Balrath Demesne

Balrath Demesne (Irish: Diméin Bhaile na Rátha) is a townland in County Meath, Ireland. It is located 4 km (2.5 mi) southwest of the town of Kells. The population here in 2022 was 281. The wall of an ancient chapel and a cemetery remain here, on the grounds of the former estate, Balrath Bury.

Geography

Balrath Demesne is the 54th largest townland in County Meath and has an area of approximately 1.66 square miles (1,060 acres). It falls within the electoral division of Burry, in the civil parish of Burry, and the barony of Upper Kells. To the west are the townlands of Drumbaragh, Springville or Dandlestown (Danllestown), and Balgeeth. Townlands which border it to the east include Barfordstown, Garistown, Irishtown, Rafeehan and Toberultan. Chapelbride is to the north and Ethelstown and Rodstown to the south.

History

In Irish, Balrath translates to bal for "home" and ráth for the "enclosing bank" of a ringfort, which is an ancient dwelling structure(s) found in great numbers across Ireland. A demesne is land used exclusively by the lord of a manor.

Church & Graveyard at Balrath Bury, Balrath Demesne, Burry parish, Upper Kells barony, County Meath, Ireland, 1834 Ordnance Survey Map

For centuries, Balrath Demesne was among the lands of the family of Oliver Plunkett. That is until Gilbert Nicholson arrived in 1669, after which he was awarded the region for serving in Cromwell's Army. He erected a country estate house here in 1671.

Known as "Balrath" or "Balrath Bury," a two-story, nine-bay, pedimented structure remains. The grounds feature barns, a long Georgian, pedimented stable, a gatehouse or gardener's cottage, a pool, gardens and out buildings. At one time there was a cowhouse, dairy shed, a straw house, a bullock house, a granary, a coachhouse, laundry, a brewhouse and piggery. The area was historically known for its limestone and greenstone and as, "a large and wooded park, well stocked with deer." It is now in the American-Colonial style, remodeled in about 1930, with main rooms alongside a large central hall, with a bifurcating staircase. The house was said to have been damaged during the Second World War, and "was reduced to the original block."

The Nicholsons, occupying Anglo-Irish colonists from England, part of the Ascendancy, began acquiring surrounding countryside beginning with 500 acres in 1669 and ending, in the 19th century, with more than 8,000 acres in the Kells region of the first and arguably most productive colony and laboratory for the entire Empire.

Gardener's Cottage at Balrath Bury, for C.A. Nicholson, Esq. T.N. Deane & Son, architects, 1884

In 1704, John Nicholson, of Balrath Bury, was High Sheriff of Meath, followed by Christopher Armytage Nicholson in 1791, John Armytage Nicholson in 1827, Christopher Armytage Nicholson in 1856 and John Hampden Nicholson in 1895. In 1819, C.A. Nicholson, Esq., Balrath, Kells, donated 5£ 5s to the Harrow School as did his son, J.A. Nicholson, Esq., Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1842, C.A. Nicholson was inducted into the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland.

In 1836, the townland of Balrath Demesne contained significantly less acreage than today: 703 acres, 2 rods and 31 perches. Boundaries were changed and the townland incorporated parts of the townland of Springville to become some 1,060 acres today.

Balrath Bury, a country estate in County Meath, southwest of Kells in the Balrath Demesne townland.

Great Hunger

During the Great Hunger (1845-1852), "3,000 acres of the Nicholson estate centered on Balrath demesne was sparsely settled apart from the small townland of Springville, west of the demesne, with its cluster of cabins on the edge of bogland farther to the west."

In a case study of conditions on the Nicholson estate in 1834, about a decade before the Great Hunger, brothers Thomas and William Carolan lived beside one another on small holdings classified as at Dandlestown (Springville) Townland, which bordered Balrath Demense. Each owned the same amount of land, 7 acres, 3 rods, 13 perches, though Thomas paid one pence more than his younger brother in what was called "composition rent," or tax paid to the Land Commission or Board of Works. The Land Commission "focused" on "the unfair lease agreements that heavily favored landlords and often left tenants with little protection against eviction." The Board of Works was set up to provide employment to tenantry classified as "poor" (today's 'economically disadvantaged').

Nicholson, like landlords of the era, intensely scrutinized and measured his tenants' holdings, charging them for quality. For instance, of the some 7 acres Thomas Carolan held, precisely 1 acre, 2 rods and 35 perches was charged at a lesser rate than his other acreage, likely based upon quality. For the year, Thomas paid the equivalent today of £1,006 in real price for the some 7 acres, or about $1,280 US in rent, more than half of his total annual income.

After the Great Hunger, "numbers left Balrath and emigrated to America and the most of the Nicholson’s estate was put under grass. The change from tillage to pasturage took place in the years that elapsed from 1847 to 1862 after Mr. Nicholson helped numbers to emigrate. When they left, their houses were demolished, except houses in which old people lived who were unable to travel."

By 1854, Thomas Carolan's eldest son Michael held some 26 total acres: 16 acres on the Woodward estate in Drumbaragh that he sublet to other farmers and 11 acres on the Nicholson estate in Balrath Demesne, where he occupied a two-story, seven-window farmhouse with a central fireplace that still stands, signifying that Michael may have had more a significant role on the estate than his predecessors. Thomas' second son, Thomas Jr., and his family immigrated to New York in 1847 aboard the packet ship Patrick Henry, and settled in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, then Fitzwatertown, where Thomas Jr. died of consumption in February 1870. His eldest son Michael purchased land at Dreshertown for a blacksmith shop in 1878; he moved operations to Franklinville, Philadelphia by 1883. He was father to 17 children, six of whom lived into adulthood.

Unrest

"Balrath, County Meath, the seat of Mr. Nicholson." The Illustrated London News, from April 23, 1870

A decade before the Land War, there were multiple assassination attempts on Nicholson family members: one on Christopher Armytage Nicholson (1825-1887) in December 1868 after which the Royal Irish Constabulary was posted in the stable-yard on the estate to protect the family. In October 1869, his father John Armytage Nicholson (1798-1872) was on his way, by carriage, from the railroad station at Kells to his estate, when shots were fired, injuring Nicholson and his niece and killing Mr. Rothwell, his coachman.

Later that month, 24 magistrates and landlords met in Kells and sent a letter to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland regarding the assassination attempts on three magistrates, "one in open day," the wounding of two ladies in the crossfire, the death of Nicholson's coachman, the attack upon the steward of another gentleman and the receipt of threatening letters.

In March 1870, following the passage of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870, a contingent of the British Army was deployed to Kells after the Duke of Leinster reportedly began evictions to replace Irish tenants with British ones. A notable engraving of the event, "Sketches from Ireland, Troops in the Yard of the Poorhouse at Kells," appeared in the April 9, 1870, issue of The Illustrated London News.

"A Meath Country Gentleman Walking in His Park." The Illustrated London News April 16, 1870. A likely depiction of John Armytage Nicholson (1798-1872) in foreground and the estate Balrath Bury in background, Balrath Demesne Townland

The Nicholson holdings included acreage in Drumbaragh, Distanrath [or Destinrath], Lightown [Leightown], Scurloughstown and Springville. Hundreds of their tenants were evicted, from 1862 to 1888, including Light Town (Leightown) on July 14, 1871, and Drumbaragh on July 23, 1872. That December (1872), John A. Nicholson, age 74, died of natural causes after reportedly carrying out the eviction of some 40 families.

20th century

John A. Nicholson's grandson John Hampden Nicholson (1871-1935) held the estate in the early 20th century. His son, John A. Nicholson (1905-), was a professor at the Veterinary College of Ireland from 1938 to 1973.

At the estate in May 1917, the British Red Cross Society opened an auxiliary hospital and remained open until February 1919, treating some 347 patients. In 1939, German refugees were housed at Balrath Bury.

Much of the estate was eventually handled by the Irish Land Commission, which enabled tenants to purchase the subdivided holdings. In 1919, Mary (Brady) Carolan, widow of Bryan Carolan, rented 17 acres, and eventually purchased the farm.

In 1935, upon the death of John H. Nicholson, the Balrath Bury was valued at £136,543, or the equivalent of about £11.2 million today.

In the 1960s, John Warren Nicholson (1931-) bred deer on the estate. A trophy in his honor is presented by the Irish Deer Society each year for service in the "welfare, conservation and protection of deer in Ireland." The family sold the estate in the 1990s after three centuries of stewardship.

Burry parish

'Burry,' a parish. Chapel-of-ease to Kells and graveyard at Balrath Demesne townland

Balrath Demesne is within the larger parish of Burry. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837:

BURRY, a parish, in the barony of UPPER-KELLS, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 1¾ mile (S.W.) from Kells; containing 1027 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the road from Mullingar to Kells and Drogheda, and comprises 3339 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The land, which is of great fertility, is almost equally divided between tillage and pasture, and the system of agriculture is in a highly improved state. There is a considerable tract of bog, which partly supplies the town of Kells with turf; and there are some quarries of limestone and greenstone.  Balrath, the seat of C. A. Nicholson, Esq., is a handsome residence, pleasantly situated in an extensive and well-wooded demesne, with a park well stocked with deer, and in which are some remains of the old church, with a burial-ground attached. The other seats are Springville, the residence of P. O'Reilly, Esq.; and Berford, of J. Dyas, Esq. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, and is part of the union of Kells and corps of the archdeaconry of Meath: the tithes amount to £150 The glebe comprises 2r. 19p., valued at £1. 10. per annum. In the R. C. divisions, also, it forms part of the union or district of Kells. There are two daily pay schools, one at Drumbarrow and the other at Scurlogstown, in which are about 100 boys and 60 girls.

Bury chapel and cemetery

Bury chapel in March 2020 (ruin dating to pre-1622) and cemetery in the Balrath Demesne townland

Bury was a Catholic chapel-at-ease to Kells (a small church to make it easier for parishioners to attend services) on a slight rise on a level landscape, as noted in 1622 (Ussher's visitation). "According to Dopping's Visitation (1682-5) the parish church of Bury, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, had been a ruin since 1641 and was not enclosed (Ellison 1973, 9). The church is depicted as a roofed structure on the 1836 ed. of the OS 6-inch map, although described as mere remains (Lewis 1837, vol. 1, 234)."

In 1877, John Nicholson received a "license for public worship" at "an iron church" erected at Balrath Burry.

Members of the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church in Ireland are buried in the graveyard here. The cemetery predates 1722, the burial year on one of the many headstones that were catalogued in 2012 by the Kells Archeological and History Society. Here lie the remains of Maureen O'Hara's grandfather, a blacksmith and farrier named Batholomew Fitzsimons. She made a ceremonial visit in 2012 at age 92.

See also

• List of townlands of County Meath