Street Wise Athlone - Drum
This series of articles for the Westmeath Independent is run in conjunction with the Street Wise Athlone series on Athlone Community Radio which is broadcast on Wednesdays during Athlone Today at 2.30pm and repeated on Thursday mornings at 10am on The Brekkie Show.
Athlone Miscellany by Gearoid O'Brien
The following is what Samuel Lewis had to say about Drum in his book ‘A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’ which was published in 1837:
“Drum or Edardruim, a parish, in the barony of Athlone, county of Roscommon, and province of Connaught, 4 miles (S.W.) from Athlone, on the River Shannon, and on the road to Ballinasloe; containing 4,957 inhabitants. An abbey was founded here by St. Diradius, or Deoradius, brother of St. Canoc, about the close of the 5th century; and in the retreat of the army of St. Ruth from Aughrim, this is thought to have been the spot where a battle was fought. The parish contains 8,965 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: the land, in general very poor, is chiefly under tillage; there is still a considerable quantity of bog, though much has been reclaimed. The seats are: Thomastown Parkl, the residence of Edmond H. Naghten Esq.; Ardkenan, of Edward Naghten Esq.; Johnstown, of J. Dillon Esq.; now occupied by Mr Kelly; Summer Hill of J. Gaynor Esq.; and White House, of Mrs Reilly. There is a constabulary police station at Cranough. It is in the diocese of Tuam [Church of Ireland]; the rectory is partly impropriate in the Incorporated Society; the vicarage is episcopally united to that of Moore. The tithes amount to £180, one-half payable to the impropriators, and the other to the vicar. There is no church [Church of Ireland]. In the R.C. divisions the parish forms part of the unior or district of St. Peter’s, Athlone, in the diocese of Elphin: the chapel is in the old churchyard, in which are the ruins of a chapel, which was dedicated to St. Mary, and is said to have been erected by one of the O’Naghtens, in 550. About 200 children are taught in four private schools”.
The private schools referred to above may well have been hedge schools as the National School system was still in its infancy, having been founded only six years previously, and had not reached many rural areas.
The Parish of Drum
In administrative terms Drum is a civil parish in the Barony of Athlone, Co. Roscommon, it is 16,159 acres in extent and has 41 or 42 townlands in it. The townlands include a few which we might associate with Clonown rather than Drum i.e Carrickynaghtan; Garrynagownaq; Curraghnaboll and Dromlosh. It also includes the villages of Drum and Cornafulla.
In terms of the Catholic church the parish of Athlone, was anciently referred to as the parish of ‘St. Peter’s and Drum’ and it covers the Connacht side of Athlone as well as the rural areas of both Drum and Clonown. The present Catholic church in Drum is dedicated to St. Brigid, it was built in 1873. It was reconstructed in 1964 and has been renovated more recently. The dedication to St Brigid is very appropriate given the strong links with a saint by that name in South Roscommon. John o’Donovan tells us that the parish of Drum belongs to St. Brigid and that “her blessed well is still to be seen spring out of a tree near the old graveyard at Drum. The enhancement of this well in 1991 is yet another example of the fine work which has been undertaken by the Drum Heritage Group, a group which deserves great praise for their many and varied achievements.
There are almost 3,000 recorded holy wells in Ireland. They are among our oldest sacred sites. They were often natural springs that people venerated because they believed them to have healing properties. Many of them may have had their origins in Pagan Ireland, which might explain the tradition of tying rags to a tree or bush beside the well, but they have become inextricably linked to the roots of Irish Christianity because they were later dedicated to a local saint. The late Philip Ginnell, an architect from Mullingar, came up with the innovative design of the enclosure for St Brigid’s well in Drum and local tradesmen, Pat and James McManus built the enclosing walls. Once again Edward Egan recorded the tradition that Drum had once had a ‘pattern day’ when locals came to the well to pray and do the stations. He recorded this tradition from a parishioner, John Lennon (born 1875) who remembered this being done in his youth. There is no known written evidence to corroborate this story which goes to show the importance of the oral tradition.
John O’Donovan in his Ordnance Survey Letters for County Roscommon also quotes from a manuscript source called ‘The Book of Lecan’ regarding Drum or Drum Dreastan: “St Brigit has the baptism of the race of Maine, and although the children are not brought thither (i.e. to Camach) to be baptised, still her Coarb there receives the ‘baptismal penny’ from these tribes. This money is divided into three thirds, of which she herself (or rather her Coarb at Brideswell) receives one third, Druim Dreastain the second and Cluain Eamhain th’ other thirde parte.” The race of Maine refers to natives of Hy-Many which was the O’Kelly Country.
The Faes (or the Fews) of Athlone
Anyone researching the early history of this area will have come across references to the Faes of Athlone. P.W. Joyce in his monumental three volume work on Irish Names of Places explains the term Faes / Fews: “There are two baronies in Armagh called Fews, which are mentioned in the Four Masters at A.D. 1452, by the name of Feadha i.e. woods; which is modernised by the adoption of the English plural form; and Fews, the name of a parish in Waterford, has the same origin. There was a district in Roscommon, west of Athlone, which in the annals is also called Feadha; but it is now commonly called the Faes (i.e. the woods) of Athlone.”
From the annals we know that in 1225 O’Neill marched a great army into Connaught to assist the sons of Roderic O Connor. He arrived in the country of Sheel-Murry, whence he set out to the Fayes of Athlone. In 1268 we are told that Aodh O Connor defeated the Normans at the Faes of Athlone. From a later Inquisition of 1587 we learn that “Johannes alias Shane O’Naghten, the head of his name closed his last day on the 18 of May 1587 being seized…in the country called Le Ffayes alias O’Naghten’s country, viz of Moynewer [Moynure] and Carrig-i-Naghten [Carricknaughton] and of a quarter called Carron-Creggan [Creggane].
From this we can deduce that at this period the area stretching from Carricknaughton across to Drum was once heavily wooded but like Cill Chais (or Kilcash) which many of my generation will remember learning an Irish poem about the woods are, sadly, long gone.
A valuable resource
The Drum Heritage Group established the Drum Heritage Centre which has extensive records relating to the area.
This ensures that visitors going to Drum in search of their ancestry will have a very positive experience. The Dolmen at Meehambee is an indication that this area was inhabited over 3000 years ago, access to this monument has been improved in recent years. The presence of several ringforts in Drum has been recorded by local historian, Alan Kelly, in one of his contributions to the book ‘Bygone Times: a Near Forgotten History, while his second article ‘The Romanesque Abbey in Drum Monastic Settlement’ gives us interesting insights into this ancient monastic ruin. This historic site is well worth a visit.
Next article: Bealnamulla