Mary Street. Escape of Hamilton Rowan.

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CHAPTER IV**

Mary Street - St. Mary’s Church - Escape of Hamilton Rowan - Old Sheriffs Prison - Green Street Courthouse - Newgate Jail - Oliver Bond and Pill Lane - Church Street - St. Michan’s Church and Vaults - The Osborne Family -The Brothers Sheares - Charles Lucas. **

What** **memories are recalled when Mary Street is mentioned, the home of many by-gone celebrities and merchants. Amongst the grants of land belonging to Mary’s Abbey was one made by King James 1. to Lord Moore, afterwards created Earl and Marquis of Drogheda. Lord Moore’s grant lay to the east side of what was known as “Piphos” Grant, where Mary Street meets Henry Street, and was the dividing line of the two grants.

On Lord Moore’s land was afterwards built Upper Sackville Street, then called Drogheda Street. On the east side of the street was Drogheda House, now the Hibernian Bible Society. Henry Street, Moore Street, Earl Street, Off Lane (now Henry Place), and Drogheda Street, marked the territory of Henry Moore, Earl of Drogheda.

In our, day, about the centre of this street, stands a large building 30 feet back from the line of the other houses. It was known as the house of the Paving Board in the days of the old Corporation. It is now the establishment of Messrs. Bewley and Draper. This building was originally built by one Paul Barry. He sold it in 1712** to the Right Hon. Henry Ingoldsby, who died in 1731, **when the building was sold, and eventually it passed into the hands of the Paving Board. The mansion is built on ground arches, and a side entrance leads to what was the old Catholic church in Liffey Street, the precursor of the Cathedral now in Marlborough Street.

carlislebridge.gif (31670 bytes)In Mary Street died in 1741 Judge Rodgson, Chief Justice of Ireland. As Carlisle Bridge (pictured)  was not built till 1795, Henry Street, Mary Street, and Capel Street were the way from Rutland Square and Sackville Street to the Parliament House. Hence Parliament Street was appropriately named as being the way from the north side to College Green and the Parliament House. On the north side of the city dwelt at that time all the rank and fashion of the city.

On our way back to Capel Street we pause for a few moments at St. Mary’s Church, which was erected in 1697**, **pursuant to an Act of the Irish Parliament, on the south side of Mary Street, opposite Sir A. Cole’s house, then the residence of the Lord Chancellor. For many years this parish was the leading one on the north side of the city. In this church were baptised Brinsley Sheridan (Swift being god-father), Sir R. Hamilton (born in Dominick Street), and Sam Lover. The records of this church are filled with those whose names are familiar as “household words” - the Butlers, the Geraldines, the Ormondes, the Desmonds, Lords Enniskillen, Charlemont, and Donoughmore, and the last Speaker of the House of Commons, whose residence in Dominick Street is now the parochial school.

In this parish lived 114** **years ago the head of the Guinness family (Arthur Guinness, of James’s Gate), who was married in this church on 8th May, 1793, to Miss Anne Lee, which, I suppose, accounts for “Lee” being added to the family name. In the burial ground attached to this church, now a small Corporation Park, many highly distinguished persons have been interred; to detail in any length would be a task.

Here sleep two public benefactors-Mrs. Mercer, founder of Mercer’s Hospital, and Mrs. Simpson, the founder of the institution in Great Britain Street. There are two more calling for passing notice. The first is Lord Norbury, who descended from one of the Cromwellian planters, and who used to boast that he commenced his legal career with £50 and a brace of pistols. For a vote in favour of the Union he was made Chief Justice, and in after years he was the instrument selected by the Government to carry out their severe policy at the Union period. The assizes at which he was present were invariably followed by wholesale executions.

Utterly reckless of life himself, he seemed scarcely to comprehend how others could value it. His conduct to Emmet at his trial confirms this. His tombstone is just inside the gate in Jervis Street. The other name is one which is remembered with gratitude, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, who was interred here in November, 1834.

The story of his escape is worthy of being retold. In January, 1794, Rowan was brought to trial at the old Four Courts, Christchurch Place, for distributing an address to the “Citizen Soldiers to Arms.” Curran defended him, and made his famous speech in which he referred to “the irresistible genius of universal emancipation,” but his efforts went for naught, as Rowan was fined £500, and to be imprisoned for two years, in addition to find security for his good behaviour.

Two months after his conviction he was visited by the Rev. William Jackson, accompanied by the spy Cockayne, the English attorney. At this interview Rowan spoke rather freely about men and things. Shortly afterwards, when he learned of Jackson’s conviction and death, be knew that the Government would produce evidence enough to have him hanged, so he decided upon escaping from Newgate, which he did in the following manner:-

He persuaded one of the officers of Newgate that if he brought him out for one hour he would give him £100.** **His excuse was that he had lately sold an estate, but that a conveyance executed in prison would be void. He only wanted to sign it outside, and then return. The officer accompanied Rowan to his house in Lower Dominick Street (now No. 36), where after a good lunch, he asked liberty to bid his wife and children adieu in the adjoining backroom. Rowan had, with the assistance of his faithful Swiss butler, made everything ready for escape by means of a knotted rope tied to the bedpost, and by its aid Rowan got down to the stable-yard, and, turning into Britain Street, rode off to Howth.

Rowan thus tells how he got away from Ireland:- “But in my acknowledgments how am I to mention the generous, disinterested conduct of the two brothers Sheridan, farmers and boatmen, of Baldoyle, who upon being introduced to me by Mr. Sweetman, of Howth, and in possession of the proclamation offering £3,000** **for my capture, and knowing me only by name, not only concealed me while sheltering at Mr. Sweetman’s house, but consented to carry me in their small half-decked fishing boat across the Channel to the coast of France, saying to Mr. Sweetman, ‘Never fear; by ---, we’ll land him safe.’ And so they did, in two days, although driven back once from near Wexford to take shelter under Howth.”

The first building we meet on our entering Green Street, from North King Street side (originally called the Abbey Green (1568) from the Green of St. Mary’s Abbey) is now a police barrack. It was built in 1794 as a Sheriff’s Prison. One of the objects intended by its erection was to remove the abuses then carried on in private debtors’ prisons, called Sponginghouses, but it was, to use a homely expression, a case of out of the frying-pan into the fire, as nearly all the officials were supported by what was made by rents of thecchambers.

The sheriffs preyed upon the head jailer, this worthy upon his deputy, and the latter upon the unfortunate victims committed to his tender care. This state of affairs continued till 1810**, **when the whole system was changed, the staff being paid by salaries instead of fees.

In the days of the old Corporation debtors were committed to a section of this prison, by the decrees of the Lord Mayor and Court of Conscience, for debts not exceeding 40s [£2]**. **When the law for the abolition of imprisonment for debt came into operation the Sheriff’s Prison was converted into a police barrack or depot for the men of the C and D Divisions. The site on which Newgate Prison, the Session House, and the Sheriff’s Prison are built was once a portion of St. Mary’s Abbey estate. The northern end of Green Street, from the Courthouse to Tickell’s timber yard, was, according to tradition, the burial ground attached to St. Mary’s Abbey.

Next to the old Sheriff’s Prison stands the Sessions House, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1792**, **and the Prison was opened five years afterwards. As we gaze upon its portals, what a procession of martyrs to the cause of Irish freedom passes in imagination before us, in the long vista which extends between then and our day; hardly had its dock been finished when it was occupied by the Brothers John and Henry Sheares and their compatriots of ‘98.

The work of sacrifice was speedily continued, as there is still ringing in our ears the echo of the immortal speech of Emmet. He and his comrades stood in the same place as that occupied by those who failed but a short time before. Time rolls on. “Other men and times arise,” but the cause is still the same. ‘48 finds Mitchel, Martin, and their companions sentenced to a felon’s doom for Ireland’s sake; again is the scene re-enacted in ‘65 and ‘67; the dock is filled with soldiers of Ireland’s cause awaiting their doom, which they accept with manly heroism, with words of devotion to their country, as with firm step and unyielding heart they left the dock and went down the dark passage which led to the place where all hope seemed closed.

In our own day we have witnessed the same tragedy, at which the words of the Psalmist come to our lips in prayer, “How long, O Lord, how long?” The narrow passage just alluded to brings us into the precincts of Newgate Jail.

The city records informs us that the old jail in Cornmarket, being considered small, inconvenient, and, what was more important, insecure, it was determined to erect a new prison. This was done under the supervision of Thomas Cooley, an Englishman, the site selected being Little Green Street.

Its cost for erection was £18,000; it was a disgrace to civilization, and from the first was condemned as being wholly unsuitable as a prison. It was as bad as the “Black Hole” in Calcutta; its internal condition and management are simply indescribable.

In a report made by a Government Commissioner in 1808 he says that there was a want of proper supervision, and that indecent assaults and even murder had been committed within the prison. One is given an idea of what cell life was when he is told the size of a cell **- 12ft. **by 8ft. and that without ventilation. Into this space were packed 12 or 16 persons. As years passed by some minor reforms were effected in this place, but it was found impossible to put into operation the more humane ideas regarding the treatment of prisoners.

The authorities virtually closed the prison about forty years ago, and transferred it to the Corporation, who sold it in 1875, when it was purchased for building purposes on lease for seventy-five years at a rent of £140.** **This agreement not being realised, the Corporation took over the ground and had it transformed into St. Michan’s Park.

I well remember when a lad going through this jail, and visiting the cell in which Lord Edward died on 4th June, 1798. This enabled me to appreciate to the fullest extent the words of Byron:-

Eternal Spirit of the chainless mind!

Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art;

For there thy habitation is the heart –

The heart which love of thee alone can bind,

And when thy sons to fetters are consigned,

To fetters and the damp vaults’ dayless gloom,

Their country conquers with their martyrdom,

And freedom’s fame finds wings on every wind.

Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,

And thy sad floor an altar; for ‘twas trod

Until his very steps have left a trace

Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,

By Bonnivard; may none these marks efface,

For they appeal from tyranny to God.”

Yes, Byron’s ideals have been literally carried out by Dublin’s Nationality. For where once stood Dublin’s Bastile (Newgate) now stands in all its simplicity a people’s memorial to the memory of those who within its deadly walls or on its scaffold, sacrificed all they held dear for Ireland’s cause at some time-a land mark and a beacon light to future generations.

Sauntering down Little Green (still a name in connection with Mary’s Abbey) we pass into Chancery Street, formerly Pill Lane, or “Pile,” so called from a small inlet from the river which ran up to Fisher’s Lane, now St. Michan’s Street. Fisher’s Lane was one of the oldest named places on the north side. It is mentioned in title deeds so far back as 1310.

Pill Lane, or Chancery Street, as we now know it, ran up to Church Street. In it were situated the warehouses and dwelling of many of old Dublin’s wealthy citizens. Here Oliver Bond commenced his business as a wholesale woollen draper. His stores were situated about where the Police Courts now stand. He removed to Bridge Street in 1786, at which place he was arrested, along with 14 members of the Leinster Directory, on 12th** March, 1798. **He was sentenced to death.

His sentence was commuted, but he only survived the event five weeks. It is said that he died suddenly of apoplexy in September, 1798.** **His death added another to the many tragedies enacted in infamous Newgate. Bond’s remains were interred in St. Michan’s, in the same grave with the Rev. William Jackson.

Close to Pill Lane, in Charles Street, lived the famous Dr. Charles Lucas. He died in Henry Street in 1771.

As we turn into Church Street, immediately on our left, in days gone by stood “Candy’s,” one of the most famous of old Dublin’s chop-houses. This street being one of the main arteries from south to north, was a hive of industry. Here also were many of the old-fashioned inns, much frequented, as this was the highway in connection with the fly boats then plying on the Royal Canal from Broadstone to Mullingar.

Church Street and its neighbourhood, about the year 1838, was the meeting place for members of the Ribbon Society, then known as the United Sons of Freedom and Sons of the Shamrock. In October, 1839,** Richard Jones, one of the chiefs of the organisation, was arrested near Cuckoo Lane. He was tried in June, 1840, **and was sentenced to seven years’ transportation.

Directly facing us as we leave Chancery Street stands the Tower of St. Michan’s Church. A writer some years ago, describing this historic building, says:- “There, through rain and shine, for well nigh eight centuries, has it stood square and strong, amid all the changes and chances of time and tide. Could some magic art bestow on that old grey tower the gift of speech, what tales (stranger indeed than fiction) might it not tell us? What pictures set before our mental vision, what memories recall for us of days long dead ! …

In the old parish and Church of St. Michan we have one of the most ancient and interesting ecclesiastical relics in the city of Dublin. But above its antiquity, St. Michan’s contains some objects of unique interest, and amongst the last-named stand pre-eminently the vaults beneath the church.

Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster King-at-Arms, in 1880, at a meeting of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain, read a paper at Leamington upon the subject. He says:- “These vaults furnish, I believe, considering the circumstance, an unique instance, and if we take into account the peculiarly damp nature of the Irish climate-humid as our geographers call it-which accelerates the process of decay and decomposition-it is more to be wondered at.

The church was founded in the year 1095** **by Michans, said to be a Danish Bishop, and there is a recumbent effigy, occupying a niche in the south wall in the church, of a bishop in alb, chasuble, and mitre, holding a Pastoral Staff. This is supposed to represent the founder. It is doubtful if there exists any of the original church. The tower presents the appearance of having undergone a partial if not a total rebuilding, possibly in 1686, as appears by an inscription over the west door.

There is a tradition that Handel when in Dublin played the organ in St. Michan’s. To this church the remains of the late C. S. Parnell were brought for special requiem service previous to their interment in Glasnevin.

Having said this much about the interior of the church, we pass to the vaults, of which there are five. The entrance to the first vault, beginning at the west end, as in the case of all others, is protected by massive iron doors placed in a slanting direction against the wall. On these being swung back, a flight of steps is disclosed to view … Unlike our sensations in most vaults, a warm feeling is perceptible on entering this place, accompanied by a dry stone and mortar sort of smell, which tells at once of the absence of all damp. The chamber on the left contains some 20 coffins of the Beard and Gill families. On one side is a pile of coffins, out of one of which the whole side has fallen, and there is displayed to view the body of a man in perfect state of preservation, his flesh being of a brown leathery sort of appearance. He rests on hay - all that remains of the upholstery of the coffin - and some hay still clings to the sides ; but all signs of the lining or shroud of the corpse have disappeared.

The next chamber is that of the Osborne family. This contains six coffins, which, contrary to usual custom, are placed nearly upright and leaning against the wall. There is a legend in connection with this famliy that this is the way they have buried their members for many generations in order to facilitate their answer to the last summons. Close to this chamber are two others, of the interior of one of which the photograph (taken by Dr. W. H. Vipond Barry) [not included in the book] gives a representation. This chamber contains 10 coffins.

Before leaving this vault we raised the lid of one of those on the left which did not seem to be fastened down. There lay the body of a man exactly in the same condition of preservation and presenting a similar appearance to the one in the photograph. In the next we come to the family vault of the Earls of Leitrim, which contains the coffin of the late Earl, who was shot in Donegal a few years ago.

At St. Michan’s we must notice the coffins of the brothers John and Henry Sheares, in the last chamber next the entrance. When first buried here they had no leaden coffins, and in process of time, when the wooden coffins went to pieces, the bodies were exposed. But through the agency of the late Dr. Madden the remains of both brothers were placed in lead and oak coffins in 1853.

There are many theories put forward as to the peculiar nature of these vaults; one is that it is due to the tannin in the earthen floors of the vaults, as the ground on which St. Michan’s is built was actually a vast oak forest, and not very long ago known as Oxmantown Wood.

Another opinion is that of Sir Charles Cameron; his theory is that the peculiarity of these vaults is due partly to their undoubted dryness, and partly to the great freedom of their atmosphere from dust. This he ascertained by a series of experiments in the summer of 1879.** **Being anxious to know if Sir Charles had any reason to alter the opinion he had formed as to the reasons for the antiseptic properties of these vaults, I interviewed him upon the question, and he told me he was of the same opinion as that expressed by him 35 years ago.

Without in the old graveyard that surrounds the church, are other historic tombs. Close to the wall, next Alderman Keegan’s timber yard, is a large tomb belonging to the Emmet family. On the other side of the churchyard, a short distance from the sexton’s house, are the grave and headstone of Archbishop Carpenter, who ruled over the Catholic archdiocese of this city from 1770** **till his death in October, 1786. A few paces from the “unmarked grave” sleeps Oliver Bond and the Rev. William Jackson, who took poison so as to “deceive the Senate” and dropped down dead at the feet of the judge who was about to pass sentence of death upon him.

Nearly in the centre of the graveyard is the tomb of Lucas, whose statue by Smith stands in the City Hall. Lucas was M.P. for the city in 1761**, **and to his strength and honesty Ireland owes much in connection with the movements of that period. The inscription on his tomb is as follows

“To the Memory of

CHARLES LUCAS, M.D., formerly one of the Representatives in Parliament for the City of Dublin, whose incorrupt integrity, unconquered spirit, just judgment, and glorious perseverance in the glorious cause of Liberty, Virtue, and his Country, endeared him to his grateful constituents. This tomb is placed over his much-respected remains as a small, yet sincere, tribute of remembrance by one of his fellow-citizens and constituents, Sir Edward Newenham, Knight.

“Lucas! Hibernia’s friend, her joy, and pride,

Her powerful bulwark, and her skilful guide.

Firm in the Senate, steady to his trust,

Unmoved by fear, and obstinately just.

“Charles Lucas, born 26th September, 1713.

“Died November 4th, 1771.”

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