Fascinating and entertaining New Abbey talk
At last night's Heritage Week talk on New Abbey were Miriam McDonnell, Nessa Dunlea of Kilcullen Heritage Group, and Colette Jordan, who gave the talk.
Given the length of New Abbey's history—the first recorded monastic settlement there was 1486—and the short time available to her, history researcher Colette Jordan's talk on 'New Abbey and its Ever Changing Times' last evening covered a lot of ground and time, writes Brian Byrne.
Based on a history of New Abbey commissioned from her by the stud's current owner, Prince Khalid Abdullah, Colette's presentation had the mix of chronology and intimate detail which always make her contributions both fascinating and entertaining.
She spoke in Kilcullen last year about the women of Carton House, and brought new insights into the life and times of that Maynooth 'big house' history, but she admitted that talking to an audience about a local historic house was more 'daunting', not least because people would have their own stories of the more recent owners.
Colette went swiftly through a myriad of early owners and renters of—and visitors to—New Abbey's lands and house from the time the original monastery was dissolved by Cromwell in 1539. Among these were Fitzgeralds, FitzEustaces, Edmund Spencer, Harringtons, and Hobsons. The property was acquired by the Brereton family in the late 18th century, and it was that name which, on and off, was to prove the most important over more than a century of the estate's story. In particular William Robert Brereton, who became the Magistrate of Kildare and was well thought of for his sense of justice and charity.
The acquisition of New Abbey by one Captain Dixon in 1909 brought a strong focus to the property as a stud farm of distinction. Dixon was High Sheriff of Co Kildare, and after being elevated to the rank of Lord Glentoran he lived most of the time in Northern Ireland, but entertained regularly at New Abbey.
In 1951 the property was bought by Ken and Isabella Urquhart, against competition from the Aga Khan, for the then very substantial sum of €50,000. They ran it as a working farm, and Colette noted that they are 'warmly remembered' in the town to this day. New Abbey was bought by Prince Khalid Abdullah in 1990, some 16 years after the death of Ken Urquhart. It is today a thriving and successful stud farm.
RADIO DIARY: Colette Jordan talks to Brian Byrne about the challenge of researching New Abbey.
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