Local Knowledge

Historic trails traversing the barony of Errigal Truagh.

 

Before the Battle of Kinsale  in 1601 the Barony of Truagh which embraces the parishes of Errigal Truagh and Donagh was in the control of the Irish under the leadership of McKenna the local Tuath or Chieftain. Over the course of the centuries the McKenna lordship  power base grew until after the English conquest, and eventually his final defeat at the Battle of Drumbanagher in 1688.

Legend has it that McKenna originally from Co Meath, came to Truagh in the 8th Century in pursuit of a stag, which was finally captured by him at a place called Liskenna about 2 miles north of Emyvale village. Here McKenna settled down and married into the Treanor clan. (The McKenna Coat of Arms depicts this hunt scene). Down the centuries the McKenna name became numerous, and by 1659 it had become as it is today – the second most numerous name in all of Co Monaghan.

Throughout the centuries the McKenna clan headquarters was located at various strategic locations adjacent to Emyvale village, but the most important oa all was probably Tully Fort (1) overlooking Tully lough. It was while here that the last clan chieftain to hold power under the old Irish system of government reigned over the entire barony of Truagh. This clan chieftain Patrick McKenna was allotted 3600 acres of land in the Fitzwilliam Settlement of 1591 under Elizabeth 1st. Under the terms of this Settlement McKenna was obliged to pay an annuity to the crown of7 shillings and 6 pence for every tate of land (60 acres), which he duly declined to pay. In 1911 Patrick began the destruction of the Green Woods of Truagh, by selling off a considerable part of its timber to Sir Thomas Ridgeway who built Favour Royal near Augher. (The memory of this destruction is perpetuated in the well-known verse “Coillte Glasa Triuca”). Through forfeitures for non-payment of annuities, and through sales such as the timbers above, thus began the erosion of McKenna power in Truagh.

By 1642 the new clan Chieftain Neal (Patrick’s son) was defeated by the English of Augher under the command of Hamilton and again in 1643 by the English of Enniskillen  under Sir Robert Stewart. His fort in Tully was ravaged following the the 1642 defeat and by July of that year McKenna headquarters had removed to Portinaghy, where Portinaghy House (2) now stands overlooking Emy lough. At a conference held there by the Ulster chiefs to determine their future strategy, it was unanimously decided (on hearing of the arrival of Owen Rua O’Neill) to continue with the rising which had begun in 1641. The McKennas were prominent in the armies of O’Neill especially at the battle of Benburb in 1646. By 1652 Neal had his lands confiscated under the Cromwellian settlement and he fled to Spain.

The final overthrow of the McKenna era came following the Battle of Drumbanagher in 1688. By this time McKenna headquarters and residence was at Monmurray (3), once again overlooking a lake – Monmurray lough. Major John McKenna who lived here had been appointed Sheriff of Monaghan during the reign of James the 2nd. According to local tradition McKenna’s treasures are alleged to be buried in the depths of the lough.

On the 13th March 1688 a group of badly equipped infantry under the command of Major John McKenna tried unsuccessfully to rout a force of English soldiers at Glaslough. They retreated into the safety of the Viking fort at Drumbanagher (4). The English meanwhile gathered reinforcements and were joined by two companies under the command of Anketell and Richardson. The Irish fired at them as they approached and soon used up all of their ammunition, which did not have the range of their opponents, As a result, the settlers had an easy victory. Some put the numbers killed as low as 6, others as high as 160. Regardless of the cause or of the accuracy of the account of the battle one thing is certain; the Irish were defeated and Captain Matthew Anketell on the one side and Major John McKenna on the other were both killed. This battle is significant also in that it was the only battle of the Williamite war to have taken place in County Monaghan although it might be more accurate to call it a skirmish. The fort at Drumbanagher is different from all the other ring forts dotted around the Co Monaghan landscape. It is a Danish or Viking man-made fort with high clay-walled embankments, surrounded by a moat. It has endured man and the elements quite well down the centuries.

Donagh old graveyard (5) contains a highly valuable collection of tombstone memorials. A few of the headstones date back to the seventeenth century including the memorial of Phelemy McKenna dated 1666 who is recorded in the Hearth Money rolls of 1663/65 period. His address is Aghaboy and it is in this same grave that the McKenna clan chieftains are also interred. Fr Charles McKenna who was chaplain to the Irish brigade in the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, and later served for a time in this parish of Donagh is also interred here. The flat stone which is mounted on 4 pillars at each corner of this rectangular memorial raises it a couple of feet off the ground and is also surrounded by an iron chain-link type fence giving the whole grave an air of great importance. The McKenna high cross (or Donagh Cross as it is also described) is situated in the graveyard having been re-installed around 1910 by Sir Shane Leslie after it was rescued from Donagh bog where it had been  immersed for many years. The legend attached to this cross which Fr Peadar Livingstone has recorded in his book “The Monaghan story” refers this cross having been the market cross in the old hamlet of Tullyree just on the outskirts of Glaslough village. When the Leslies began to colonize the village they considered this feature a threat to the establishment of their new village, as the high cross in the old hamlet was the usual market place. When a man by the name of O’Callaghan who had the reputation for being a strong man and who worked for the Leslies was offered this cross for his family plot in Donagh graveyard he set about transporting it there but only got as far as the bog nearby the graveyard.

Travelling onwards through Emyvale village the townland of Liskenna (6) can be reached where legend has it that it was here McKenna caught up with and killed the stag which he had chased for 2 days and nights.

Errigal graveyard (7) contains many McKenna headstones some bearing the coat of arms scene depicting the hunt from Co Meath.

Beyond Errigal graveyard less than a mile lies the townland of Raflaconny (8) just another placename called after the famous McKenna clan.