breakfast, an altercation took place, and the father used a stick against his son, George Seawright, who retaliated, having at the time a knife in his hand.A sister rushed between them, and she received a dreadful stab in the side of the head. The young man afterwards, it is alleged, succeeded in stabbing his father on the cheek…Constable Graham and his men hastened to the house and succeeded in arresting young Seawright. Doctor McDermott was at once summoned, and he pronounced Miss Seawright’s life to be in danger.”
After spending two weeks in Armagh gaol, George appeared before magistrates and was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months. His sister Mathilda, then about 17, survived the attack but died of TB in 1893. Marcus had his revenge; he disinherited George in his will with the curt phrase “one shilling, all his desserts”.
“Orange Rowdyism”
In late July 1892, there were more disturbances. Under the headline “ORANGE ROWDYISM AT POYNTZPSSS” the Irish Weekly reported:
“On Saturday evening a very good specimen of the intolerance of the Orange element, where they are in the majority over their Catholic neighbours, was shown in Poyntzpass. These worthies assembled about 150 strong, and, without any provocation, smashed the doors of two respectable Catholic inhabitants, and kept shouting all sorts of party cries and insulting remarks while on their march past the quarters occupied by the Catholics.
At the residence of the local priest their ejaculations were only worthy of demons. This conduct continued for upwards of two hours, and, although close to the barracks, no notice was taken of the matter by the police. This is only a sample of the rowdyism that characterises the conduct of these “loyal” subjects during the month of July.”
[1] An interesting provision of the Act of Union was that if the British monarchy created a new Irish peerage, three existing Irish peerages had to be abolished!
[2] See “From the Beef Shop To The Boot Shop” by John Campbell, BIF Vol 8, 2000
[3] It was common practice at the time not to pay a reward just for information. To claim the reward you had to bring a private prosecution against the suspected culprit, and you only got your reward when they were convicted. So, you bore all the risk and up-front expense.
[4] See “A Fatal Affray In The Far Pass” by Hugh Daly, BIF Vol 17, 2022 (not yet available online)
[5] Is this the same James Whigham who was one of the village’s schoolmasters? It seems odd that he would also be running a pub. But it’s just as strange that there would be two James Whighams in one small village.
[6] Interestingly, the advert says that Arthur lived “in that part of Poyntzpass called Farpass”, so we know that the name for the Co. Down part of the village has been in use for nearly two centuries, if not more.
[7] Col. Maxwell Close, the first of the Close dynasty to own the Drumbanagher and Acton estates.
[8] See ”A Melancholy Transaction” by Roy Copeland in BIF Vol 16, 2021, for a full account of the events of the day
[9] A short silent film of the 1959 event is available here
[10] A Belfast Catholic newspaper, founded in 1839 to support Daniel O’Connell. It ceased publication in 1848.
[11] About 1km – a perch was almost exactly 5 metres.
[12] Thomas Philip De Grey, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was initially a supporter of Catholic emancipation, but once in office, under the influence of his wife, sister of a prominent Orangeman, he opposed it.
[13] See “Local Petty Sessions” by Frank Watters, BIF Vol 4, 1990
[14] See “St Patrick’s Day 1869” by Tim Ferriss, BIF Vol 11, 2012
[15] Those who organise meetings often over-estimate the number of attendees, for obvious reasons.!