PROCEEDINGS AND PAPERS OF THE KILKENNY AND SOUTH-EAST OF IRELAND ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1861. THIRTEENTH SESSION. If any there be which are desirous to be strangers in their owne soile, and forrainers in their owne Citie, they may so continue, and therein flatter themselves. For such like I have not written these lines, nor taken these paines.-CAMDEN. VOL. III.-PART II. NEW SERIES. DUBLIN: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. MCGLASHAN & GILL, 50, UPPER SACKVILLE-STREET. The Committee wish it to be distinctly understood, that they do not hold themselves responsible for the statements and opinions contained in the Papers read at the Meetings of the Society, and here printed, except so far as the 9th and 10th Amended General Rules extend. Dublin: Printed at the University Press, by M. H. GILL. PROCEEDINGS AND PAPERS OF THE KILKENNY AND SOUTH-EAST OF IRELAND ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, FOR THE YEAR 1861. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, held at the Society's Apartments, William-street, Kilkenny, on Wednesday, January 2nd, 1861. CHRISTOPHER HUMFREY, ESQ., in the Chair. The following new Members were elected : The Right Hon. the Earl of Portsmouth, Hurstbourne Park, Whitchurch, Hants: proposed by George C. Roberts, Esq. The Honourable Standish Prendergast Vereker, 10, Warwicksquare, London: proposed by J. P. Prendergast, Esq. Benjamin Lee Guiness, Esq., Dublin: proposed by R. R. Brash, Esq. Dennis O'Callaghan Fisher, Esq., 198, Great Brunswick-street, Dublin: proposed by J. P. Prendergast, Esq., and seconded by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms. James Morrin, Esq., Dangan, Thomastown; and Patrick O'Herlihy, Esq., 33, Ebenezer Terrace, Sunday's Well, Cork: proposed by the Rev. James Graves. Walter S. Gifford, Esq., J. P., Ballysop, New Ross: proposed by Richard Long, Esq., M. D. Henry James, Esq., Surveyor of Post Offices, Limerick: proposed by Alderman Michael Banim. The Rev. John Molony, P. P., Ring, Dungarvan: proposed by J. Power, Esq. The Report of the Committee, for the year 1860, was read by the Honorary Secretaries as follows: Your Committee gladly commence their yearly Report by announcing the election of fifty-eight new Members since the first of January, 1860; making the aggregate of Members not in arrear, after the deduction of losses by death and other causes, amount to six hundred and eight, of whom thirty have compounded for life. In reviewing the progress of the Society since its formation in 1849, your Committee can proudly point to the results of co-operation. The Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archæological Society is a bundle of twigs, each in itself very insignificant, but all potent in union. Now although a bundle of twigs may be very strong when bound together, yet it is self-evident that the strength of the whole must grow by the increase of each part. Our hundreds of subscribing Members, combining to pay the insignificant sum of six shillings each, have (as the five goodly volumes issued by the Society amply prove) enabled your officers to do good service in the cause of Irish Archæology. An examination, however, of the yearly balance-sheets must show that, but for the generous donations of a small minority of the Members, and, latterly, the sums received as the compositions of a limited number of Life Members, the united force of our six-shilling subscriptions would never have sufficed to work the Society so successfuly as it has been heretofore; and its operations must long since have been more fairly proportioned to its income. With these considerations strongly impressed on their minds, your Committee trust that the Members will see the necessity of looking the difficulty boldly in the face, and seeking for a remedy. They therefore advise that the following steps should be taken to place the Society on a more secure basis. 1st. That the Meetings of the Society be held quarterly, instead of bimonthly, for the future; and that the "Journal" of the Society be issued at like intervals. This change will not only cause a considerable saving in the binding, covering, and issuing of the "Journal," but will also, in the event of such a course being found necessary, enable the Committee to reduce the quantity of printed matter given in return for Members' subscriptions. But, in order to obviate a necessity so much to be deplored, your Committee suggest: 2nd. That a special "Illustration Fund" be formed, and that Members be invited to contribute thereto annually in such proportion as they may see fit, in addition to the ordinary subscription of 6s. The important uses of such a fund need not be dwelt on. As a noble commencement of the proposed "Illustration Fund," your Committee have to announce that Evelyn Philip Shirley, Esq., M. P., has undertaken to supply, at his own cost, the numerous engravings required to illustrate "Dineley's Tour in Ireland, Temp. Charles II.," the printing of which has been already commenced in the "Journal," but hitherto delayed, as to its completion, by the inability of the funds to meet the large outlay required to engrave the numerous drawings of towns, castles, abbeys, and monuments by which it is illustrated. 3rdly. Your Committee are most anxious to relieve the general funds from the expense consequent on the support and proper management of the Museum and Library. This portion of the Society's operations is exclusively local; and were there found thirty local subscribers at £1 each, or sixty at 108., a fund would be formed sufficient to guarantee the permanency of the Museum, even were the Society dissolved. The Museum of the Society is the only provincial institution of the kind in Ireland; and must prove a credit to the county and city of Kilkenny, if properly supported. Your Committee is far from wishing that such local collections as ours should be antagonistic to the great National Museum of Antiquities formed under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy. On the contrary, they should act as machinery, by which all really valuable antiques might be secured for the latter, instead of being sent to the melting-pot, or sold out of the country. An instance to the point is the recent purchase by the Royal Irish Academy of the "Kilkenny Brooch," which, but for the existence of this Society's Museum, and the consequent attention directed to such remains, would have passed into the hands of some travelling dealer, or been sold in London. Your Committee calculate that £30 per annum would amply suffice to pay the rent of the Museum premises, provide for the purchase of such locally interesting antiques as may be offered for sale, and enable the Committee to provide cases for the proper exhibition of the collection, and defray the expense of binding the valuable periodicals which are presented to the Library by kindred Societies at home and abroad. It is a distinguishing mark of the management, not alone of the Museum, but of the Society at large, that not one halfpenny of its funds is expended in salaries-all its officers being honorary. Your Committee trust that these suggestions may be approved of by the members; and hope that sufficient public spirit will be found in the ranks of the Society and of the people of Kilkenny, to convert them into accomplished facts before the next Annual Meeting comes round. Your Committee are glad to report that much has been done during last summer to remove obstructions which disfigured the noble architec tural remains of Jerpoint Abbey, and secure its preservation. The old wall which stretched across the nave of the abbey church has been removed, thus throwing open the view from east to west. A portion of ground, including the site of the south side-aisle of the nave, has been purchased from squatters, enabling the Committee to take down the enclosing wall built when the abbey was lately under repair, and to remove it further south, so as to rescue from desecration the entire site of the abbey church; whilst enough land remains over to supply, by its annual rent, compensation to a caretaker. The thanks of the Society are due to James S. Blake, Esq., J. P., a member of the Committee, for the judicious and careful manner in which he has carried out these improvements. The Treasurer reports that some outstanding arrears have been paid up this year; and your Committee trust that all members will bear in mind that, as the printing of the Society's "Journal" proceeds in advance, and as the Treasurer is personally liable for the outlay in the first instance, it is essential to the very existence of the Society that members should be punctual in remitting their subscriptions to him as soon as possible after the first of January in each year. The Report was adopted, and ordered to be printed. On the motion of Alderman Banim, seconded by Mr. P. A. Aylward, the Honorary Officers and Committee of the previous year |