Remarkable Newtownstalaban!
When Cromwell sacked Drogheda, he ordered that every one man in ten of the prisoners “be shipped to the Barbados and sold as slaves.”
Drogheda is again exporting to the Barbados, this time its a consignment of Asbestos Cement pipes made in the fine pipe factory at Newtownstalaban.
A member of the Cement Group of Companies, Asbestos Cement Pipes Ltd., which is in operation since June 1964, is turning out a range of four to eighteen inch Pressure and Sewerage pipes and is not only supplying the home market but is also exporting to Trinidad, Kuwait, Nigeria and Ghana.
The townland of Newtownstalaban is just outside Drogheda Borough boundary and is in the
Parish of St. Peter’s. The “Pipe Factory” is built on land which once belonged to the Cistercians of Mellifont Abbey.
This land is listed in a charter given to the Abbot and monks of Mellifont by King John in 1203. The charter is preserved among the Mellifont papers in the National Museum and confirms to the monks “the lands they held before the arrival of the Normans in Ireland,” and one item appears as “the land of Ibar Tigi Libain.” This is the ancient Irish name for what is now called Newtownstalaban, and extends up to the back of the nearby factory of Cement Ltd.
Stalaban preserves the ancient Irish name of church or house. It is Teac Libain or “Liban’s House or Church.” In a semimythical prehistoric tale of the death of Eochaid Finn we find that Fuihchc was another name for a strange mermaid daughter of his called Liban.
The environs of the Pipe Factory are indeed beautiful and rich in archaeological lore. From the front gates one can see through the wood of Newtown, the 17th century Beaulieu House, the lovely home of Mr. and Mrs. Nesbit Waddington, and the only house in Ireland designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
Nearby was one of the best known country lanes, which was lost to Drogheda in 1950 when it became the rear entrance to the Cement Works. Known as the Churchyard Lane, it was sometimes called the Gypsies Lane and was a narrow winding grassy loneway leading to the old Newtownstalaban graveyard. Here children used gather primroses during the late Spring evenings, where courting couples rambled on bright Summer nights and tinkers sat around their fires sheltered by tall hedges in the depth of Winter.
The graveyard can still he reached by a new road a little further on. Not many burials take place now. Here a ruined gable marks tho remaining piece of Teac Libain,” one of the seven churches of the Boyne—surrounded by tombstones to the memory of Newtown and Drogheda families like the Kierans, McEvoy’s and Healys.
The oldest stone bears tho legend “Nicholas Brodigan 1756 “and there are two good examples of the Wexford-Wicklow- Carlow school of 18th century monumental “Folk Art.” One to the memory of “Bridget McGourk of Newtown Stalaban who departed this life on the 8th day of July 1801, aged 22 years.” This is excellently carved at the top in low relief and depicts a central Crucifix flanked by altar candles and cherubic angels. It also shows a medalion of what appears to be an effort at real portriature of the deceased.