On Wednesday 17th October at 8pm in the Seven Oaks Hotel, Carlow John Kelly. Editor of Carloviana, shared the results of over three years of research on Robert Hartpole, Tudor Constable of Carlow.
Robert Hartpole was a soldier/settler from Kent who arrived in Ireland around 1549 and rose through the ranks of the Tudor administration to acquire extensive lands and hold the titles of Constable of Carlow Castle and Sheriff of both Carlow and Queens Counties. He also represented Queens County in Perrott’s Parliament of 1585. He is perhaps best known for his role in the Massacre at Mullaghmast. His activities between 1569 and 1571 against the Gaelic Irish on lands held by the Earl of Ormonde in County Carlow resulted in a formal complaint to the Irish Privy Council. He lived in Shrule castle in Laois and the story of his effigy after his death is a tale all itself!
You can listen to Johns talk here
A fascinating, enjoyable and very enlightening lecture! I came across this lecture, (as I write, two an a half years after it was first delivered),as part of my research into the massacre of Mullaghmast and Robert Hartpole’s hand in it. I found very little on the massacre itself. The events at Mullaghmast, which if truth be told, shocked me! My first reaction was, Why wasn,t I taught this at school?
It’s a long shot if I get a response after so much time has elapsed but here goes anyway. I have a query or two: Why didn’t Rory Oge O’More attend in person as chief of the O’More sept? Was it because he had a price on his head? Or was it he didn’t trust Hartpole or Sir Francis Cosby as far as he could throw them? I read somewhere that he lost a son on the day. I’m not sure if that is true or not. Did any of his children perish on that eventful day?
Secondly, what might the ring fort have looked like at the time? who owned it (and ultimately hosted the ‘attendees’)? Where can I find out about the dimensions of the ring fort itself?
Hopefully this message will reach someone who can answer these queries or point me in the right direction. I can be contacted at my email address, which is haggis_95@hotmail.com
Thanks very much,
John Hagan