Charting the lives of the famous
A new book called ‘ Famous Wexford People in History’ which was researched and written by graphic designer Des Kiely, will be officially launched in Wexford Book Centre on Thursday, November 22 at 6.30 p.m.
The book which is illustrated with old photographs contains brief accounts of the lives of many famous people who were born in County Wexford down through the centuries from swashbuckling William Lamport aka Zorro to Beatle George Harrison’s maternal grandfather, the world-renowned architect Eileen Gray and the mothers of Oscar Wilde and Marconi.
Des spent two years researching the book, travelling around the county and recorded his visits by taking photographs, many of which appear in the publication. Some of the stories connect with each other, especially those of the leaders of the 1798 Rebellion.
Des has been interested in local history since he was a young man in his twenties when he lived five metres below sea level in the Netherlands. He was fascinated by the dykes and the local pumping station that drains the polders, similar to the pumping stations in the North and South Slobs in Wexford.
When he moved with his family to McClure Meadows in Wexford town, he began to investigate Robert McClure, who discovered the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. His father Captain Robert McClure from Derry, was a member of the notorious 89th Foot Ulster Regiment that hunted down Irish rebels during the 1798 Rebellion.
While stationed in Wexford, he married Jane Elgee, the daughter of Reverend John Elgee who was rector of St. Iberius Church. Her brother Charles was the father of Jane Wilde, mother of Oscar Wilde and that story prompted Des to write another on Wilde’s mother.
Des began posting stories about famous Wexford people on a Facebook page of the same name and several of his readers including the local historian Nicky Rossiter suggested he should write a book.
Nicky Rossiter wrote the foreword in which he described Des as ‘ a blow-in’ and said this is what makes the book both important and impressive. ‘Des can look objectively at our history and give us a clear view’ Nicky said, adding ‘ This book should be required reading in our schools to imbue children with a love of social history that would enhance their understanding of people, places, professions and the wider world’.
Researching the book was a labour of love, according to the author, especially the story of George Harrison’s maternal grandfather John Ffrench. Des came across a reference in a 1990’s newspaper article to the Ffrench ancestral home being located in Ballycarney outside Enniscorthy. ‘After driving the back roads around the village on a couple of occasions and making several enquiries in the area I eventually found it’, he recalled. ‘ Had this been in Liverpool I expect I would have only needed to hop on a Beatles tour bus! The house lies in an idyllic area in the nearby townland of Corah and is still lived in by Jim Muphy, a descendant of the Ffrench family.’ ‘Famous Wexford People in History’ covers the whole county and features 38 famous people who made their mark on history. They include Annie Jameson of the whiskey family who was born in Fairfield, Enniscorthy and was the mother of the inventor Guglielmo Marconi; Prince Michael Neale from Ballymitty, a colourful character whose boyhood dream came true when he purchased the Great Saltee Island; Anastasia Codd, the mother of bard and poet Thomas Moore, who lived in Cornmarket, Wexford; the movie and television actor Dan O’Herlihy who was born in Spawell Road in 1919 and is buried in Crosstown Cemetery; the hurling legend Nickey Rackard from Killanne whose family home and public house in the village was once the home of the famous 1798 rebel leader John kelly of ‘Kelly the Boy from Killanne’ song fame, and John Kelly himself who was only 22 years old when he was hanged on Wexford Bridge.
Also featured are the architect and furniture designer Eileen Gray from Brownswood, Enniscorthy who was a pioneer of Modernism and Art Deco and one of whose armchairs sold at auction for €21.9 in 2009, setting a world record for 20th century decorative art; William Kehoe, the 19th century industrialist born in Mounthoward, who sailed from Wexford Harbour with his family at the age of eight, bound for Savannah, Georgia and went on to become one of the wealthiest inhabitants of the city , opening the Kehoe Iron Works which prospered until the Great Depression of the 1930s; Patrick J. Kennedy, the great-grandfather of President Kennedy, born in Dunganstown, New Ross and William Lamport (later characterized by Hollywood as ‘Zorro’), who was born in Wexford town and was burned at the stake in Mexico by the Spanish Inquisition in 1659.
Among the political figures included are Richard Corish, Min Ryan, John Redmond and Sarah Jordan from Inch, the mother of Liam Mellows.
Some of the stories in the book will be brought to life at the launch on Thursday evening by the presence of people connected with them, including Eileen Cloney who was the six-year old girl at the centre of the Fethard-on-Sea boycott scandal of 1957 and is also a descendant of the 1799 rebel leader General Thomas Cloney who is also featured in the publication.
Eileen’s father Sean, a Catholic and her mother Sheila, a woman of strong Protestant faith came under pressure from the Catholic church to send their children to the local Catholic school but Sheila was determined to raise her family in both religious traditions and fled the village, prompting Fr. William Stafford to call on local Catholics to boycott Protestant businesses until she returned.
Also attending will be Jim Murphy, a distant relative of John Ffrench, grandfather of George Harrison, who still lives in the ancestral home near Ballycarney and Frances Ffrench from Rosslare Strand, wife of the late Adrian Ffrench who was a third cousin of the Beatle.
‘Famous Wexford People in History’ is available in local bookshops throughout the county and can also be ordered online from Amazon.
Des Kiely can trace his own family history back to the village of Stradbally in County Waterford and to the house where his great-great-great grandfather John Kiely was born in 1778.
The family moved to Derry and later to Dublin and then Wicklow.
Des is a graphic designer by profession and when not researching and writing history, he enjoys painting, music and photography.
THIS BOOK SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING IN OUR SCHOOLS