Nenagh ‘scandalised’ by prostitution

Women and crime in pre-Famine Tipperary occupies a central subject of local interest in the 2025 edition of the Tipperary Historical Journal.

The first of two contributions to this year’s journal by Knigh historian Daniel Grace looks at crimes specifically associated with women at that time, as perpetrators - of infanticide, child desertion and prostitution - and as victims, where rape and abduction were the two most common crimes.

Tipperary had the highest prevalence of infanticide outside Dublin between 1831 and 1841. Mr Grace mentions some shocking local cases of babies being murdered - with scant prosecution for those responsible.

His article also looks at cases of mothers deserting their offspring - due to shame over illegitimacy or for economic necessity - and of women who turned to prostitution. There was “not a town in Ireland more scandalised by such disgusting characters than Nenagh”, according to the resident magistrate of the time, and the article highlights the circumstances of several local prostitutes.

‘AN HONEST WOMAN’

Mr Grace’s study of the widely under-reported incidence of rape and sexual assault makes for both harrowing and somewhat bizarre reading in the context of modern times. In one case, alleged victim Catherine Hogan told Nenagh assizes in 1839 that she was not proceeding with her prosecution of Darby Foley because “Darby has made an honest woman of me”.

Similarly, Tipperary recorded some of the greatest numbers of abductions in the 1830s and 40s; young females were frequently targeted and incidents often went unreported. Yet, as this article reveals, women were often complicit in their own abduction where matters of the heart were concerned.

A TALE OF TWO CASTLES

As with its predecessors, Tipperary Historical Journal 2025 features a rich collection of articles from around the county, several of which will be of immediate interest to the local reader.

Miriam Lambe pours over architectural drawings in seeking to determine whether there were two castles in the townland of Cloghonan, home of the well-known Castle Otway, Templederry. Residence of the Otway family, the castle was famously burned out during the War of Independence in August 1922. But there are historical references to another castle at the location, the Civil Survey of 1654-6 stating: “There are two castles in this parish (Templederry)”, “Cloghonane standing and the stump of a Castle at Cloghnesy”.

The author delves deep into Otway family history in charting the origins and fate of their building projects right up to the last owner and his decision not to rebuild the castle after the 1922 fire. She tells us how the compensation enabled Nenah Urban District Council to build 22 workmen’s cottages at O’Growney Street, later renamed St Partrick’s Terrace, Nenagh.

WELCOMING THE ‘PINSHUN’

Another article sure to catch the local eye is that by Seamus J King on the arrival of the Old Age Pension in 1908. The author draws from Newport and Killaloe notes in The Nenagh Guardian in assessing the transformation that the new measure brought to those over the age of 70.

“Good King Edward” was vaunted as “the best king that ever reigned”, according to a Pension Officer who visited Killaloe, who said pensioners could be heard making such utterances as: “Let them not bother now with Home Rule, as we don’t care whether we get it or no. ‘Tis the only good Act of Parliament that was ever passed!”

Friday - the day when recipients came to the post office to collect their “pinshun” - suddenly became a busy day in Newport. “One would be surprised at the number of old age pensioners that come into town on that day,” the local correspondent wrote in the Guardian.

“It shows that the county around Newport is a healthy place to live in for, before the Pensions Act became law, one would not believe there were half the number of older people round here. It is quite a treat to hear them chatting.”

Not all were happy with the introduction, however, the Guardian reporting that “very many people were now receiving pensions that ought not to”, while Killaloe pensioners complained about the scrutiny of their eligibility for the payment.

CHURCH BICENTENARY

Moving to Loughmore and another regular contributor to this series, Donal J O’Regan this time pens a short bicentenary commemoration of the Old Church of the Nativity. Built 200 years ago this year, the church was demolished in 1977, much to the regret of the author, who suggests that “in today’s more enlightened climate it might well have been preserved”.

Blighted by leaks and damp, the campaign to replace the church with a new edifice was successful, though there were calls at the time for preservation of the old church, which contained a number of interesting interior features including a neo-gothic reredos.

Elsewhere amid the pages of this year’s Tipperary Historical Journal, one will find a summary compilation of the many events and publications throughout the county associated with Tipperary in the Decade of Centenaries, 1912 – 1923.

REMEMBERING NANCY

Perhaps fittingly, the volume concludes with Daniel Grace’s obituary on Nancy Murphy of Nenagh. Nancy, who passed away in March 2024, co-founded with her husband Donal the Nenagh District Heritage Society and played a central role in preserving the Governor’s House and Gatehouse from dereliction, as well as establishing Nenagh Heritage Centre and North Tipperary Genealogy Centre.

Nancy also made a significant contribution to the written history of North Tipperary, principally with ‘Guilty or Innocent? The Cormack Brothers - Trial, Execution and Exhumation’ (1998). Among other publications of note are her two guidebooks ‘Walkabout Nenagh’ (1994) and ‘A Trip Through Tipperary Lakeside’ (1997) - both of which are much sought-after collectors’ item - and her contribution on Frank R Maloney of Nenagh to the 1997 edition of Tipperary Historical Journal.

The latest edition of the journal - along with many previous - is now available online through www.tipperarystudies.ie and in local bookshops.