The establishment and evolution of an Irish village: the case of Dunlavin, county Wicklow 1600

309 Pages·2017·9.82 MB·English

The establishment and evolution of
an Irish village: the case of Dunlavin,
county Wicklow 1600 -1910.
Vol. 1 of 2
Chris tawlor M.A., H.D.E.
Thesis for the degree of PhD
Department of History,
St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra,
A college of Dublin City University
Head of department: Professor James Kelly
Supervisor of research: Professor James Kelly
May 2010
Declaration
I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for
assessment on the programme of study leading to the
award of PhD, is entirely my own work and has not been
taken from the work of others save and to the extent that
such work has been cited and acknowledged within the
text of my work.
Signed: (Candidate)
IIDD NNoo..::
^
Date: ^
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents iii
Abstract vi
Figures, maps, tables and illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xii
Abbreviations xv
INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale: Reasons for studying Dunlavin and defining the area of study 1
2. Sources 12
CHAPTER 1. FOUNDATION AND DEVELOPMENT: THE EMERGENCE
OF DUNLAVIN, 1606-1710 21
Introduction 21
1. The beginnings of Dunlavin in the mid-seventeenth century 24
2. Sir Richard Bulkeley, the first baronet Dunlavin 41
3. Sir Richard Bulkeley, the second baronet Dunlavin 49
4. The second baronet’s impact on Dunlavin village 66
Conclusion 84
CHAPTER 2. IMPROVEMENT AND DISIMPROVEMENT: DUNLAVIN,
1710-1785 85
Introduction 85
1. Establishing the Tynte supremacy 1710-1735 87
2. Dunlavin’s urban space 1710-1785 95
3. Dunlavin’s rural hinterland 1710-1785 111
4. Religious, social and demographic developments 1710-1785 133
Conclusion 146
CHAPTER 3. DIVISION, MASSACRE AND RESISTANCE: DUNLAVIN,
1775-1805 148
Introduction 148
1. The beginnings of politicisation: the Volunteers in Dunlavin 150
2. The polarising of society : United Irishmen and loyalists in Dunlavin 153
3. Terror 169
4. Massacre 183
5. Michael Dwyer’s resistance 195
Conclusion 204
CHAPTER 4. A TIME OF GROWTH: DUNLAVIN IN THE EARLY
NINETEENTH CENTURY 206
Introduction 206
1. The impact of 1798: Dunlavin and its upland environs 1801-1805 208
2. Landholding and landlord-tenant relationships. Dunlavin 1801-1815 211
3. Population growth in the Dunlavin area 1813-1841 223
4. Tithe, protest and criminality 1823-1841 243
5. Social developments - education, religion and health 269
6. Descriptions of Dunlavin and its environs, 1835-1846 277
Conclusion 292
Chapter 5. DISASTER AND READJUSTMENT: DUNLAVIN, 1845-1910 294
Introduction 294
1. Famine 296
2. Demographic change in Dunlavin 1851-1901 321
3. Social developments in Dunlavin 1851-1901 339
4. Dunlavin in the early twentieth century 371
Conclusion 377
iv
Chapter 6. TYNTE TWILIGHT: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN DUNLAVIN,
1850-1910 379
Introduction 379
1. Religiosity and belief in late-nineteenth-century Dunlavin 381
2. Land and politics in post-Famine Dunlavin 410
3. Canon Donovan’s involvement in agrarian and political issues 430
Conclusion 454
CONCLUSION 455
INDEX TO APPENDICES 461
BIBLIOGRAPHY 560
Abstract. Chris Lawlor. PhD thesis on Dunlavin, county Wicklow 1650-1900.
This study traces the history of the village community of Dunlavin in west Wicklow
over three centuries. The Dunlavin region straddles both counties Wicklow and
Kildare. The study follows the evolution of the village in its regional setting,
examining the long and formative impact of Anglophone settlers during the era of
‘Protestant Ascendancy’, positing a model, possibly applicable nationally, of their rise
in the seventeenth century, through their zenith in the eighteenth, to their decline in
the nineteenth, and replacement by the emerging Catholic interest in the twentieth.
Sir Richard Bulkeley erected the new village of Dunlavin on a greenfield site after the
1641 rebellion. In 1710, Sir James Worth Tynte inherited the village. Tynte and his
eighteenth-century successors pursued a model of paternalistic landlordism, but the
1798 rebellion, and the Dunlavin massacre, fractured the relationship between the
elite and the masses. The paternalistic model of landlordism failed in the early
nineteenth century, and the severe experience of the area during the Great Famine was
testament to this. In the post-Famine era, Joseph Pratt Tynte never regained the levels
of deference he and his fellow landlords had previously enjoyed. Tynte’s influence
was challenged by invigorated nationalism and resurgent Catholicism. The Catholic
middle class took control of local politics, and Dunlavin entered the twentieth century
with middle-class Catholicism in the ascendancy. The irreversible eclipse of the elite
was already advanced, and the process was completed later in the twentieth century.
This study locates the Dunlavin region in the larger tapestry of Irish history.
Dunlavin’s past is as integral to national history as the past in any other part of the
island. This case study illuminates an individual section of a complex network of past
local experiences, and reveals one part of the range of past behaviours in Ireland.
FIGURES, MAPS, TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Protestant baptisms in Dunlavin, 1698-1710 72
2. Protestant baptisms in Dunlavin, 1711-1740 138
3. Protestant marriages in Dunlavin, 1701-1740 139
4. Protestant marriages in Dunlavin, 1741-1770 141
5. Protestant baptisms in Dunlavin, 1741-1770 142
6. Protestant baptisms in Dunlavin, 1771-1800 144
7. Protestant baptisms in Dunlavin, 1701-1800 145
8. Strength of United Irishmen in nine areas of Leinster, 1798 162
9. Length of leases on Lord Wicklow’s estate in Imaal, 1709-1826 216
10. Catholic baptisms in Dunlavin, 1815-1820 224
11. Occupations of the people in Dunlavin village, 1821 230
12. Catholic baptisms in Dunlavin, 1820-1831 234
13. Population trends in Talbotstown and county Wicklow, 1821-1841 237
14. Population of Dunlavin village and parish, 1821-1841 239
15. Population, families and mean household size in six townlands, 1841 241
16. Population density in six selected townlands, 1841 242
17. Number and size of holdings in Dunlavin tithe applotment book, 1823 246
18. Deaths during the Famine in county Wicklow, 1845-1850 310
19. Population change in Dunlavin D.E.D., 1841-1851 317
20. Catholic marriages in Dunlavin, 1840-1855 320
21. Catholic baptisms in Dunlavin, 1840-1855 320
22. Population of Dunlavin village, 1841-1901 321
23. Population of Dunlavin D.E.D., 1841-1901 322
24. Population of Loughmogue Upper, 1841-1901 322
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25. Population of Knocknagull, 1841-1901 322
26. Population of Blackhill, 1841-1901 323
27. Population of Rathbawn, 1841-1901 323
28. Population of Toberbeg, 1841-1901 323
29. Population of Boherboy, 1841-1901 323
30. Population of Milltown, 1841-1901 324
31. Population of Logatrina, 1841-1901 324
32. Population of Toumant Upper, 1841-1901 324
33. Population of Uppertown, 1841-1901 324
34. Population of Brewershill, 1841-1901 325
35. Population of Decoy, 1841-1901 325
36. Population of Knockandort, 1841-1901 326
37. Population of Plezica, 1841-1901 326
38. Population of Loughmogue Lower, 1841-1901 326
39. Population of Toumant Lower, 1841-1901 327
40. Population of Forristeen, 1841-1901 327
41. Population of Dunlavin Upper, 1841 -1901 327
42. Population of Dunlavin Lower, 1841-1901 328
43. Population of Dunlavin parish, 1841-1901 328
44. Catholic baptisms in Dunlavin, 1881-1901 329
45. Catholic marriages in Dunlavin, 1881-1901 332
46. Dunlavin electoral division population pyramid, 1881 334
47. Dunlavin electoral division population pyramid, 1891 335
48. Dunlavin electoral division population pyramid, 1901 337
49. Dunlavin electoral division population, 1881-1901 338
50. Buildings in Dunlavin D.E.D., 1881-1901 360
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51. Buildings in Dunlavin village, 1881-1901 360
52. Denominational composition of Dunlavin parish, 1881 365
53. Literacy of Dunlavin’s Protestant population, 1881 366
54. Literacy of Dunlavin’s Catholic population, 1881 366
55. Literacy of Dunlavin’s total population, 1881 367
56. Ages of students in Dunlavin, 1901 368
57. Population and gender composition of Dunlavin village, 1881 -1901 369
58. Gender of students in Dunlavin, 1901 369
59. Religion and gender of students in Dunlavin, 1901 370
60. Landholdings in Dunlavin, 1854 412
61. Principal lessors in Dunlavin parish, 1854 415
LIST OF MAPS
1. The baronies of county Wicklow 2
2. The Catholic parish of Dunlavin 4
3. The Dunlavin region 7
4. Lowland townlands around Dunlavin village 23
5. Schematic map of English settlers in the Dunlavin area c. 1640 31
6. Down Survey baronial map of the Dunlavin area c. 1654 42
7. Dunlavin village, c.1710 88
8. Dunlavin village, c.1740 105
9. (a) Extract from Moll’s New Map of Ireland (1714) 115
9 (b) Sketch from Moll’s New Map of Ireland (1714) 116
10. (a) Extract from Nevill’s Actual survey of the County Wicklow (1760) 119
10 (b) Sketch from Nevill’s Actual survey of the County Wicklow (1760) 120
11. Dunlavin on Nevill’s Actual survey of the County Wicklow (1760) 122
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12. Dunlavin bypassed on Taylor and Skinner’s Tullow Road map (1783) 128
13. County Kildare, 1798 185
14. Upland townlands around Imaal 198
15. Civil parishes of west Wicklow 229
16. Dunlavin village, 1838 282
17. Landed estates of the Dunlavin region, c.1838 285
18. Dunlavin D.E.D., c.1850 316
19. Dunlavin village, 1854 341
20. Dunlavin village, 1910 376
LIST OF TABLES
1. Claims by west Wicklow deponents, 1641 29
2. United Irish strength in Wicklow, 1798 (with accompanying graph) 158
3. Return of arms of United Irishmen in Wicklow baronies, 1798 160
4. Strength of United Irishmen in nine areas of Leinster, 1798 161
5. Return of arms surrendered in Major Hardy’s district, 1798 171
6. Battles in county Kildare, May 1798 184
7. Population change in county Wicklow baronies, 1813-1821 227
8. Population change in county Wicklow baronies, 1821-1831 232
9. Census returns for Dunlavin village and parish in 1841 238
10. Irish agricultural prices, 1875-1883 (with accompanying graph) 355
11. Land use in Lower Talbotstown, 1875-1880 (with accompanying graph) 356
12. Livestock in Lower Talbotstown, 1875-1880 (with accompanying graph) 357
13. Religions and percentage of Protestants in Dunlavin 1861-1911 409
14. Fanning families from 1854 surviving in Dunlavin in 1881 417
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