THE ANCIENT PARISH OF CLOGHER OR KILCLOGHER
(meaning place of the stones or stoney place)

The church ruin on the Mullagh, situated to the north cast of the village, was probably the site of an old Celtic monastery founded in the fifth century by St.Nectan, said to be a nephew of St. Patrick.

After the Norman Conquest of Ireland, Kilclogher, together with the townland of Mayne, became part of the parish of Termonfeckin, and as such the tithes of the parish were held by the Priory of Louth. This would leave the Church of St.Denis on the Mullagh as a Chapel of Ease, as opposed to a parish church.

The area comprises the townlands of Kilclogher, Callystown, Almondstown, Glaspistol and Ganderstown. From 1400 until 1428 John Wynter appears as chaplain or curate, followed by John Myhan in 1428 to approximately 1500. On his appointment as Chaplain by the Lord Primate Archbishop of Armagh, he was charged with the task of collecting the tithes of fish at Kilclogher and Carlingford.

There is are no other clerical records until 1622 when Luke Usher appears as Curate of the Reformed or Protestant church. Prior to the Reformation the chapel was dedicated to St. Dennis, but later it was rededicated to St. Nicholas. In 1622 the tithes of that part of the Parish of Termonfeckin were leased for forty years to Ambrose Appugh.

In 1508, a small community of nuns, known as the Black Nuns, arrived at Callystown, where they held 128-acres, a cottage and possibly a small church. They are believed to have moved from Termonfeckin to Callystown as a result of a dispute with the Lord Primate of the time. The convent buildings were thought to have been situated near to the site where Callystown House was later built, but no trace remains.

The Extent of the Irish Monastic Possessions 1540 - 1541, obtained from the Public Records Office in London and published in 1943 by the Irish Manuscripts Commission, gives the following account of the Callystown Convent: The land appears to have been rented to twelve farmers, each paying six shillings plus one hoe day and a watch hen at Christmas. The tithes of Callystown were held by Jerome Warner for forty shillings and the Alterages of the Church ten shillings; fifty shillings in all. There was a payment of 50s.8d for the curate. The total value of Callystown was £26.13.4d. An annuity of 13s.4d was paid to a Patrick Dowdall and pensions of 26s.8d to Margaret Harte and 13s.4d to Anne Gedon, who were probably the Abbotess or Superior and her Assistant at the Convent.

After the Dissolution of the Convent, the lands of Callystown were acquired by Sir Anthony Brabazon, who built the original portion of Callystown House. It is not clear if the Church was close to the Convent or in some other part of Callystown. It is possible that the church on the Mullagh may have been the one mentioned in the suppression of the convent at Callystown, as the Mullagh is also in Callystown. In 1765, there were approximately 100 Protestant and 415 Roman Catholics living in the parish.

Following the Cromwellian settlement (1650's), the lands of Callystown were returned to Edward Brabazon, son of Sir Anthony and, on his death, they fell to his daughter, Jane, who married Sir Thomas Newcomen of Sutton, County Dublin. The house at Callystown was altered and enlarged to a fine Tudor-style mansion and this then was the beginning of the Newcomens as Landlords of Callystown.

After 1770 the church does not appear to have been repaired and this may be explained by the death in 1767 of Brabazon Newcomen, who succeeded Sir Thomas Newcomen in Callystown. It has always been said that a strong landlord living close to the church would be the principle line of support in its upkeep. Unfortunately, however, Thomas Newcomen who succeeded Brabazon Newcomen, settled in County Westmeath, where in 1770 he married an heiress to an estate in that county. On the death of his eldest son, another Thomas, in 1839 the estate fell to his eldest surviving brother, Arthur Newcomen, and from 1770 no Newcomen lived at Callystown. The entire estate was leased for seventy years and it was during this time that the house fell into ruin. In 1840, Arthur Newcomen and his family came to live at The Lodge on the Mullagh, the last of the Newcomens of Callystown.


Liam Mac Ragnaill

June 2003