Monasterevin

On Tuesday, August 6, we left Galway and drove to Monasterevin (sometimes Monasterevan), County Kildare. We thought it was pronounced Mon-a-STARE-a-vin, but it turns out it's more like Mon-a-sta-REE-vin. (Nope, that's wrong, too. If you figure out how it's pronounced, please let us know!)

Matt's paternal great-great-grandfather Christopher Hussey (sometimes "Hussy") was born in County Kildare in 1822 (possibly in Balakelly; not sure of his death year), and his paternal great-great-grandmother Ellen Coleman was also born there in 1822 (possibly in Lackagh; d. 1896). They were married in 1849 in Monasterevin, and Christopher owned a pub there at 3 Main Street.

Monasterevin is a pretty canal town, with a population of just over 4,000. They are very proud that they are "...the 11th largest town in Kildare." Here is our not-very-good photo of one of the canals with a little canal boat on it:

We saw several monuments to the Battle of Monasterevin and/or Father Edward Prendergast. According to Wikipedia: "On 25 May 1798 insurgents from the surrounding countryside marched on the town of Monasterevin in an attempt to capture it. The Battle of Monasterevin took place in the Main Street opposite St. John's church, which had been fortified by local yeomanry and militiamen. A charge by the Monasterevin Yeomanry Cavalry routed the insurgents....Later in the year Fr. Edward Prendergast was arrested and condemned to death for administering to the insurgent in their camp in Iron Hill near Nurney. He was hanged in the garden of Monasterevin House and buried there. Captain Padraig O’Bierne and a group of Derryoughter boatmen stole into the town under cover of darkness and removed the body to his home place of Harristown."

This plaque says, "Battle of Monasterevan 25th May 1798":

This plaque, built into the garden wall, says, "Rev. Edward Prendergast C.C. was hanged from a tree in this garden 11th June 1798":

This monument says, "Erected by the nationalists of Monasterevan and surrounding districts. To the memory of Fr. Prendergast who was hanged here in 1798 for the performance of his clerical duties towards the insurgents. And in the memory of the hero's (sic) who fought and fell for freedom in that sad but glorious period":

We also saw a few monuments to Gerard Manley Hopkins (not shown). According to kildare.ie, "During his time in Ireland (1884-1889) Hopkins was a frequent visitor to the Cassidy family of Monasterevin House, visiting Monasterevin on at least seven different occasions." The Monasterevin Hopkins Society holds an annual Gerard Manley Hopkins festival; unfortunately, we missed it by a little over a week.

Here is a photo of the current 4 Main Street (left door) and 2 Main Street (right door). We couldn't tell if these buildings were old enough to have served as a pub in the mid-1800s, and we don't know how the buildings were numbered back then.

We learned from the Monasterevin Community Centre that there had been buildings across the street from numbers 2 and 4 (in case odd-numbered buildings were on the opposite side), but they have since been torn down. This is what's there now:

Here's the mural on the side of the Monasterevin Community Centre building:

They also gave us directions to the local cemeteries and Catholic Church, but neither is probably old enough, and besides, neither Christopher Hussey nor Ellen Coleman were born in Monasterevin (as far as we know), and thus, we probably wouldn't find ancestors or relatives there.