was made for the Lord. How content Colman must be to have seen and to see his simple foundation nourish the parish generations down the centuries? The enclosure of the early monastery of St. Colman across the road from the present church could until quite recently be detected by photography. All of the church ruins on the site date only from medieval times, but the holy well - sadly close up for some time - the `chair` of St. Colman and the traditions all indicate an earlier foundation. Colman, the son of the king of Munster, founded his principal monastery Ely. There is some confusion between this Doire Mor - an old name for the general area; offshoots would be Cul Doire and Glas Doire Mor, the modern Gloster - and the Derrynaflan of recent fame. Scholars are undecided as to the location of Colman`s church. But there is no doubt that an early monastery flourished here at Kilcolman. With the coming of the Norman's and the Norman Canons to the area, Kilcolman together with nearby Aghancon, Roscomroe and Kinnity became the property of Monaincha Abbey. In the sixteenth century we are told that the vill of Kylecolman with twenty acres, annual value forty shillings (two punts) belonged to Monaincha. In fact, Kilcolman was so closely tied to Monaincha that it too became known as Insula Vitae, the island of the living. Historical sources for the later middle ages are very meagre. We know that a Clonol Oxburgh, resident in Boveen and a brother-in-law of an O`Carrol erected a chapel ease in the graveyard. Old Kilcolman parish - that is the civil parish - was sited mainly in the Barony of Clonlisk, comprised 6,628 acres and in 1837 had a population of 2,199. At that time six private schools educated only 185 pupils. One of these schools was run by a notorious proselytizer, a Mr. Synge of Mount Mask. Fr. Peter Cleary built the `new` Kilcolman chapel about the year 1830, the first substantial church of the nineteenth century in the parish. these were hard times and became harder as famine and evictions became the norm. But life went on and other than the baptisimal entries very few comments were inserted in the registers. One at the end of December 1861 is of particular note: " This winter is painful . . . great hunger among the poor people, want of food and fuel and in every respect almost as trying as the Famine of 1847". One priest of those times holds a special claim to be remembered in our prayers: Fr. Patrick Hurly, a priest of the people. Fr. Hurley served as curate in Bodyke, Kilcolman, Toomevara and Birr before his appointment as Parish Priest to Kilcolman in 1875. The circumstances are unclear but he was evicted from the parochial house in 1881. He built and lived in a one roomed `house` in an adjoining field - it is still there and deserves to be preserved both as a reminder to us of those times and a tribute to his memory. There he lived for a year until he won the rite to build a new parochial house. This was completed in 1882, but Fr. Hurley did not enjoy his new house for long and died in 1886. His example and perserverance epitimises the spirit of Kilcolman. This spirit is very much in evidence today. Once again the people of Kilcolman rebuild the fabric and rekindle the faith ensuring that their generation rites indelibly its own piece of history. Well might the analyst of historic Kilcolman and its people in June 1988: they have planned their part, they have upheld the cherished traditions, they will inherit the gratitude of the unborn, the future parishioners of this holy place, Kilcolman. By George Cunningham,on the occasion of the rededication of Kilcolman Church. Researched by Vincent Nolan |
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