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| THE HANDSTAND | DECEMBER 2003 |
History of an estate  The history of this estate, that is its entry into the history books, occurred during the residency of Lady Louisa and Sir WilliamTighe at Woodstock, Inistioge. One may wonder how it was that this estate, now managed by the Kilkenny County Council, who are recreating something akin to the Victorian magnificence of the gardens that were created by that lady, had nevertheless resulted in its ruin? Politics!? Possibly, but also, perhaps, the arrogance of the landlords during Irish history, defining their territories, that culminated subsequent to Lady Louisa's death, during the early years of the last century. Readers of this journal who take an interest in the anecdotes of Inistioge that have been published herein from time to time, will remember that at her death, in March 1900,services were held in both churches (Protestant and Catholic) and that the Catholic Mass was attended by specially invited relatives of the Tighe family and their social peers from among the Protestant community: a service supervised by Bishop Brownrigg, a personal friend of Lady Tighe's,the first service dedicated to eucumenism occurring in Ireland. It was with a wry glance at the words I printed, observing that this lady, who had created one of the finest gardens to grace estates in Ireland, whose husband had pre-deceased her, was buried with nary a flower on her coffin and only a British flag.  Hubert Butler, the author, (who was not a relative of the Ormonde Butlers of Kilkenny fame!), wrote some fascinating essays, and among them the collection,Escape from the Anthill, a chapter of which, during his lifetime, he gave me permission to print in Treblin Times, a community paper I created in Dublin,Sept.1973. In this book of essays there is a short mention of Inistioge and William Tighe: "Tighe was a classical scholar, an archaeologist, economist, sociologist, a politician (a passionate opponent of the Union)......his work A Statistical Survey of County Kilkenny, 1802 is still indispensible. He wrote a poem in four cantos...in the manner of Virgil's Georgics, intended to be diverting as well as instructive..... He was specially interested in rhe "oaks of Mamre where Abraham,Isaac and Jacob were buried, and he built a small house near Woodstock in an oak grove and called it Mamre, the name by which it is still known. (There are wonderful specimens of Oak on the "Rock Road" left of the bridge out of the village, as indeed of Beech trees,jb.ed.) His sister-in-law Mary Tighe, a poet, whose portrait is in the National Gallery, is also buried in Inistioge, in a tomb one may gain entrance to, where her effigy depicts her lying at rest on a couch - the couch where, at rest one day,she suddeny died . The above mentioned, Lady and Sir  William Tighe are entombed in the ancient
tower of the original monastry that was once the reason
for the establishment of this village.This tomb is now
sealed for perpetuity, or until the massive wooden door
decays....Hubert Butler remembers the family of Captain Edward Tighe, a descendent, in the earliest years of the last century..."The Tighes were friendly charming people who did not deserve the misfortunes that happened to them..." However long before 1918, when the first World War broke out Capt. Tighe removed his family to London, where tragedy overtook them, and the family never returned to Inistioge. At the time of their departure their furniture and belongings of every description were stored in Woodstock Mansion in two rooms upstairs. The rooms were secured by their bailiff who looked after the house. But who was it in the family allowed the Black and Tans(British Troops) access to this mansion in 1920? Butler quotes from an old man he met in the village : " They were in the village too, we had them in the house next door to us... They made us have a notice on all the doors with the names of the people in the house. I remember there was a young chap, Ned Brennan, maybe eight or nine yrs, and they stuck him up on the bar in the pub and asked him to sing and he sang "Wrap the Green Flag Around Me"....but the Tans just laughed and filled his pockets with money. But when he came home his mother was very angry, she said it was 'blood money' and wouldn't let him keep it. The Tans had two spies going round the village, he went on, and didn't fourteen of our chaps chase after them so that the two jumped in the river. Our chaps shot one of them and the other got out and ran back to Woodstock to tell the Tans. After that didn't the Tans burn O'Hanrahan's farm, a big place with cow-sheds and barns and hay-ricks. They did nothing to save old Mrs. Hanrahan from the burning but Mrs.Newport of Ballygallon - she was an Englishwoman - came and blamed them so they got her out and she took her to her own place." Meanwhile in London the tragedy had already born itself out: Capt. Tighe was murdered in his home in London. And the last funeral of the Tighe family had occurred in Inistioge in 1917, where Protestant members of Titled and Untitled society came to mourn and respect the family.At the Magistrates Court in London the following evidence was given at the Inquest : Sir Francis Younghusband(a relative of the family)identified the body as that of Captain Tighe,55 yrs of age, and said he was a Captain in the Rifle Brigade. He had retired from the army on account of ill health and was living at Winkfield Lodge,Wimbledon. Captain Tighe was found fatally injured in his bedroom in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Nov.13th 1917. Sir Francis added that he had been there on the night of the tragedy. A Dr. S.Collier stated that he was called to the Lodge at about 7.30am on Nov.13th by telephone. He dressed the Captain's wounds and then he left to fetch more dressings.It was not until he returned with an assistant that Capt. Tighe was lifted onto his bed. They came to the conclusion that this was not a fall, that his wounds must have been done with a weapon. Later that day he visited with another surgeon, Mr.Buckston Brown, and on the following day examined him with Dr. Ledtz of the London Hospital who advised an operation. Capt.Tighe was quite unconscious the entire time and he died on the following Saturday. Subsequently Arthur Henry Victor de Stamir, a French citizen was arrested and convicted of this murder.The story of his conviction was published in the Kilkenny Moderator December 1917. The archives give all the details which I will only sumarise here:Captain Tighe was at that time a representative of a firm of coal merchants and had been on the day, 12thNovember 1917, in town with his family. When they returned at 10.30 pm nothing unusual was remarked in the house. However a servant Eva Mary Parfit found him on the floor of his bedroom at 7.30am the next day.There follows a gloomy description of forensic detail plus the mention "the captain had a bag which he usually kept locked." Capt. Tighe had evidently the habit of rising at night to ease his breathing, when he would consume some food and water left out for him, however nothing was touched that night. One of the front windows was found open...His widow Mrs.Tighe gave evidence that her husband suffered from asthma which caused him to rise at night betimes, and that he had been invalided from the Army. Another witness was the landlady of the accused. In the previous October this man came to her house looking for lodgings and maintained that he was connected to the military police at Whitehall which accounted for his irregular use of his rooms. On a registration form she gave him he wrote the name Charles Edward Gray. Identifying the accused, wearing khaki, in the courtroom, she said he had told her that his work was arresting deserters and other work he did in connection with the military police. October 12th was the morning of the last air raid of the War, and the accused told her he was at the Regent Palace Hotel that night. He maintained that his father was a wealthy man living in Australia who sent him money. She remembered the newspaper account of Capt. Tighe's death as the accused had brought in a paper one evening and spoken about the case ; which he said he thought was a case of revenge. "I told him I thought it was very cowardly," she went on, "and he seemed to think the same." He further discussed the case with her during the last week of Capt.Tighe's life. Her tennant had not had any overcoat when he arrived in her house she maintained, but he got one during that time, one "such as is worn by officers or N.C.O's" and a later on a mackintosh. The accused was then asked by the Chief Inspector to identify these items, overcoat and mackintosh, and a watch, that were all taken from Winkfield Lodge.He had been originally detained on account of another burglary he committed in Streatham. The accused was a French citizen brought to England when three years old. To all intents, it was declared in Court, he was English and he was in the English Army. That, as far as this account is given, is the end of the story.  Three years later the Black and Tans took over Woodstock, the store of furniture vanished, and they themselves disappeared after the Treaty was signed, and the mansion was burnt down.  |
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