Fascinating talk on the Borrowes of Gilltown
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| Ger McCarthy with Mary Orford and Nessa Dunlea of the Kilcullen Heritage Group. |
The occasion was a talk on the Borrowes family who had settled in Kildare by the early part of the 17th century and were based at Gilltown until the early 20th century.
The talk was given by historian Ger McCarthy of Naas, author of The Forgotten Heritage of Kildare and chairperson of the Naas Local History Group.
The event was the first in a series of monthly talks relating to the history and heritage of Kilcullen which will be given through 2019 as part of the Kilcullen 700 celebrations.
Ger McCarthy noted the first recorded member of the Borrowes family was Henry, who married a daughter, Joan, of the Sauvage family of Rheban Castle in Athy. They settled in Gilltown in 1745, on land at Grangemore owned by the Eustace family into which a son of Henry and Joan's had married.
"The Borrowes always married well," he told the well-attended meeting. "Families like theirs were always careful who they married. They always followed the money, around the country."
With slides which comprised in many instances church memorial plaques, and pictures of various castles and great houses — some of them now ruins — Ger outlined the various marriage connections made by the Borrowes. These included the Fitzgeralds of Kilkea Castle, the Dixons of Calverstown, the Weldons of Kilmorony House, the Walsh's of Ballykilcavan House in Stradbally, the Higginsons of Mount Offaly near Athy, and the Hendricks of Kerdiffstown House, Naas.
They also looked beyond the Kildare area, and marriages were also arranged with the Maddens of Hilton Park at Clones — Charlotte Borrowes, who died in 1857 and is buried at Gilltown, was a Maddens. Connections also included the Cooke-Trench family of Co Galway, and the Tippings of Bellurgan Park in Co Louth.
In Kildare, the family's land holdings eventually included Barretstown Castle near Ballymore, now a respite centre for sick children set up by the late Paul Newman.
Ger McCarthy also gave details of the the family's involvement in World War 1, where two of the youngest members were killed in two different naval incidents, at the ages of 22 and 15 respectively. "When Midshipman Kildare Henry Borrowes was killed at the Battle of Jutland, it effectively ended the family's connection with Kildare."
He also outlined the Borrowes family's connections with two local churches, both named St John's, at Ballymore and Yellow Bog in Kilcullen. "The family endowed the church at Yellow Bog, which replaced the one on Old Kilcullen which had been damaged in the Rebellion of 1798. It is essentially a memorial to the family, including the Chancel window dedicated to Robert Higginson Borrowes."
After the talk there were recollections by local people about Gilltown. Noel Clare remembered it being his 'playground' as his parents lived on the estate. He spoke of exploring the Borrowes family mausoleum as a teenager, and finding that some of the graves there had been damaged, possibly by people who had heard legends of the deceased being buried with jewellery.
Nessa Dunlea, chair of the Kilcullen 700 Committee, noted how her late husband Pat had found grave plaques from the mausoleum, which had been placed for safety in Gilltown Lodge. Some of these are now in Kilcullen Heritage Centre.
On behalf of the organisers, Nessa thanked all who had attended and said she hoped to see them all again during the series of other talks planned through the year. She also thanked Ger McCarthy, noting that he would be back in the autumn for another event.
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