Glenmalure the Seat of Gabhal Raghnall
The Valley of Glenmalure by Val Byrne
Glenmalure (Gleann-Malowra) Malowra's Glen
One of the most prominent features of Glenmalure is its mountain range with Lugnaquilla rising to 3039 feet, the highest mountain in Leinster. Glenmalure which normally offers peace and stillness was the scene of many battles between the native Irish and British
invaders from the sixteenth century. Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byrne, chief of the O'Byrnes made many raids on the Pale from his stronghold at Ballinacor at the head of Glenmalure.
On 25th August 4 58 a force of about a thousand horse and foot soldiers set out from Rathdrum under Lord Grey de Wilton, the Lord Deputy accompanied by his secretary and poet Edmund Spenser. Grey's mission was to end the activities of the O'Byme clan and capture Fiach. The O'Byrnes set up an ambush on each side of the glen and when the redcoats entered they were set upon by the rebels armed with muskets and pikes. The battle lasted half an hour and over eight hundred lives were lost. Grey led the survivors in defeat back to Dublin. The officers were buried at a place known to-day as 'Giants Grave' and the lower ranks were buried in a mass grave nearby.
Fiach Mac Hugh continued to evade capture and was pardoned for a second time in 1581. In 1594 his sons attacked
and burned the house of the Sheriff of Kildare as a result of which Fiach was proclaimed a traitor with a reward of £150 for his capture. The new Lord Deputy, Sir William Russell continued his pursuit and succeeded in capturing him on May
8th 1597. Immediately he was beheaded by Sergeant Milborne and as a deterrent his head was impailed on the gates of Dublin Castle.
A granite boulder, known as Cullen's Rock, has the inscription: 'An gleann mar bhris fiaca O'Brien cath ar ghallaibh A.D. 1580. This is the glen in which Fiach O'Byrne defeated the English in 1580'. The rock was used by British forces in 1798 rising to hang local rebels.
Two of Michael Dwyer's loyal supporters, Hugh Vesty Byrne and John Mernagh were from the area. Byrne was born at Kirakee in the heart of the Glenmalure valley and Mernagh was born at Ballinaskea at the head of the valley.
Other well known rebels from the area were James and Edward Kelly, Dan Doyle, Bill Burke, Jim Cullen, Christy Byrne, John, Patrick and Bartle Byrne and John Browne.
There was another battle in Glenmalure on 15th October 1798 when a General Eustace and eighty redcoats were on patrol in Glenmalure. The rebels appeared on the mountain above them and opened fire. Eustace claimed he was outnumbered and was forced to retreat. The rebels pursued them and kept up constant fire for three miles. Eustace returned the following day with 500 men but Dwyer had retreated into the mountains where he established his headquarters. Dwyer and his 400 rebels continued their struggle against the forces of the Crown for the next five years. During this period the barracks at Drumgoff was erected by the British. In December 1805 Dwyer surrendered to William Hoare Hume, the local garrison commander and was transported to Australia where he died in August 1825.
The lead mine at Ballinafunshoge, near Drumgoff, was once operated by the Royal Irish Mining Company. The mine
produced 300 tons of galena annually in the early part of the nineteenth century. The old Drumgoff Barracks was used to accommodate workers at the mines.
Ballinacor Estate , house and land of 4000 acres, was sold by Lord Meath in 2000, it is now privatly owned by the Goff family.
> Ballinacor House < back to Septs > link to " The rise of Gabhall Raghnall by Emmett O'Byrne
One of the most prominent features of Glenmalure is its mountain range with Lugnaquilla rising to 3039 feet, the highest mountain in Leinster. Glenmalure which normally offers peace and stillness was the scene of many battles between the native Irish and British
invaders from the sixteenth century. Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byrne, chief of the O'Byrnes made many raids on the Pale from his stronghold at Ballinacor at the head of Glenmalure.
On 25th August 4 58 a force of about a thousand horse and foot soldiers set out from Rathdrum under Lord Grey de Wilton, the Lord Deputy accompanied by his secretary and poet Edmund Spenser. Grey's mission was to end the activities of the O'Byme clan and capture Fiach. The O'Byrnes set up an ambush on each side of the glen and when the redcoats entered they were set upon by the rebels armed with muskets and pikes. The battle lasted half an hour and over eight hundred lives were lost. Grey led the survivors in defeat back to Dublin. The officers were buried at a place known to-day as 'Giants Grave' and the lower ranks were buried in a mass grave nearby.
Fiach Mac Hugh continued to evade capture and was pardoned for a second time in 1581. In 1594 his sons attacked
and burned the house of the Sheriff of Kildare as a result of which Fiach was proclaimed a traitor with a reward of £150 for his capture. The new Lord Deputy, Sir William Russell continued his pursuit and succeeded in capturing him on May
8th 1597. Immediately he was beheaded by Sergeant Milborne and as a deterrent his head was impailed on the gates of Dublin Castle.
A granite boulder, known as Cullen's Rock, has the inscription: 'An gleann mar bhris fiaca O'Brien cath ar ghallaibh A.D. 1580. This is the glen in which Fiach O'Byrne defeated the English in 1580'. The rock was used by British forces in 1798 rising to hang local rebels.
Two of Michael Dwyer's loyal supporters, Hugh Vesty Byrne and John Mernagh were from the area. Byrne was born at Kirakee in the heart of the Glenmalure valley and Mernagh was born at Ballinaskea at the head of the valley.
Other well known rebels from the area were James and Edward Kelly, Dan Doyle, Bill Burke, Jim Cullen, Christy Byrne, John, Patrick and Bartle Byrne and John Browne.
There was another battle in Glenmalure on 15th October 1798 when a General Eustace and eighty redcoats were on patrol in Glenmalure. The rebels appeared on the mountain above them and opened fire. Eustace claimed he was outnumbered and was forced to retreat. The rebels pursued them and kept up constant fire for three miles. Eustace returned the following day with 500 men but Dwyer had retreated into the mountains where he established his headquarters. Dwyer and his 400 rebels continued their struggle against the forces of the Crown for the next five years. During this period the barracks at Drumgoff was erected by the British. In December 1805 Dwyer surrendered to William Hoare Hume, the local garrison commander and was transported to Australia where he died in August 1825.
The lead mine at Ballinafunshoge, near Drumgoff, was once operated by the Royal Irish Mining Company. The mine
produced 300 tons of galena annually in the early part of the nineteenth century. The old Drumgoff Barracks was used to accommodate workers at the mines.
Ballinacor Estate , house and land of 4000 acres, was sold by Lord Meath in 2000, it is now privatly owned by the Goff family.
> Ballinacor House < back to Septs > link to " The rise of Gabhall Raghnall by Emmett O'Byrne