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County Louth Archaeological and History Society
The Franciscans in Drogheda by Patrick ConlanReview by: Moira CorcoranJournal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 21, No. 3 (1987), p.325Published by: County Louth Archaeological and History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27729643 .
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Reviews 325
The period from the end of the Civil War in April 1923 to the evacuation of the barracks in late 1928 is dealt with
very extensively. In 1932 and 1934 parts of the barracks were given over to housing and industry. It is pleasant, and
worthy to see noted, mention of the late Captains Martin O'Donnell and Hugh Callan in the organising of the Volunteer
Force, two sons of the latter, Charlie and Gerry Callan holding commissioned rank in the F.C.A. of today thus
maintaining a tradition. These concluding chapters dealing with the Emergency (1939-1946) and onwards to 1983 are
very thoroughgoing as regards detail and authenticated with notes and many well reproduced photographs. It ends with the naming of the barracks as Aiken Barracks by An Taoiseach, Dr Garret Fitzgerald.
We are long used to superior historical work from a historian of the calibre of Harold O'Sullivan and any omissions or inaccuracies are mere trivialities in the overall context. The maps and sketches, as well as the appendices, are of
special interest. Likewise we can see a more than average excellence from Joseph Gavin in the wide and careful
selection, section by section, of some delightful photographs. The Dundalgan Press are the publishers from whom we
always expect and obtain a high standard of printing and binding. The book is uncommonly clothed in the map of 1594, the earliest of those shown.
O. G. Keenan
THE FRANCISCANS IN DROGHEDA. By Patrick Conlan, o.f.m. Pp 68. Drogheda : Franciscan Friary,
Drogheda, 1987. ?3.50.
Apart from scattered references in diverse sources there was a scarcity of information regarding the history of the
three main religious orders, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Franciscans, established in Drogheda in the century
immediately following the Norman invasion. The Dominicans and Augustinians remedied this situation in recent times
when eminent historians of these orders compiled commemorative booklets on the occasions of centenary celebrations
of their modern churches. A great deal of historic material long buried in their own archives came to light, much to the
benefit of local historians.
Now, the Rev. Patrick Conlan, O.F.M., a Franciscan friar and well-known historian, who has lectured to this
Society, has done a like service for the house of his order in Drogheda in his recently published The Franciscans in
Drogheda. Drawing from a wide range of sources, both published and unpublished, he has compiled a detailed history of
the community from its foundation c. 1240 up to the present. The founder's name incidentally is unknown.
From the chapter dealing with the medieval period and the Reformation many interesting items come to light. The
medieval friary was built close to the River Boyne and near the east wall of the town, in fact so near that Fr Conlan says that "part of the wall of the choir, including the east window" was incorporated in the wall of the town. This claim was
also made by Donatus Mooney, O.F.M. in his report of a visitation to the Drogheda house in 1613. If this is true, both
the wall and the church would have been very vulnerable in any assault on the town's defence works, as for instance
during the siege of the town by Sir Phelim O'Neill in 1641, when the main activity was in this area. However, no breach in
the wall at this point has ever been recorded.
In a long account of the Franciscans' dispute with Richard Fitzralph, the Dundalk-born archbishop of Armagh, the
author reveals that, in the 1350s, the latter "attacked especially the laxities of the citizens of the largest town in his
diocese ? Drogheda
? and even placed it under interdict for a while".
The visit to Drogheda in 1394 of Richard II of England, for the purpose of subjugating the northern Irish chieftains, is usually associated with the Dominican Friary of St Mary Magdalene where, among other chieftains Niall Mor ? Neill,
king of Tyrone, and his son, submitted to the English king. During the visit however it was in the Franciscan Friary that
Richard lodged for eighteen days. The wealth of detail in Fr Conlan's account of the affairs of the community as it was affected by the vicissitudes of
the times, during and subsequent to the Dissolution makes fascinating reading, especially when it deals with the
Cromwellian campaign and particularly the bloody siege of Drogheda. It will be the more recent history of the friary and its church, known affectionately for generations as the "High
Lane Chapel", that will most interest Drogheda people. While the friars were in and around the town, mostly hidden or
disguised, for centuries, little is known of where they lived, until 1798. In that year two friars bought an old corn store in
Keysers Lane, which adjoins the present church. The little store was set up and fitted as a chapel, which soon proved
inadequate. A Drogheda-born friar, Fr Nugent Dardis, appointed guardian in 1825, undertook the construction of a
new church on the site in 1828. New property adjoining in Laurence Street was acquired and the present church was
completed in August 1830, at a cost of ?430, which was totally collected by November ofthat year. During the building of
the church an old theatre on the north side of Laurence Street was adapted as a temporary chapel at a cost of ten shillings. Could this have been the "Crow Street Theatre" referred to in an advertisement for a drama in a Drogheda newspaper in
1796? Crow Street was then the present Palace Street,"which adjoins Laurence Street.
Fr Conlan's book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the town and especially for the
numerous Drogheda citizens who are so attached to the "High Lane Chapel". Moira Corcoran
THE HOPEFUL TRAVELLER: The Life and Times of Daniel Augustus Beaufort LL.D. 1739-1821. By C. C.
Ellison. Pp xvi + 139. Kilkenny: Boethius. 1987. ?15.95 (hardback), ?7.95 (paperback).
Daniel Augustus Beaufort was nicknamed DAB by his family, appropriately enough, for he was, in the parlance of
the time, a dab hand at so many things. He was known as an excellent farmer and he became a skilled cartographer and
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