Tullaghorton
Church and Parish, Co. Tipperary
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
Tullaghorton civil
parish lies in the barony of Iffa and Offa West on the southern boundary of
Tipperary with County Waterford. Indeed the southern boundary of the parish is
the county boundary. The parish contains 2,905 acres consisting of good tillage
ground and the northern slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains where peat was
formerly harvested. The name Tullaghorton means Ortan’s Height but the long
passage of time has obliterated the memory of who was Ortan.[1] The
rectory and vicarage of the parish was long attached to Lismore cathedral where
the rectory formed one of the permanent prebend parishes and the vicarage was
in the patronage of the bishop. The rector, called the prebendary, was a canon
in Lismore cathedral and collected most of the parish tithes for his own use.
The vicar received a portion of the tithes for which he performed most of the
spiritual needs of the parish and was usually in residence.[2]
Before the Norman
invasion of 1169 southern Tipperary and County Waterford formed part of the
kingdom known as Déise Muman. As Tullaghorton lies at the north end of a
north-south valley leading up through the Knockmealdown Mountains from Lismore
at the southern end, the parish could have formed part of the property of the
medieval bishops of Lismore. Prebendary parishes sometimes, though not always,
were formed out of areas where the local bishop was the majority landowner such
as at Clashmore, Donoughmore and Dysert/Killotteran. On the other hand the
parish may have been formed by the person who built the early thirteenth
century castle at Castlegrace which lies to the south-west of the parish
church. The castle builder (Philip of Worcester), or his successors, could have
granted the parish to Lismore cathedral to form a prebendary parish.
In 1185 King John
commissioned the construction of castles at Ardfinnan and Tibberaghny seemingly
to protect the northern boundary of Waterford with Philip de Worcester holding
the former and William de Burgh the latter.[3]
Philip de Worcester gained possession not just of Ardfinnan but the surrounding
cantred of Ardfinnan, later called Offa, which included the future parish of
Tullaghorton along with other parts of modern County Tipperary. In 1194-1204
Philip granted various places in Offa to Gerald FitzMaurice.[4] In
1225 William of Worcester was granted four cantreds in Tipperary, including Offa,
which were previously held by his uncle.[5] It
is possible that William enlarged the castle built by Philip at Castlegrace.
The south-west tower and two-thirds of the west wall are of earlier date to the
north-west tower with a clear division line showing on the western wall.
Perhaps the dispassion of Philip de Worcester by King John in 1201 prevented
Philip from finishing Castlegrace.[6] In
the fourteenth century Castlegrace was owned by the Butler family and remained
part of the estate of the Butler’s of Cahir castle until the nineteenth
century. In the 1830’s the seneschal for the Earl of Glengall still held
manorial courts in the parish.[7]
The Grubb family, who lived in nearly Castlegrace house, turned the castle into
a walled garden in the early nineteenth century.
By 1259 Tullaghorton
was a parish called Hotheratha.[8]
For some years the archbishop of Cashel wanted all the parishes of south
Tipperary to be transferred from the diocese of Lismore to the archdiocese but
the bishop of Lismore offered effective resistance and so south Tipperary is
today still part of the diocese of Lismore. In about 1300 the parish of
Tullaghorton was worth £8 in the papal taxation giving it a tax bill of 16s.[9]
This placed the parish in the above average valuation for parishes in the
diocese of Lismore.
The parish church of
Tullaghorton lies in the centre of a roughly rectangular graveyard in the
townland of Castlegrace. The masonry of the church appears to be thirteenth
century with window embrasures from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The
church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist but it is unknown how old the
dedication is. The rectangular graveyard would suggest a Norman establishment
as earlier church sites were located in circular enclosures. The external
dimensions of the church are 21m East-West and 6.5m North-South with walls
0.86m thick and extending to 3m in height. Canon Patrick Power considered the
church to be over average in size and this possibly is fitting for a prebendary
church attached to Lismore cathedral.[10] The
gable ends are intact but the west gable is titling outwards. The north wall is
runs the full length of the building but varies in height. The south wall
survives only at the east and west ends with a large part of the central
section reduced to near foundation levels. The west gable has a flat-headed
single light with limestone and sandstone jambs and an external chamfer. The
east gable has a two-light ogee window with a largely missing central mullion.
The window has an external chamfer and internal rebate with inward spraying
embrasures.[11]
The east window is not centrally placed in the gable end being about a quarter
meter towards the north-west corner.
The north wall has a
doorway about 7m from the west gable with only the lower doorjamb stones
surviving. The opposite south doorway is much destroyed with only traces of the
west doorjamb. At the east end of the north wall (about 2.5m from the east
gable) is the remains of a window much destroyed. The south wall has an
opposite window with surviving embrasure of the west side but in both cases the
window itself has been broken out.[12]
The interior of the church is much overgrown and so it is difficult to see if
any church features remain or if any obvious division separated the nave from
the chancel area.
The roughly rectangular
surrounding graveyard, which extends slightly in the north-west corner, is
separated from the public road its north side by about 21m of land forming part
of the surrounding field and passageway. A single story house with a chimney in
the east gable stands to the east of a gateway leading to the graveyard. The
house was possibly used as a guard house for the graveyard to prevent body
snatchers.
Prebendaries
and vicars
We don’t know the names
of the prebendaries and vicars of Tullaghorton until the early fifteenth
century. In 1437 Tullaghorton parish was part of the deanery of Ardfinnan and
the prebend paid 1s 8d in procurations to the archbishop of Cashel when the
latter visited the diocese. The vicar of Tullaghorton paid ten pence.[13]
Although there was not set rule for how much each parish paid in procurations,
that paid by Tullaghorton was at the lowest level among the Lismore parishes.
Sometime before 1449 John
Iffyrnussii (also spelt Yhynnous) held Tullaghorton prebend and a canonry in
Lismore cathedral until his death. He was succeeded by David O’Dubly as prebend
with Maurice O’Ronan as vicar. Maurice was also vicar of the neighbouring
parish of Tubrid. In April 1449 Maurice petitioned Rome that David O’Dubly had
committed perjury and simony while prebend of Tullaghorton and had dilapidated
the goods of the parish for his own use. The abbot of Mothel was asked to
investigate the matter, and if true, grant the canonry and prebend to Maurice.[14]
These accusations were a standard formula before about 1480 for one cleric to
deprive another of a parish or cathedral position. At this distance from the
events of 1449 it is impossible to say if the accusations are truthful or
false. Considering that the next petitioner for Tullaghorton made no mention of
David O’Dubly or Maurice O’Ronan it is possible that the accusations were false
and Maurice Stack didn’t want them to weaken his own case. In 1449 the value of
the canonry and prebend was five marks while the united vicarage was eight
marks.[15]
In October 1468 Maurice
Stack, a cleric of Ardfert diocese, petitioned Rome for Tullaghorton, which was
then worth six marks. Maurice said that he was given Tullaghorton a few years
before 1468 by the bishop of Lismore and that this was confirmed by Rome as a
successor to John Iffyrnussii. But, by a provincial statute in the archdiocese
of Cashel, Maurice’s title was unsound and he petitioned Rome to again confirm
him to the parish.[16] The
said statute was that a month after its publication, the diocesan clergy were
to put away their concubines. Yet Maurice Stack opening lived with his woman
for several years and had children by her. Now by October 1468 Maurice had
separated from his woman and wished to get papal confirmation that he could
continue to hold Tullaghorton. The archdeacon of Lismore was to absolve Maurice
of his sins and, after some penance, confirm the canonry and prebend.[17]
In 1480 it was said that Maurice Stack held Tullaghorton for seventeen to
eighteen years.[18]
In the 1470s Gerald
John Fitzgerald is said to have held the prebend of Tullaghorton, with the
canonry in Lismore cathedral. Shortly before 1480 Gerald resigned Tullaghorton
on entering religious orders.[19]
In the summer of 1480 it was said that the archdeaconry of Lismore (unlawfully
held for nine to ten years by James Tobin) and Tullaghorton prebend (held by
Maurice Stack) were both vacant and there collation had fallen to Rome. William
Mandeville, a clerk of the diocese and lately dispensed by Rome as the son of a
knight and an unmarried woman, petitioned for the two benefices.[20]
The archdeaconry of Lismore was worth thirty-four marks and the prebendary
worth only six marks with its canonry in Lismore cathedral.[21] The
abbots of Fermoy and Bridgetown along with John White, a canon in Cloyne
diocese, were to judge who had proper claim.[22]
It would appear that William Mandeville was successful and acquired both
benefices.
Sometime before April
1489 Walter Butler, a cleric in the diocese of Lismore, was given dispensation
by Bishop Thomas Purcell to receive minor orders and hold a benefice on account
of Walter’s illegitimacy as the son of a married man and an unmarried woman. Afterwards
the bishop granted Walter a canonry in Lismore cathedral and the prebend of
Tullaghorton which was vacant for several years. Walter Butler said he received
only a small portion of the parish tithes as the larger part was collected by
William Mandeville, the former holder of Tullaghorton (the prebend then worth
ten marks). In the spring of 1489 Walter Butler petitioned Rome for redress. In
April 1489 the pope appointed three judges, the abbot of Mothel Abbey, the dean
of Ossory and William O’Morrissey, a cleric of Ossory, to adjudicate on the
matter and give Tullaghorton to Walter if everything was in order.[23]
It would appear that
Walter Butler was unsuccessful at acquiring the prebend and was instead given
the position of vicar of the two parishes of Tubrid and Tullaghorton along with
a canonry in Lismore cathedral. But Walter was still unsatisfied and in 1494
again petitioned for the prebend while seeking to retain the joint vicarage.[24] It
is not known if Walter was successful as paying the first year of parish dues
to Rome, the annatis, was no
guarantee of longer term acquisition and retention. After Walter Butler there
is a long gap in the records until 1588 when the Edmond Prendergast held the
prebendary while James Butler was vicar of Tullaghorton.[25]
After
1534
In the centuries after
the Protestant Reformation, Tullaghorton was retained as a prebend parish with
a prebendary seat in Lismore cathedral. The church building and the adjoining
land became the property of the new Church of Ireland. With few Protestant
parishes, and a lack of desire on the part of the new clergy to retain standing
structures, the medieval church was allowed to fall into ruins. In 1836 the
prebend of Tullaghorton was suspended on the resignation of William Stephenson.
Later Rev. John Jackson was elect by the cathedral chapter to fill the
unendowed stall but when Jackson died in 1872 the prebendary was allowed to
lapse.[26] In
1836 the vicarage of Tullaghorton was also suspended with the vicars of
neighbouring Shanrahan serving the parish. In 1871 Tullaghorton vicarage was formerly
united to Shanrahan parish.[27] In
the reorganisation of the Catholic Church in the eighteenth century
Tullaghorton was joined with the neighbouring parishes of Tubrid, Whitechurch
and part of Rochestown around 1750 to form the new parish of Ballylooby and
Tubrid.[28]
Further reading = Canon
Patrick Power, ‘Obligationes Pro Annatis Diocesis Waterfordiensis et
Lismorensis’, in Archivium Hibernicum,
vol. XII (1946), pp. 26, 40, 59-60
Canon Patrick Power, The place-names of Decies (Cork
University Press, 1952), p. 335
Canon
Patrick Power, Waterford and Lismore: a
compendious history of the united diocese (Cork University Press, 1937),
pp. 82, 85
Rev. W. Rennison, Succession list of the Bishop, Cathedral and
Parochial Clergy of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore (1920), pp. 151-2
Various editors, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating
to Great Britain and Ireland (London & Dublin, 1893-present), vol. 1,
p. 371; ibid, vol. 10, p. 436; ibid, vol. 12, p. 637; ibid, vol. 13, p. 682
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[1]
Olden, M.G., The faith journey of the
Déise People (Waterford, 2018), p. 174
[2]
Hennessey, M., ‘Parochial organisation in medieval Tipperary’, in William Nolan
& Thomas McGrath (eds.), Tipperary:
History and Society, Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County
(Dublin, 1985), pp. 60-70, at p. 67
[3]
Empey, C.E., ‘The Settlement of the Kingdom of Limerick’, in James Lydon (ed.),
England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages:
Essays in honour of Jocelyn Otway-Ruthven (Blackrock, 1981), pp. 1-25, at
p. 5
[4]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), The Red Book of
the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), no. 7
[5]
Sweetman, H.S. (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. London, 1875, reprint Liechtenstein,
1974), Vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 1268
[6]
Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents
relating to Ireland, Vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 169
[7]
Lewis, S., Topographical Directory of
Ireland (2 vols. London, 1837), vol. 2, p. 651
[8]
Bliss, W.H. (ed.), Calendar of Entries in
the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Papal Letters, Vol.
1, 1198-1304 (London, 1893), p. 371
[9]
Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents
relating to Ireland, Vol. 5 (1302-1307), p. 306
[10]
Power, Canon P., ‘Oblgationes pro Annatis Diocesis Lismorensis 1426-1529’, in Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 12 (1946),
pp. 15-61, at p. 26, note 1
[11]
Archaeological Survey of Ireland, monument number TS087-026 [accessed on 26th
July 2021]
[12]
Archaeological Survey of Ireland, monument number TS087-026 [accessed on 26th
July 2021]
[13] Rennison,
Rev. W., Succession list of the Bishop,
Cathedral and Parochial Clergy of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore (1920),
p. 232
[14]
Power, ‘Oblgationes pro Annatis Diocesis Lismorensis’, in Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 12 (1946), pp. 15-61, at p. 60
[15] Twemlow,
J.A. (ed.), Calendar of Papal Registers
relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, Vol. 10, 1447-1455 (London,
1915), p. 436
[16]
Power, ‘Oblgationes pro Annatis Diocesis Lismorensis’, in Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 12 (1946), pp. 15-61, at pp. 59, 60
[17]
Twemlow, J.A. (ed.), Calendar of Papal
Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, Vol. 12,
1458-1471 (London, 1933), p. 637
[18]
Twemlow, J.A. (ed.), Calendar of Papal
Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, Vol. 13, 1471-1484
(London, 1955), p. 682
[19]
Haren, M.J. (ed.), Calendar of Entries in
the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Papal Letters, Vol.
XV, Innocent VIII: Lateran Registers 1484-1492 (Dublin, 1978), no. 399
[20]
Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of Papal
Registers Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 13, 1471-1484, p. 682
[21]
Power, ‘Oblgationes pro Annatis Diocesis Lismorensis’, in Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 12 (1946), pp. 15-61, at p. 26
[22]
Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of Papal
Registers Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 13, 1471-1484, p. 682
[23]
Haren (ed.), Calendar of Entries in the
Papal Registers Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. XV, Innocent VIII: Lateran
Registers 1484-1492, no. 399
[24]
Power, ‘Oblgationes pro Annatis Diocesis Lismorensis’, in Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 12 (1946), pp. 15-61, at p. 40
[25] Rennison,
Succession list of the Diocese of
Waterford and Lismore, p. 152
[26] Rennison,
Succession list of the Diocese of
Waterford and Lismore, p. 60
[27] Rennison,
Succession list of the Diocese of
Waterford and Lismore, p. 152
[28]
Olden, The faith journey of the Déise
People, p. 171
