The Welshmen of Tyrawley

by Graham Barratt

  The view to the east was interrupted with lines of tessellated turfs, resembling cobbled pathways as they progressed up the field in a straight line, about two yards wide. Earlier the girls had been in a field to the east, cutting turf, which when dry, would provide heat and cooking for the tower. The bog increased in moisture the further down they cut, so they had limited their cut where they reached a significant water table, which would have delayed their progress had they cut deeper.

  Born to a reasonably wealthy clan leader, Emily and her cousins lived as an extended family with Walter, the Nemed chief and his wife, Ceara, in a protected tower house at Dael. At a fair price and rent, Walter allowed other members of the extended clan to live with them at the tower house. The rooms of the tower were stacked one above the other to provide spacious living quarters for each family unit. Dael Castle had been built many years earlier by Walter Bourke’s ancestors and had been extended over the years, offering a great symbol of status and protection. The Lochtar (lower) Bourkes of Tyrawley had lived there free from scandal and in great comfort for many generations.

  Emily and her cousins worked proactively and without prompt from Walter. They knew exactly what was needed through repetition and were not afforded special rights. The girls were expected to work to the benefit of the community in any way necessary, particularly if it advanced the clan.

  Despite Emily’s skills as a teacher, when labour was needed on the land, everyone was expected to help, teachers and pupils alike. Lessons were often suspended when there was a harvest, a draught or a disease.

  The three cousins were very different in character, reflecting the varied descent of the people who came before them and the personalities that shaped their values. Despite being close members of the same clan, their features were dissimilar. Sally was a slim and tall woman with light hair with a Norse-like appearance, jewelled with piercing light-blue eyes which appeared to stare if you were not familiar with her. Her looks were unusual for these parts, although her mother maintained that she had gained her looks from her long-passed grandfather. It was by no means certain, but there was every possibility that she received her Norse genes from a paternal and Gaelic contemporary, rather than a blood ancestor. Nothing was ever sure and so there was rarely any suspicion of betrayal. While family resemblances were normal, births of many children without parental features were also commonplace. She had recently been married to Thomas Welsh who was from Ballybrannagh near Crossmolina. The Welsh were a very small but often rebellious clan and so their marriage gave hope of a new solidarity.

  Although Thomas had successfully married into the Bourke Clan and could count his blessings, he was a staunch “Welshman”. Despite his youth, he had some very compelling, advanced and obtuse ideas when it came to politics. He was very intelligent, and as he saw it, the lower of the clans such as the Welsh and the Lynotts had been treated as second class and their alliances with larger clans had seemingly accounted for nothing. For many years, the clan had been suppressed, regardless of their loyalty to the Irish people. He now believed that action was necessary and new alliances formed wherever the greatest gain would be made. In spite of a heart-felt desire to be a warrior, he understood his limits in the physical sense.

  Although they had not been married long, Thomas had very little love for Sally and he was seldom at home. His time was often used up sharing his ideas with others and making his views known to the clans. Sally had to accept his laziness and was subsequently left lonely and in need of the comfort of a man. She was young, attractive and desired to be wanted in a way that Thomas was unable to do. Sally’s marriage to Thomas did not stop her from taking advantage of the opportunities to bed lovers from time to time. Rumours of Sally’s habits were rife, which further fuelled Thomas’ secret hatred for the Bourkes and reluctance to be with his wife. Philandering gave her excitement and a certain amount of material gain, which would only be profitable while she had her looks and her youth. The additional income would provide her with means should the day come to leave him.

  Frustratingly for Emily, Sally was now influencing Rose, who was adopting similar morals to attain “favours and pleasures”. Rose was the youngest of the three girls, who had latterly become subject of pressure within the clan to marry. At sixteen years, Rose was unusually childlike. Skin with a pretty face still dusted with fine, downy hair, plump lips and dimpled cheeks. Her eyes were framed by strong brows which almost linked into one and other. She was, though, a girl of two personas. On one hand, Rose could appear to be kind and caring with a sharp sense of humour. On the other hand, and at times, when it entertained her, she could be cutting with a sharp tongue and appear un-caring, rude and pitiless.

  Perhaps, due to her relatively privileged background, she often seemed unable to empathise with others and her self-centred personality often got the better of her. Rose lost several good friends after making up stories and conflicts designed to gain her sympathy and favour with her elders. She would reject her friends if it meant any kind of gain for her. Her position as the young lady of the family resulted in her lies often being overlooked and un-punished. Her sharp tongue had been encouraged by her mother, who had re-married a few years earlier for wealth and gain rather than love. Regardless of her popularity among friends, Rose was immature, selfish and had no genuine motivation for anything other than pleasing herself. She had lately enjoyed the attention of young immature boys, who had started to notice her obvious charms.

  Rose’s foster father was a decent clansman whose intentions to be a good parent were strong at the time he married, but it did not last long. His authority had been undermined and weakened so many times by Rose’s mother that he now avoided any contact or conversation with Rose and preferred to be left out of family conversations altogether.

  Consequently, she had few paternal influences on Rose and her mother, Asal, who was a poor role model for such an easily influenced young girl. The cause of her parents’ marriage breakdown was due mainly to her promiscuity.

  Asal’s activities had gone un-detected for many years but came to an end one Sunday afternoon after some suspicions had developed in the mind of her husband; he decided that he would follow her. After tracking her to the rear of the church, he soon witnessed his wife giving “pleasure of hand and mouth” to Father Quinn behind a stone wall. A proportion of the Sunday takings were given to her as payment before he raised his cassock over her head. Both the movement from within and the expression on the priest’s face made it obvious that she was giving a pleasure which was not only sinful, but was a rarity for any man to receive on a Sunday afternoon. It soon became known by the community and although Asal accepted the shame for a place in the township, the priest’s misdeed was just too much. Quinn was soon de-frocked and sent on his way. Asal’s husband, being broken-hearted as well as angry, left them penniless and without income after secretly dispatching Quinn on the road to Ballina.

  Constant contact with Asal ensured that lies were perpetuated and Rose’s father was afforded the reputation of a scoundrel. As her mother had benefitted from the years of lies and betrayal, Rose grew up to believe that great gain could be made from lying. She would have many lessons to learn if she was to become a more rounded and agreeable young lady than she was now. Sadly, it seemed that these lessons would have to be learned in adulthood, the hardest way of all.

  Standing a few furrows away, Rose looked across at Emily with curious eyes.

  ‘Emily. When do you think you will marry and who do you have your eyes on? What kind of man do you intend to give your heart and body to?’

  ‘I will marry when the time is right and when I have fallen in love with a righteous man. He will be a gentleman with feathers and a sword. He will be rich and own many lands and be faithful to his clan.’

  ‘To his clan? Do you mean “our clan”?’ said Sally.

  ‘No, whether a Celt, Irish or Welshman and the clan of my child’s father is of no worth to me. What matters is that he is a gentleman, a warrior
and a man of honour. He could be an O’Malley or O’Rourke for that matter but reputation is more important than a name or tribe. What is important for me is to have a husband who will love and protect me and his family. My wish is that we will have healthy children while I am young and they will be of good blood and health. If I were a man, then it would be different. If my man were to be a Bourke, then that would be nice, but I feel that marriage within the clan is not always proper. We have seen too many times, children who suffer flaws and blemish often when both parents are of close blood, family or they are old.’

  Sally stood up with her hands on her hips. She had heard enough.

  ‘Well, I chance that your father should not be around when that jabber is repeated. You know full well he will want his wealth to remain within the family. He will need to protect it from the squander of others, unless it is an agreed alliance with another clan. That judgement will be upon him and him alone.’

  ‘Look cousins, I am not the tanist and I do not have to marry into the clan to keep the family blood. I do not crave my father’s wealth and my brothers’ desire for power. Our Brehon law is becoming less acceptable and soon we will have the English as our neighbours. Where will that leave us? I have even heard that in some other counties, the English have shown favour to clans who reject the old ways and show allegiances to the crown. They assign the chiefs as earls, then acknowledge most of their lands back to them and afford protection and representation in Dublin.’

  ‘You speak as though you attend the late night debates of the elders, Emily.’

  ‘I know this from my mother and she has a mind akin to mine.’

  Emily’s mother, Ceara, was loved by all the Bourkes. She was a strong lady who had been lucky in life despite her dogged approach to individualism and conflicts with the clan. In her younger years, she had been a redhead with similar features to Emily. Now though, her hair was adorned with large flashes of grey; however, her age did not betray her obvious beauty. Emily had also inherited her mother’s grit, defiance and determination.

  Sally snapped back at Emily, ‘Even so, your father will want to bawd you with a man of his choosing.’

  ‘My brother is under more hurry to comply than I and that is why he is already promised to his second cousin within the clan. And I tell you this now, it will be no surprise if his children are born with weakness, sickness and sufferance of the head.’

  Rose shook her head as she made the final point.

  ‘Then you will have the pick of the set at the céle and the dancing later next week. Since there are many men invited from other clans, there will be much opportunity to mix in the way you wish.’

  ‘We will soon see, Rose. I am sure that there are many men invited from several Welsh clans. They will be of good Christian decency and I am sure I will be asked to dance and be proposed to.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Sally, ‘but you should be careful on two counts. Most men will outwardly appear to be gentle until they bolt the door, then should you burn the stew, they will become like the devil and leave you defiled and in pain. You must therefore use your God-given skills to determine their nature before you give yourself. Once you do, you will become their property. Also, you stay on the dance floor, do not enter into courtship there and then since your family will be watching and if the boy is not suitable, you will be scolded.’

  Emily flicked her wavy red hair to keep it away from her eyes and stormed off across the field, continuing her work, but remote from the others in solace and deep in thought as she pondered the advice.

  What does she know? Thought Emily. Sally has no wisdom. If she had, then she would have chosen a more suitable mate. Instead she is left with a man who has no desires on her but her bequest.

  Despite the condition of Sally’s marriage, she knew that she was right. On the other hand, Emily would not accept that her destiny was to be decided by others. She was young, romantic and dreamed of a life quite different from her own. Her opinions were not so wild though. Ireland was changing and there was a growing influence from the English. She was a good Catholic and some aspects of the Protestant faith and traditions appealed to her, but for now, she would have to accept that with privilege came a certain amount of responsibility as well as deference. For now, Emily would have to accept her position and confine her hopes and wishes to her dreams.

  The work in the fields that afternoon finished early to allow the Bourkes to prepare for the céle at Glencastle. Emily, Rose and Sally spent the rest of their time preparing their costumes during the light evenings. Imported and fashionable clothing was rare in Mayo, but any new trends were long in coming and soon imitated as the women used their skills to copy and make their own versions of new styles. In the week before the céle, they were using any spare time to sew, embroider and alter their clothes to befit the occasion.

  The journey from Dael Castle to Glencastle had been long and hard. The weather at the end of the summer had been one of the poorest in memory. The water saturation of the bogs was high and it took several days to get to the castle. The journey time on the long road trebled as the carts sank into the bogs.

  The Bourkes had been invited expressly by the MacPadine, the chief of the Barretts, and Walter, the MacWilliam chief of the Bourkes, was not going to miss the chance of socialising. More importantly, there was news of the Spanish fleet in Scotland and Ulster to discuss. During the week, horses and carts were making their way to Glencastle from Castlebar and Crossmolina, which had now developed into a convoy of carts, including livestock and horses. When they arrived, tents and ad-hoc shelters had been put in place in the glen and on the slopes for the extra guests. Servants and slaves either slept out in the open or were housed in the sciobóls (Barns), along with “lesser” guests.

  The long-awaited céle of the Welsh clans commenced at Glencastle with the clan of Barrett, who were hosting the gathering of the Mayo Welshmen. The Barretts were amongst the most gregarious of all the clans and their wild and well-attended dances were notorious. They had been known for centuries as one of the most ruthless and mercenary of all the Irish, both cunning and cruel in battle as well as frequently shifting alliance where it suited. They were though a tough tribe, made even stronger through their legacy with Strongbow and the Normans at Pembroke. Their affiliation with the Bourkes and other clans of Norman descent remained compelling and rooted in their common past, faith customs and family ties. Success though was not only due to faithfulness to the brother tribe. It was also as a result of double-dealing. When it gave them a political or financial advantage, they switched alliance between the English crown and Rome. This happened many times over the generations, depending on where any particular advantage or threat lay.

  Glencastle was situated directly adjacent to the road to Belmullet and many years earlier, the Barretts had established a gate to charge tolls to anyone who wanted to pass along the track. Those on foot would often take a detour around the hills and bogs, to save themselves from the levy, but for those with carts, there was no choice but to pay or barter for passage. This stifled trade with the town of Mullet and caused great resentment amongst the locals. The toll was maintained for the gathering in order to fund the céle, and there were few exceptions. The fee was also demanded from the guests, much to the disgust of the chiefs, but it was soon forgotten as the event got underway.

  The event was long-awaited following the hard harvest and laboured work of the summer. The people of Erris needed to relax, celebrate and come together while stocks were high and before the hard winter had set in once more. The gathering was attended by the chiefs, family and friends of several allied clans from wide and far, including Belmullet, Castlebar, Belleek and Crossmolina. The tower-house and surrounding glen was now the centre of attraction for many a day to come.

  At the grand opening of the céle, in battle dress and cloaks, Richard Barrett stood up to address the allied clans, with certain comments aimed at provoking the Lochtar Bourkes.

  ‘My dear friends, wealth is accru
ed through the acquirement of land and we realised this many years earlier when we staked claim to our territories. We now rule over huge expanses of land in Connaught stretching from the East of Mayo to the coast of Erris. This has permitted us to give homes and land to the weaker clans and tenants in return for a share of their wealth and produce of course. Tonight, we shall celebrate our friendships and good fortunes. We shall debate the issues later, but for now, enjoy our hospitality and let every man next wake with a sore head.’

  In reality, the Barretts were becoming less popular in the area through their growing reputation of exploitation of the Irish and a growing cohesion with the English.

  The evening continued with a light banquet of meats stews, goose, bread vegetables from the autumn harvest and fresh fish. The entertainment was soon underway with a variety of bards, speakers and fools performing to light music from harps, pipes and fiddles. There were women singing romantic ballads and stories of fairies. Some men performers sang political rhyme. For most of the evening, the sounds of music and revelry filled all rooms in the castle.

  Queen Elizabeth’s Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam had enforced strict legislation against the subversive activities of bards, pipers and minstrels. He also took a hard line against people who broke English law. The event at Glencastle was illegal and if discovered by the authorities, it would be declared a treasonous act by the English. The Barretts were therefore careful over who was invited and was only open to close allied “Welsh” clans and was not made public. The Irish were generally guarded over who and what was discussed in public, but loose tongues could be anywhere and often were.

  There were bards and tellers from as far as Ulster and some brave travellers from Dublin and Clanricarde Galway. They were there to provide news of O’Rourke’s rebellions as well as stir up propaganda against the forces of Queen Elizabeth and the English Church. The poems, rhymes and chants were scathing, anti-English and at many times during the evening, they were clear incitement to rebel against the self-declared sovereignty of the Tudors.