The Walls and Floors of Urker.

Peter Rogers, the current owner of the Jackson's ancestral home - Urker Lodge - toured me around the crumbling remains in the spring of 2014. I was curious about which parts of the remaining buildings would have been built pre-famine, and which parts would have been added to the original structures at some later date.

One of the sons, Thomas Jackson had left his home in South Armagh in 1864, at the age of 23, to make his fortune in China. He was successful enough that he was able to pay for renovations and additions at his parent's house in the late-1800s, a common tale for successful emigrant sons. Other buildings around the yard at Urker Lodge had been renovated and/or added on to during the middle of the 20^th century when descendants of the Jacksons, the Wright family, had lived there.

Family letters and legal papers indicate that ever since the Jacksons arrived at the townlands of Liscalgat and Urker in the mid-1700s, their family fortunes had been quite volatile. At least once, if not twice, they had temporarily lost the farm, but then somehow had found the resources to build it back up again. Even though they once had their cattle seized by bailiffs for failure to pay rent, they also had been flush enough at one stage to be able to install cobblestone flooring. As the news clipping beneath reveals, when they seemingly lost the farm in 1829, after spending a sum of money on repairs, they also had a cache of port and sherry.

Thanks to Kieran McConville and his Big Book of newsclippings.

Peter Rogers explaining the significance of the cobblestone flooring in one of the stables at Urker Lodge. NOTE: The Jacksons also owned land at Cavananore in the late 19^th Century, and those stables were also finished with cobblestones. Eugene Lynch, who told me about this, had to clean them when he was a child. I suspect that those ones were installed in the mid-1800s when that farm was still owned by the Bradfords, ancestors on the maternal line of the Jacksons.

Peter Rogers knows a lot about old buildings. I only wish I had made more notes. People like him can tap a line of mortar with their index finger, and have an informed opinion about its date. I learned from him that Ordinary Portland Cement (or OPC) started to become more common in the 1930s in South Armagh, so that any wall which had been assembled using the old kind of lime mortar would probably have been built earlier than that. After the 1950s, the old mortars were rarely if ever used. Peter learned this from his father, who did construction during the pre and post war era.

From a range of articles available online, I also learned that the lime-kilns, such as the ones in South Armagh in the 19^th century, were not as hot as today’s industrial kilns, nor did they have the ability to grind dry-hydrate as finely as we can today. These two factors resulted in a discernibly different kind of lime, one of the key ingredients in both mortar and cement. It also meant that the local cements had something like one-fifth of the compressive strength of today’s cement. Given this, it is no surprise that the old walls of many of these buildings crumbled, and that the repairs introduced newer building materials, bricks and mortar, into older sections of stone walls.

A brick repair intruding into the pre-existing stone structure.

Builders know that when it comes to repairs of such buildings, that the mortar should be weaker than the brick or stone which they surround. Since the old lime mortars breathed, they behaved like a gasket, responding to fluctuations of temperature and humidity. The older style of hand-made bricks are softer than factory-made bricks, and often crack when there is not enough give in the mortar. I am told that by looking carefully at how a building has crumbled, one can learn a lot about when it was either built or repaired.

Since mortar is an important clue for dating the repairs and additions to centuries-old buildings such as Urker Lodge, it is also important to know that there were shortages in decent cement in South Armagh during WWII. For a while, it was strictly rationed. The use of lime-mortar crept back in at that time, and continued to be used for some time thereafter. For this reason, some repairs can be misleading, looking as if they had been done much earlier.

In the 1970s, there were significant renovations of Urker Lodge, with new dormers added and old buildings re-purposed. Not long after this work was completed, the economic challenges and political unrest of the region resulted in the buildings being abandoned, and then not repaired. There was no point in keeping it up, and the state of the buildings have long passed the point of no return. 

The roof line is so wobbly it is clear that the ridge pole is totally rotten.

Still, there is a small upside when it comes to dating the buildings that surround the yard. The stucco facing has fallen off in patches, and has opened up a view of the older structures beneath. As I study the old bones of these ruins, it is as if these stones and timbers could talk. Not that what they have to say is always totally clear to me. I am continuing to learn how to listen.

Two kinds of stonework, as well as brickwork.

I plan to revisit Crossmaglen next spring, and hope to learn more by matching archival photos, old surveys, descriptions in leases, and contemporary pictures of the ruins. I also hope to have more time to listen to those people who have lived their entire lives in the region. They know so much more than I do. Until then, the best that I can do is to share some pictures and links.

Other resources:

Bricks: A Guide to the Repair of Historic Brickwork

Masonry Walls in Ireland

Previous related posts on this blog site:

The Tale of a Townland.

Urker Lodge.

More photos of Urker Lodge.

Website materials at The Silver Bowl:

Jackson leases at Urker and Liscalgot.

1692 Thomas Ball Dividend.

Photos of Urker Lodge.

Old stone work interiour.

Note the flagstone courtyard. I do wonder if this building might have been what was called "The Pidgeon House" where the widower James Duffy lived with his children. He was a farm labourer in the employ of the Jacksons. “My father, James Duffy” worked for Jackson in Tavananore (sic). They also had a property in Urker, … They took my father and family to live in the yard in a house they called the pigeon-house …”

An older style of cobble in the yard.

A brick chimney - likely post-famine.

The corners of this building indicate repairs that used a mix of brick and stone.

Old Rose and Her Blessing

My previous post, Two 19^th Century Catholic Chapels in Creggan, focused on the chapel in Crossmaglen, where Thomas Jackson (1841-1915) took his old, blind “nurse” so she could hear the bells toll while she prayed with her rosary. We know from several letters, that Thomas received from his mother Eliza, that the woman’s name was Rose.

The first and last page of July 11^th, 1893.

In the mid to late 1800s. Eliza Jackson (1815-1903), a farmer’s wife in south Armagh, wrote thousands of letters to her son when he was working in a bank in Hong Kong. A few of them were found in the mid-20^th century, in a bog. Since she had a habit of writing at least once a week, and did so for close to four decades, if every letter had survived, there would have been 13,000 of them. As it is, I have to be content with the seventy-seven letters that did survive. In several of them, she mentioned a blessing which Thomas had received from old Rose. No last name was needed. She and her son both knew who she was talking about, even if I don’t.

For the purposes of context, it helps to know that Eliza Jackson née Oliver was not only a Presbyterian, but was a really devout Presbyterian. The records of Freeduff Presbyterian Church  show that even in her old age, she maintained perfect attendance at communion – this when travel by horse and cart were required from Urker for 3 km over rough roads. Even though in her later years she became so deaf that she couldn’t hear the sermons, she also regularly attended Church of Ireland services at Creggan, her husband’s family church. Given this, it is remarkable that even though Old Rose was Catholic, her blessing mattered so much to Eliza.

The fact of this blessing was mentioned in October 10^th,1888; March 31^st, 1890; and twice in 1893 – March 4^th, 1893 and July 11^th, 1893. In the last of these letters, Eliza also mentioned that there were others who also gave their blessings: the blessing of Rose & some other old hags always went with you. No doubt, there was some keening and sighing going on as Thomas prepared to leave for Hong Kong. They knew all too well the sad fates of other neighbours and relations, and the risks of travel by sea, or from malaria, spotted fever and the Plague. The last mention of old Rose is dated March 28^th, 1894:

But you had the blessing of a holier woman than ever I was. Do you remember old Rose’s dying words, “My blessing go with you Tommy Jackson”? So it did by land and by sea.

I could not help but be struck by the fact that a staunch Presbyterian of this time was describing a Catholic nurse as a holier woman than ever I was. So who was this old Rose? I am hoping that by posting this, there may be someone out there who has the missing piece. One thing, that I am uncertain of, is Rose’s supposed role as Thomas’s nurse. He didn’t live at Urker until he was about 5 years old, a little past the stage of needing a nurse, I would think.

When it comes to the official records, there is not much to go on, at least amongst the records that I have access to. In the 1864 Griffiths Valuations, there were eighteen women named Rose in the Parish of Creggan and all of them leased small acreages and/or very modest buildings. In these records, which would most likely be held by women who were widows or spinsters, Rose was a moderately popular name, not as popular as Mary, Anne, Bridget, Catherine, or Margaret, but more popular than the other twelve names of female lessees. Since I do not know if old Rose  ever leased a small plot of land, here is a list of all the Roses who did own leases in the Armagh part of the Parish of Creggan in 1864, the year that Thomas left for his career in the Far East:

Rose Burns - Claranagh

Rose Conlon - Crossmaglen

Rose Duffy - Teer. NOTE Members of the DUFFY family lived with JACKSONs

Rose Finegan - Glasdrumman

Rose Gartland - Clonalig

Rose Harvey - Creggan

Rose Hughes - Cornoonagh

Rose Kearly - Creevekeeran

Rose Keenan - Liscalgot NOTE: This townland borders Urker on the east.

Rose Loy - Lissaraw

Rose Macken - Finiskin

Rose McCann - Tullydonnell O’Callaghan

Rose McConville - Teer

Rose McDonnell - Cornoonagh

Rose McGurk - Rathkeelan

Rose McMahon - Cullyhanna, Big

Rose McShane - Monag NOTE: This townland borders Urker on the west.

Rose Nugent - Urker

Three of these Roses seem to be most worthy of a second look.

·       Rose Loy at Lissaraw.

o   In the late 1700s, an Alice JACKSON of Liscalgot, daughter of George JACKSON (1718-1782) married a man named LOY. I know nothing more.

o   In the 1828 Census, there were four LOYs mentioned at Liscalgot (a townland adjacent to the Jackosn’s home at Urker): Patrick, Peter, Manus and Thomas. Their forenames suggest that they were Catholics.

o   In 1849, a James LOY was at Liscalgot.

o   In the Belfast Newsletter of the 1850 Ballybot Registry of Poor Law Rates, a Rose LOY at Liscalgot was assessed £1.6.7.

o   In 1864, Rose LOY had a number of small holdings in Lissaraw, as did Felix, John, James & Bryan LOY.

o   There were 27 mentions of LOY in the 1864 Griffiths Valuation.

·       Rose Nugent at Urker.

o   In 1828, a Denis Nugent was included in the valuation of Monag, and a Michael & Thomas NUGENT lived at Urker. SOURCE: Monag Timeline.

o   In 1864 valuation, a Denis, Mary & Rose NUGENT were at Urker.

o   In the 1901 census, a Denis Nugent, a Catholic farmer, was living at Urker. He was born in 1828 in Co. Kildare. He was not listed in the 1911 Census, which is not surprising since he was already 73 years old in 1901. Was he a son of old Rose? Not impossible.

o   The birthplace of Co. Kildare may be significant. There is a family story that Thomas Jackson owned a farm in Co. Kildare, although I yet to learn where this farm might have been. If Thomas or his family did own such a farm, then the farm help at Urker may have hailed from there. According to family stories, this is what happened with the Jackson farm at Cavananore.  It was managed by Patrick Lynch, who Thomas brought up from Co. Kildare in the early 1890s.

o   There is a convergence of the lives of Thomas Jackson and Denis Nugent that makes the possibility of a Rose Nugent being the old Rose of the letters even more tantalizing. The same Denis Nugent who lived at Urker in 1864 was presumably the one who still lived at Urker in 1901. In the early 1880's, he was charged with treason-felony and conspiracy to murder as part of the alleged "Crossmaglen Conspiracy". He served time in prison for it, and part of the rationale for his sentence may have been that he was one of two alleged authors of “The Dummy Clock of Crossmaglen”. This was a satirical song about the insult of a wooden clock that the landlord had installed in the marketplace at Crossmaglen in 1873 (instead of a proper one as had been promised).  In 1903, this example of landlord insensitivity was removed when Thomas Jackson had a proper clock installed in the Crossmaglen marketplace. The song received a significant rewrite to create a version praising Thomas. Both songs received significant airplay in the local pubs of that era.

·       Rose Duffy at Teer.

o   In a letter from Eliza July 11^th, 1893: I have taken poor Duffy and his three little children to live in the pigeon house. To go up and down to his own land & attend the work here, would have killed him, if he had as many lives as a cat; and I might give up farming if he was not here. NOTE: I suspect the pigeon house was a house connected to the PIDGEON family in some way, not a place for pigeons.

o   The Journal of the Creggan Local History Society, 1990, p.58. “My father, James Duffy” worked for Jackson in Tavananore (sic). They also had a property in Urker, … They took my father and family to live in the yard in a house they called the pigeon-house …”

So, was old Rose one of the women mentioned above, or not? Right now, I do not have access to the burial records for St. Patrick’s Crossmaglen, but if an elderly woman named Rose was interred in November or December (or even October), then I would figure that we will have made a big step forward. If her name is LOY, NUGENT, or DUFFY, then even better. As to whether Thomas’ life was saved by the blessing of old Rose, well, we do know that he missed getting on a ship that he was supposed to sail on, and that it sank. That coincidence was compelling enough for Eliza to have faith in its efficacy.

·       For background on the Crossmaglen Conspiracy see: Creggan.

·       For background on the “Dummy Clock of Crossmaglen” see: Gregoryology.

·       A picture of the remains of Moybane Chapel can be seen here: Gregoryology: Moybane.

·       A history of the chapel: A brief history of Upper Creggan Parish & its Motherchurch, St Patrick's Crossmaglen

Two 19th Century Catholic Chapels in Creggan

My interest in the history of 19^th Century Catholic Chapels comes from a family story that is linked to one of Mary Daly’s memories. Her recollections were recorded in 1945, and then transcribed by Michael J. Murphy. Hers is one of the many slices of oral history kept in the Department of Irish Folklore at the University College in Dublin. She lived her entire life in the Crossmaglen area, the small market town a few kilometers west of where the Jacksons – the family who are the focal point of my research - lived throughout all of the 19^th century.

This transcription does its best to show what her oral history might have sounded like, at least as well as any written medium can.

There be to be a chapel in Mobane one time. I did hear there was one in Shelagh - on Shelagh Rock..... But there was one in Mobane an' I'll tell you how I know. The Jacksons that time was big people out there an' there was this oul woman was nursin' Jackson - it was him was the one was very charitable. He went out to China.

It was in he's house I seen the first Chinese woman ever I seen. She was in Cross' with him an' she'd be only that height (maybe four feet) an' the lovliest wee feet on her an' two pigtails down her back - an' very sallow.

But this oul woman that used to nurse Jackson before he went to China, or was fit to go - she went dark (blind) an' he used to lift the beads for her an' I mind them sayin' that every Sunday he would bring her down the Monug Road - that's a back way to Jackson's - to Mobane. He'd take her down this road, they sayed, till she be to hear the bell ringin' in Mobane Chapel an' she'd say her beads there.

Jackson was out in Shanghai - isn't that in China - this time an' he was great for charity. But wherever this boat was goin' he stayed back to give out this charity to these poor Chinese at the corner an' they were callin' to him from the boat to come on, but it seems he took no heed of them. Now, he was a great man for charity. But the boat was lost anyhow with all hands. Jackson said it was this oul woman's prayers that saved him. Creggan Local History Society, 1990. Sir Thomas Jackson by Mary Cumiskey.]

The Jackson who had supposedly been nursed by this oul woman, was Thomas Jackson (1841-1915). He went to China, age 23, in 1864. This was 81 years before this recording was made. No wonder then that this speaker prefaced her recollection with: an' I mind them sayin' that.... By introducing the story this way, she is making it clear to us that this is merely what she had heard, not what she had witnessed. Given the way that so many memories get altered over time, at least a bit, I do wonder whether it is possible that she has merged the memories of two chapels into one. Moybane and Monag chapels were both in the Parish of Creggan, but were active in two almost overlapping times.

The Moybane Chapel was the oldest of the two, but it had become derelict by the late 1820s, more than a decade before Thomas Jackson was born. What little remains of it can be seen today in its current life as a handball alley on Alley Lane. It was located in the townland of Moybane, just south of Urker. The two townlands are only separated by the small townland of Sheiland. I have a map on my website of the townlands of Creggan, but I have shaded in the townlands referred to in this post to make them easier to find:

Monag is in yellow; Moybane is in red; Urker is in green.

Even though Moybane Chapel was presumably derelict for decades when the Griffiths maps were printed in 1864, it still was surveyed and included:

Records show that the Moybane Chapel was replaced by the Monag aka Monug Chapel sometime after 1830 when the local landlord, Thomas Prideaux Ball, offered, free of charge, a piece of hilly ground for a chapel in the townland of Monug. This new location made sense since the population was beginning to migrate to the focal point of the Crossmaglen market. The current St. Patrick’s Church is on the same site as the Moybane Chapel was, and was consecrated, according to the Dundalk Democrat on October 17^th, 1875.

It intrigues me that the style of grave marker that has a celtic cross, as seen in the foreground, is the same style of grave marker that marks the grave of Thomas Jackson in Stanstead, England.

Using the 1864 map, I have highlighted both Urker Lodge, where the Jacksons lived, and the Monag Chapel in red. I have also connected the two of them with a green line so readers can trace the route that Thomas Jackson would have taken as he took his old nurse close enough to the chapel for her to hear the bells. The distance between the two is about 2 km.

Last spring, I walked from Crossmaglen along Monag Road to Urker Lodge. It is a lovely walk, about a fifteen minutes or so, past fields of grazing cattle, and with some farms thriving, and some farms looking a little less tended. The Jacksons would have walked along this same road, before it was paved, probably most days when the weather was decent, to visit their friends and relations, or to go to market, do a bit of banking, have a pint, the usual. I only wish that I had been able to stay there longer than the few days I had free to do so. The people were so friendly.

In my next post, I will take some steps towards trying to determine who might have been the old nurse who Thomas Jackson took along the road till she be to hear the bell ringin' in Mobane Chapel an' she'd say her beads there. In the meantime, some photos of the walk:

Roadside buttercups, dandelions, nettles, and grass.

Hawthorne bushes as they are now, and would have looked when they were immortalized in poems and tales from past centuries.

The past and the present. Hydro pylons with crumbling cottages at their feet.

The lane leading up to Urker Lodge, just off Monag Road.