The Page of Ireland and Crackenthorpe, Ancestral Home of the Machells
MY MOTHER AND HER FAMILY (MADDEN) CAME FROM PORTADOWN, COUNTY ARMAGH WHICH IS PART OF THE PROVINCE OF ULSTER.
MY FATHER'S FAMILY (ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE, CROWLEY AND REARDEN) CAME FROM COUNTY CORK WHICH IS PART OF THE PROVINCE OF MUNSTER. MY FATHER'S FATHER IS A MYSTERY. WE KNOW HE WAS PARTIALLY IRISH, BUT RUMORS HAD HIM PART NATIVE AMERICAN. BUT MACHELL IS A VERY OLD ENGLISH NAME THAT CAN BE TRACED BACK TO ROMAN TIMES IN ENGLAND. SEE BELOW FOR HISTORY OF THE NAME MACHELL.
Crackenthorpe Hall: Ancestral Home of the Machells;
near Appleby in Cumbria, County of Westmorland, England John Machell was lord of Crackenthorpe in 1266 when he was defendant in an action brought by William de Crackanthorpe claiming that John had promised to let William grind at his mill all the demesne corn. From this time the Machell family possessed the manor (Crackenthorpe Hall) until we come to the year 1685 when Hugh Machell rebuilt the Hall. It was "new remodelled and made shorter than before." Thomas Machell the antiquary, was brother to this Hugh, and he wrote enthusiastically concerning the Hall:
"It is a delicate pile of building facing to the north as most of the principal houses do, having a pedament and two spears or cupilos at the top of the house; the one for pleasure, the other for uniformity sake for a stack of chimneys which cometh through of stone . . . . It hath two courts before it and a way which flanketh them from the town to the kitchen so that none can come to the house upon any occasion but they will see the front and beauty of it."
Lancelot Machell, lord of Crackenthorpe, sold on 29 August, 1786, the Manor and Hall for £12,000 to Richard Bellas of Brampton, acting for Lord Lonsdale, and thus ended five centuries' connection of the Machells with Crackenthorpe. In 1877 Captain Machell (Capt James Octavius Machell) purchased back the Hall, restored the old portion and added to it a new house.
Capt James Octavius Machell is buried in Newmarket cemetery.
He was in the Guiness Book of records until recently as the only owner to have a horse that won the Grand National, 2000 guinees and the Derby. He might still be in.
He was the most successful horse owner and trainer of Victorian times and owned Isinglass from which many present day race horses descend.
There is still a Machell stables in Newmarket which he owned and he lived at Bedford Lodge in Newmarket which is now a Hotel.
Capt James Octavius Machell
The Machell family lived at Crackenthorpe Hall from about 1100 to about 1780 when the estate was sold to Lord Lowther and Capt Machell bought it back in the mid 1800's. The Machell family descend from Matus Catalus (456AD) a Roman Centurion at Kirbythore Roman fort near Crackenthorpe. The Machell family papers dating back to 1100 are with the Dean & Chapter of Carlisle.
Crackenthorpe Hall
Crackenthorpe Hall is near Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town in Cumbria, in North West England. It is situated within a loop of the River Eden and has a population of approximately 2,500. It is in the historic county of Westmorland, of which it was the county town. The town's name was simply Appleby, until the local government changes of 1974.
Appleby-in-Westmorland is a town in Cumbria, in North West England, county of Westmorland.
Sorry about this brief English interlude, and now back to Ireland!
click on image to enlarge
PATRICK
PATRICK
CELTIC CROSS
PATRICK
YOUNG PATRICK
STAINED GLASS
WEBSITE HEADER
WEBSITE DISPLAY
WEBSITE DISPLAY
WEBSITE DISPLAY
CELTIC DAGGER
CELTIC KNOT DESIGN
CELTIC KNOT DESIGN
IRISH CRYSTAL
PEWTER BROOCHES
IRISH STONE GARDEN
CELTIC CROSS
CELTIC CROSS
CELTIC KNOT DESIGN RING
PATRICK CARVING, CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION
TREE OF LIFE
CASTLE
ABBEY
MAP
FORMAL GARDENS
BOOK OF KELLS
SHEEP GRAZING
THE HARP
ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN
COUNTRYSIDE
BOOK OF KELLS
BOOK OF KELLS
BOOK OF KELLS
IRISH STONE CARVING
IRISH STONE CARVING
IRISH CASTLE
IRISH STONE CARVING
IRISH ABBEY
IRISH STONE CARVING
IRISH STONE CARVING
TARTAN OF SAINT PATRICK'S PIPE BAND---MY BAND
TARTAN OF CORK, MY FATHER'S FAMILY PLACE OF ORIGIN (REARDEN AND CROWLEY)
TARTAN OF COUNTY ARMAGH, MY MOTHER'S BIRTHPLACE
NATIONAL TARTAN OF IRELAND
TARTAN OF ANTRIM
COUNTY CLARE TARTAN
ALL IRELAND BLUE (MODERN)
TARTAN OF GALWAY
TARTAN OF ULSTER IN RED
TARTAN OF MONAGHAN
TARTAN OF DONEGAL
TARTAN OF KILKENNY
ANCIENT HARP OF THE CELTS (CIRCA 300 AD)
MODERN IRISH HARP
MEDIEVAL CELTIC HARP
18TH CENTURY IRISH HARP
ANCIENT SYMBOL ON MODERN CURRENCY
HARP WITH FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
MADDEN CREST (MY MOTHER'S FAMILY)
BOOK OF KELLS TAPESTRY
FROM THE BOOK OF KELLS
THE CLADDAGH RING
REAL Shamrock
THE IRISH COAST
IRISH CASTLE
ONE OF MANY IRISH CASTLES
IRISH CLIFFS
A TYPICAL ROW HOUSE IN IRELAND
IRISH CLIFFS
ROAD IN IRELAND
SPIRAL DESIGN FROM BOOK OF KELLS
CORK CITY
Shamrock
Shamrock with claddagh design
CELTIC CROSS ON BODHRAN
CELTIC KNOT AND VARIOUS CELTIC DESIGNS ON BODHRAN
BIRD FROM BOOK OF KELLS, DRAWN BY ONE OF MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUSINS FROM COUNTY ARMAGH
CELTIC KNOT ENGRAVING
BIRD FROM BOOK OF KELLS
CLADDAGH SYMBOL ON BODHRAN
CELTIC KNOT DESIGN
CELTIC CROSS
Shamrock
A VARIATION ON THE SPIRAL DESIGN
CLADDAGH LAMP
SWIRL SYMBOL WITH SHAMROCK
Shamrock with map of Ireland
THE CELTIC CROSS
CELTIC KNOT LAMP
CELTIC KNOT
CELTIC KNOT CROSS
MILLIONS OF IRISH CAME HERE FOR A BETTER LIFE
The Legend of the Claddagh Ring is the story of the mystical and beautiful Claddagh Ring. First told over 300 years ago in the ancient fishing village of the Claddagh, outside the walls of the City of Galway on the west coast of Ireland.
Passed down through the generations, this romantic story centers on a man named Richard Joyce and the ring he created. Slight variations exist among storytellers. Following are slightly different versions:
I. Legend has it that shortly before he was due to be married, a fisherman Richard Joyce was captured at sea by pirates and sold into slavery in Algeria.
He became the property of a rich Moorish goldsmith, who sensing his potential began to train him in his craft. In time Richard Joyce became a fully proficient master craftsman and with thoughts of the girl he had left behind close to his heart, he fashioned the first Claddagh Ring. The heart symbolising love, the pair of hands representing friendship and the crown for loyalty and fidelity.
II. In 1698 after an agreement with King George III to release all his subjects held in slavery, Richard Joyce found himself once more a free man.
His master, who had by now grown very fond of him offered his only daughter in marriage and half his wealth, if he would remain in Algiers, but Joyce declined and returned home to Galway.
There he found that his sweetheart had waited for his return, and presenting her with the Claddagh Ring they were married.
SOME FLAGS/NATIONALISTIC SYMBOLS OF IRELAND
THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
THE FOUR PROVINCES OF IRELAND
Munster (top right), Leinster (bottom right), Connacht (bottom left) and Ulster (top left)
COAT OF ARMS FOR GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC
FLAG OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
PROVINCE OF ULSTER
PROVINCE OF CONNACHT
PROVINCE OF MUNSTER
PROVINCE OF LEINSTER
COUNTY CORK
CORK COUNTY COUNCIL
COUNTY ARMAGH
THE ERIN GO BRAGH FLAG: IRELAND FOREVER
THE DUBLIN POST OFFICE WHERE IN 1916 THE IRA MADE A STAND AGAINST THE BRITISH ARMY
SIGN ON DUBLIN POST OFFICE, O'CONNELL STREET, COMMEMORATING THE EASTER REBELLION 1916
IRELAND'S "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE" 1916: PROCLAMATION OF THE IRISH PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO FREEDOM
ANCIENT SYMBOLS ON MODERN CURRENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
A NATIONALISTIC BANNER FLOWN IN COUNTY DERRY FOR FOOTBALL GAME
FLAG OF IRELAND HOCKEY TEAM
BLAZON OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN
LOCAL INSIGNA: BALINA, COUNTY MAYO
FLAG OF GREAT BRITAIN, THEY RULE NORTHERN IRELAND (UNFORTUNATELY)
1923, my mother and brothers and sisters with their mother came through Ellis Island. Their father and older brothers had come a year ahead to earn enough money to bring the rest of the family to America. A story not much different then many other families.
FLAG OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
FLAGS/INSIGNIA OF THE PAST IN IRELAND
ULSTER PROTESTANT FLAG OF SOLIDARITY
QUARTER OF ROYAL STANDARD USED IN IRISH MATTERS
ORDER OF SAINT PATRICK, MEDAL OF DISTINCTION GIVEN BY BRITISH MILITARY
St Patrick's saltire, used by various Irish organizations in historical Ireland (these crossed lines incorporated into flag of Great Britain)
FORMER SEAL OF COUNTY CORK
FORMER SEAL OF CORK CITY COUNCIL
PAST FLAG OF THE GOVERNMENT OF NORTHERN IRELAND
PAST FLAG OF THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND
THE ROYAL STANDARD (USED WHEN QUEEN COMES TO N. IRELAND)
PRIOR TO THE REBELLION NAVAL ENSIGN (BEFORE 1922)
SOME SAINTS OF IRELAND
Saints of Ireland
Palladius
Despite his successes and the erection of several churches bishop Palladius, who was sent in 431 by the pope to Christianise Ireland, in Laigin, or Leinster, he is not known as He-Who-Brought-Christianity-To-Ireland. This honourable title is usually given to his successor, Patricius Magonus Sucatus, better known as Saint Patrick.
Saint Patrick is probably born in Scotland, or even Wales, but has spent his childhood in Ireland. Due to his inside knowledge of the Celtic religion and their philosophy of life he was able to create a balanced blend from the pagan religion and Christianity.
Irish Monasteries
Soon after Saint Patrick began his missionary work monasteries appeared. Many monasteries flourished on pagan holy grounds, preferably near a well or pond, and the conventuals more or less took over the role of druids. While most monasteries on the European mainland were isolated communities organised in inaccessible dioceses with immense and extravagant churches, the Irish monasteries consists of open communities with simple wooden buildings and based on earthly, educational and religious needs.
With their experience in mixing religious concepts with gentle hand and their habituation to meagre living conditions the Irish monks proofed to be excellent missionary and soon they spread over Europe, the Middle East and the north coast of Africa.
Christian Legends
Without completely abandoning the old Celtic legends and myths Christianity was accepted and adopted very quickly. With the saints a complete new array of subjects for legendary tales was born. Just as the lives of earlier kings, druids and heroes the lives of the saints are veiled in a mixture of facts, legends and myths.
This mixture makes it is impossible to disentangle the legendary Saint Patrick to unveil the historical person.
A remarkable mixture of a pagan deity and a Christian saint is the legendary Saint Brigid. The story of her live and works is without a doubt based on the Celtic Goddess Brigit.
The urge to spread Christianity was extremely high for Saint Brendan. We still do not have a clue where his legendary Voyage took him. It is no surprise that Saint Brendan and the travel-mad Saint Columba became close friends.
Modern Religion
There are two faces on modern Irish Christianity. The pretty face radiates respect for all beings and religious figures extremely close to the ordinary folks. Instead of violently enforcing Christianity, like in other European countries, the new religion was carefully mixed with existing pagan believes. Still today you can see a crucifix in a living room surrounded by fairies. The concept of numerous Gods all around in nature and in every days activities is not completely ousted by one distant deity. It is allowed to impersonate Saint Patrick, familiarly called Saint Paddy or Saint Pat, and other Christian figures. You can even sing light-hearted songs about Jesus Christ, such as Lord Of The Dance, or a songs explaining why the mythical unicorns missed Noah's Ark.
Modern Irish Christianity is not tolerant at all on more philosophical issues like divorce, abortion, contraception and homosexuality. Until recently the guidelines of the Vatican in these matters were strictly followed not only in daily life but also in the lawbooks. Pressured by the European Union the legislation regarding some issues seems to change gradually. The abortion legislation in the Republic of Ireland is however the most restricted in Europe. Abortion is prohibited unless to save a woman's life. Some other countries with such legislation are Afghanistan, Dominica, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Yemen.
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR ENLARGEMENT
Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh
Armagh is marked, Portadown is where my mother and her family came from
window from Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh
Brief History of This Cathedral (longer version to follow)
This Cathedral, stands on one of the most ancient christian sites in the British Isles. A house of God for over 1500 years.
In the year 445, according to tradition, St Patrick built a stone church on a hill, then called Druimsailech [the ridge of sallows]. This was granted to him by the local chieftain, Daire. In 447 St Patrick ordained that Armagh should have pre-eminence over all the churches of Ireland, a position which it holds to this day. Little remains of the original building, except perhaps the bases of the tower piers, rebuilt in 1834. In 832 peace in Ireland was shattered by Viking invaders. The Cathedral was subjected to regular burnings and plunderings. In 1261 Primate O'Scanlan had to rebuild it, and this was the start of the building we now see.
This Cathedral is affiliated with the Church of Ireland, a section of the Anglican Church(the Episcopal Church in the United States).
window from Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh History by Robin Marsh, Cathedral Reader of The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Patrick, Armagh
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Patrick, Armagh, is set on a hill from which the name of the city derives - Ard Macha - the Height of Macha. Macha, a legendary pre-christian tribal princess - some say goddess - is also linked with the nearby Emain Macha, a major ritual site occupied from late Neolithic/early Bronze Age times which is regarded as having been the ancient royal centre of Iron Age Ulster. Emain Macha is associated with the epic Ulster cycle known as the Tain bo Cuailnge whose doomed hero figure is Cuchulain, the 'Hound of Ulster', and which features also the King of Ulster Conchobhar MacNessa, his adversary Queen Macbeth of Connaught, Conail Cernach, the Red Branch knights and the Boy Troop of Ulster.
After the ritual destruction of the sanctuary at Emain it is likely that the nearby hill of Ard Macha became the centre of the Ulaid (the local tribal group that gave its name to Ulster). It is this hilltop enclosure which St Patrick acquired and within which he built his first 'Great Stone Church'. St Patrick's earliest church in Armagh was probably 'Templum na Ferta', the Church of the Relics on a site close to Scotch Street, below the Hill of Armagh.
The steep streets in today's city follow the line of its defensive rings to the city below. To the left, as one leaves the Cathedral gates, is the Armagh Public Library, founded in 1771 and across the road is the former Armagh Infirmary, dating from 1774. The eighteenth century is further represented in the eleven houses of Vicar's Hill facing the west wall of the Cathedral. Opposite the Library is the neo-Elizabethan Synod Hall, built in 1912, and, to its right, the limestone pillars and impressive eighteenth century iron gates, formerly sited at the Archbishops' Palace, leading to the present See House.
Saint Patrick
From the fifth century of the Christian era, the hill acquired a new significance with the arrival in Armagh of St Patrick. Patrick, as a boy, had spent some years as a slave in Ireland. He managed to escape and return to his family in Britain. After a time, Patrick claimed to have had a vision in which a man called Victoricus implored him to return to Ireland. Accordingly, he prepared himself for ordination and eventually, as a bishop, began his ministry in Ireland in, according to tradition, 432.
In his travels throughout the country, Patrick eventually reached Armagh where, following some hard negotiating with a local Chieftain, Daire, he was given his desired site on the hill of Armagh. In what is believed to be the year 445, he built his church. Whether or not the building was of stone, as the Irish name Damhliag Mor implies, is uncertain but there certainly was a great stone church at Armagh in the ninth century according to the Annals of Ireland. It is on this same site that today's Cathedral stands and it was Patrick who decreed that the Great Church at Armagh should be the premier church in Ireland.
The Cathedral and the Archbishops
As can be seen from a list in a panel on the north-west wall, Armagh has, since Patrick, first Bishop of Armagh, an unbroken succession of, first, bishops and abbots - these two roles often being vested in the same person - and, since Celsus in 1106, archbishops of Armagh. When the Acts of Supremacy of 1536 and 1560 renounced the jurisdiction of the Pope over the English and Irish churches, and proclaimed the monarch as, initially, Supreme Head on Earth and, later, supreme Governor of the Churches of England and Ireland, the Irish episcopate followed divergent lines, the Church of Ireland marking its succession from Adam Loftus and the Roman Catholics from Richard Creagh. Today's cathedral contains a number of memorials to previous archbishops.
Expansion, Destruction and Renewal
After the death of Patrick, Cormac, one of his successors as Bishop of Armagh, made the church the centre of a monastic settlement and for many centuries Armagh was a celebrated seat of learning, attracting students from all over Europe. Indeed, by the twelfth century, only those who had studied at Armagh were permitted to teach theology.
The history of the Church at Armagh also reflects that of a country where violence was rarely far away. The first threat, which lasted intermittently for over two centuries, was from the Vikings from Norway who raided the hill on at least ten occasions between 832 and 943. This danger was only finally removed in 1014 when the Irish High King, Brian Boroimhe (Boru), defeated the Danes at the Battle of Clontarf. Brian, himself, had acknowledged the dominant position of Armagh in 1004 when he laid a gift of gold on the High Altar and, on his death in the field at Clontarf, his remains were brought to the hill of Armagh for interment in a spot indicated today by a stone inscription on the exterior west wall of the north transept.
Apart from the destruction caused by the Vikings, the Church also suffered a lightning strike in 995 and remained a ruin until 1125 when it was repaired and re-roofed by Bishop Celsus. The most far-reaching work of restoration, however, was that carried out by Archbishop O Scanlon. Further damage required major rebuilding by Archbishop Sweetman in the 1360s and by Archbishop Swayne in the 1420s. In the 1560s, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, the Earl of Sussex, in his attempts to curb the aggressive activities of Shane 'the Proud' O Neill, fortified the cathedral against him but in 1566 O Neill 'utterly destroyed the Cathedral by fire, lest the English should again lodge in it'. In 1641 it again became a target for the O Neills when Sir Phelim O Neill burned it during the rising of Catholics who had been dispossessed in the early seventeenth century Plantation of Ulster. Repair work was carried out in the 1660s by Archbishop Margetson. Further restorations were undergone in 1727, 1765, 1802, 1834, 1888, 1903, 1950 and 1970 and, most recently, in 2004 under the scrupulous and wise direction of Dean Herbert Cassidy.
'Cottingham's Cathedral'
Probably the most extensive restoration carried on in the Cathedral took place from 1834 until 1837, commissioned and largely paid for by Archbishop John George Beresford, a man of considerable wealth and generous benefactor to the Church and to education. The architect, Lewis Nockalls Cottingham (1787-1847), addressed the structural vulnerability of the Cathedral by restoring the nave walls to the perpendicular and removing the short wooden spire which can be seen on the seal of the Cathedral. He also re-opened the clerestory windows which had been blocked by Archbishop Margetson and restyled them in decorated Gothic, enlarged the choir windows and overlaid the timber vaulting with plasterwork.
Cottingham came to Armagh from his involvement in the restoration work in St Albans Abbey which had begun in 1832 and attempted to replicate in Armagh certain features which had impressed him in St Albans as when he erected a stone screen to separate the nave from the choir. This innovation would be in line with the influence on Cottingham of the ideas of Augistus Welby Pugin and the early Gothic Revival as were his restoration of the High Altar from the west end, where it had been relegated by Archbishop Stewart in the early nineteenth century, to its proper eastward position in the form of a stone altar backed by a reredos of canopied niches, also copied from St Albans. Despite these features, however, many felt that, rather than providing a sense of medievalism, Cottingham's work was too deliberate and precise and tended to eclipse the earlier features of the Cathedral. According to William Makepeace Thackeray, Cottingham's Cathedral was 'too complete...not the least venerable. It is as neat and trim as a lady's drawing-room.' Although the choir screen was removed in 1888, much of Cottingham's work remains and, while his restoration did indeed suggest a new interior, the basic shape of the Cathedral is still as conceived by Archbishop O Scanlon in the twelfth century.
Two Cathedrals
Armagh is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and across the valley and on another hill sits the great French Gothic twin-spired cathedral completed in 1873. Over the years, a spirit of joint witness between the cathedrals has developed and at a St Patrick's Day service in 1999, Archbishop (now Cardinal) Brady preached, the first Roman Catholic archbishop to do so since the Church of Ireland's break with Rome. The Ulster poet, John Hewitt, has left a gentle image of the unity of the two traditions in their allegiance to Patrick:
"You say Armagh, and I see the hill
With the two tall spires or the square low tower;
The faith of Patrick is with us still;
His blessing falls in a moonlit hour."
History of the Marian Shrine, Knock, County Mayo, Ireland
On the wet Thursday evening of the 21st August, 1879, at about 8 o'clock, Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist appeared in a blaze of Heavenly light at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. Behind them and a little to the left of St. John was a plain altar. On the altar was a cross and a lamb with adoring angels. The Apparition was seen by fifteen people whose ages ranged from six years to seventy-five and included men, women and children.
The witnesses described the Blessed Virgin Mary as being clothed in white robes with a brilliant crown on her head. Over the forehead where the crown fitted the brow, she wore a beautiful full-bloom golden rose. She was in an attitude of prayer with her eyes and hands raised towards Heaven. St. Joseph stood on Our Lady's right. He was turned towards her in an attitude of respect. His robes were also white. St. John was on Our Lady's left. He was dressed in white vestments and resembled a bishop, with a small mitre. He appeared to be preaching and he held an open book in his left hand.
The witnesses watched the Apparition in pouring rain for two hours, reciting the Rosary. Although they themselves were saturated not a single drop of rain fell on the gable or vision.
Ireland's National Marian Shrine, Knock, County Mayo, Ireland
T: +353 (0) 94 9388100 E: info@knock-shrine.ie
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Photos assembled from various websites. My appreciation, displayed for educational purposes only.
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