Kilmainham Hospital

Kilmainham. - Ancient History. - Vicissitudes. - Old Man’s Hospital. - Lord Carhampton. - Sir Edward Blakeney. - Lady Blakeney.- Lord Strathnairn.

Kilmainham, or Kill-Magnend, we are told in that old-world chronicle “The Four Masters’, (which I do not pretend to have read, as I have Malory, under Mr. Andrew Lang’s guidance), is formed of two Celtic words - kill, a church, and *magnend, *magnus: this being the site chosen by St. Magnus to build his church 1200 years ago.

This church and cemetery existed when that great chieftain, well known in story, Brian Boroimhe, fought “the Danes from out the lanes” of Clontarf, as the old song says. Previous to this achievement Brian encamped at Kilmainham, or, as it was then called, Kill-Magnend, and laid siege to the City of the Dark Pool, as it was named.

The siege lasted nearly a year, and ended in the glorious victory of Clontarf, called the Marathon of Ireland. The slain on both sides were laid to rest in the churchyard of Kill-Magnend, where to this day, we are told on competent authority, the ground has only to be broken to disclose crumbling battle-axes, spear-heads, and shield-bosses, which antiquarians aver belonged to the Danish warriors.

The sleep of these giants was, however, soon to be disturbed by the intrusion of their hated foes, the Anglo-Norman race, who, flushed with conquest, began upsetting everything and everybody. Kill-Magnend was not allowed to escape.

Strongbow, of the scorbutic countenance, as soon as he had settled himself in the saddle of government, sent for the powerful order of Knights Templars, and established them in St. Magnus’s Monastery, which had to be made more luxurious for these haughty Templars, who soon spread themselves over Ireland, and became formidable, from their wealth and strength.

The Prior of Kilmainham, William de Rosse, filled the important office of Lord-Deputy in 1296; but such great elevations often are presages of equally sudden falls, and 11 years later Edward II., when he suppressed the Knights Templars in England, issued a similar mandate for the order in Ireland, with the admonition to the executants of such to lose no time, but do what they had to do before the news of the expulsion of their English brethren should reach the ears of the Irish Knights. It took, however, two years to get hold of all the Templars scattered through Ireland; but by degrees they were all captured and imprisoned in Dublin Castle.

The next occupiers of Kilmainham were the Knights Hospitallers, to whom likewise a large grant was given of the lands now forming part of the Phoenix Park. The Knights Hospitallers were a fine order, their head-quarters in Ireland being at Kilmainham ; within their ranks were physicians, warriors, philosophers, and lawyers-some of the priors holding office as Lord Chancellors.

One of their number, one Botellier (head of the clan of Butler), led a large force of Irish kerns in mail armour (with darts and skeynes) to the assistance of Henry V. at the Siege of Rouen, and none, we are told, did more damage to their enemies, “who did tremble at their approach.”

But their power was soon to be a thing of the past. Their ambition, which grew with their prosperity, alarmed Henry VIII., while their wealth excited his cupidity. Their destruction was a foregone conclusion; but their fall was accelerated by the pusillanimity of the Prior, Sir John Rawson, who meekly surrendered to the King the abbey and church, together with the fine pasturelands and crops growing in rich luxuriance.

For this giving of no trouble Sir John was duly reinstated in his sovereign’s favour, and was further rewarded by being created Lord Clontarf, a title which became soon after extinct. When Mary became Queen, the Knights Hospitallers were restored to their dignities, and Sir Oswald Massingbirde was made Prior. He held the office for only a few years, for on Elizabeth’s coming to the throne, and the order being given for the suppression of all monasteries, Sir Oswald Massingbirde retired without a struggle, followed by his brethren.

And so the Knights Hospitallers sank into oblivion, sharing the fate of all the monastic orders in England and Ireland. The fine monastery and church became a ruin; and when in 1565 Sir Henry Sidney was appointed Governor, he found it unfit for occupation.

It is to Charles II. (who had some of the lands of the Hospitaller Knights enclosed in the area of Phoenix Park) that Irish soldiers owe the erection of what is popularly termed “the Old Man’s Hospital for aged and maimed soldiers.”

In 1680 the first stone was laid by the Earl of Ormonde, Deputy-Governor, whose arms are placed over the door. The large room where the pensioners dine, and where, in the season, balls are given, [As I write a ball is taking place at the Royal Hospital, given by Field-Marshal Lord Roberts in honour of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York], was designed by Christopher Wren, and is 180 feet long and 50 broad.

It is ornamented by stacks of arms, piled in artistic confusion, and on its walls hang some fine portraits of twenty-two Kings and Governors. The sovereigns are represented by Charles II., William III., Queen Mary, and Queen Anne The Governors, beginning with the Duke of Dorset, are more civil than military, Dr. Narcissus Marsh figuring amongst these worthies. The list stops in the year 1718, and since then the appointment has been given strictly to officers who have earned high distinction, and who hold likewise the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Ireland. Sir Edward Blakeney, who was Governor of the Hospital for years, was a Waterloo hero; Sir George Browne, of Crimean reputation, Lord Strathnairn, of Indian celebrity ; Sir John Mitchell, Crimean ; Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar; Lord Wolseley; and Lord Roberts of Kandahar, the present Commander-in-Chief.

Not far from the Old Man’s Hospital is the Prison of Kilmainham, where some leading patriots have in their time been confined, Charles Stewart Parnell being the last distinguished suspect. It was here that the so-called Kilmainham Treaty, which caused a good deal of stir in its day, but is now forgotten, was said to have been arranged.

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