Life at the Big House

The Big House, Drumdaff, County Roscommon

The Digby family

The Digby family dates back many centuries, unbroken through twenty six generations. During this time it was a name associated with kings and queens of England and like many of their peers faithful to the crown, they were rewarded with titles and land. On March 29, 1461, Sir Everard Digby was killed at the Battle of Towton, fighting for the Lancastrians in the army of Henry VI against the Yorkists of Edward IV. He left behind seven sons including Rouland Digby, from whom this Irish branch of the family descends. Twenty-four years after their father's death, six of these brothers fought in the Battle of Bosworth for Henry Tudor, the future king, against the Platagenet Richard III.

Many of the descendants of these seven brothers led public lives for which they received property - the Manor of Coleshill in Warwickshire and Sherbourne Castle in Dorset - and status - Earls of Bristol - while others became known for their notoriety and scandal. Amongst the latter are Lady Jane Digby, who left her husband and a miserable marriage to enter into a series of relationships with men across Europe and happily spent the last twenty-six years of her life as the wife of a Bedouin sheik. There was also another Everard Digby who lost his life in 1606 for his part in the gunpowder plot. Many others can be found in history books, but the descendants of Rouland Digby lived relatively private lives.

In 1641 one of Rouland's great-great grandsons, Thomas Digby, went to Ireland, it is thought to escape religious persecution as a Catholic in England. The English had already established power in Ireland and over two centuries "planters" from England and Scotland settled on land that was confiscated by the English crown. Although the majority of planters were Protestant a considerable number of English Catholics settled in Ireland between 1603 and 1641 where they could become part of the Catholic church without fear of betrayal.

In June 1763, the lands of Drumdaff were inherited by Thomas' grandson, his namesake Thomas Digby . The Digby lands then passed to the eldest sons through the next three generations until ownership was taken up by another George Digby who in 1848 married Catherine (Kate) Hawkes. As ill fortune would have it, their marriage lasted only eight years, ending with his early death in June 1856, only a short time before the birth of their last child, named George after his father, in October of that year. In November, 1912, George Snrs. son, Everard, recalled that his father had been nursed through the time leading to his death by Mrs Magawley, in a piece he wrote on the death of the woman's son, John Magawley at the age of 107 years.

John Magawley was carried on his mother's shoulders during the retreat of the British troops from C??
in 1909 in the Peninsula. Old Nurse Magawley was a soldier's wife and she accompanied her husband in
Spain. She nursed my father. I can remember her telling me as a child of the hardships of that awful
winter weather of the retreat and of the care she took of her baby who was bailiff and wood ranger on the
Drumdaff estate, and who was in the service of my family for more than sixty years.

The first lines of a draft of George Digby's will

Kate was left with the responsibility of running their estate, made up of of Drumdaff and other holdings. A list of household goods written for valuation after George's death includes furniture for 5 bedrooms - five feather beds and nine bedsteads - the dairy and laundry, as well as jewellery, cutlery, silverware and books.

A section of the list of household goods of George Digby on his death

At the time of George's death Kate had three children, Caroline, Mary and Everard, with George on the way, her fifth pregnancy in seven years. Their first child, Thomas, died at birth in January 1850. A letter of forlorn condolence from her paternal Aunt survives as witness to her loss.

My dearest Kitty,
I deferred writing to you for a few days...your poor mind would be a little confused after the death
of your little darling child. May almighty god give you grace and strength to bear your heavy affliction.
Few believe me feel more sincerely grieved than I do, you are never out of my mind knowing from sad
experience what you are feeling and what you have gone through. Surely I am very inadequate to give
occasion, however my dear Child I trust for your own sake and for poor George's you will compose
yourself and remember we are not to provoke the Lord's anger...remember the Angel child has gone to
Eternal happiness and left the world where there is nothing but sorrow and disappointment...I feel
most anxious and unhappy about you and beg to ask one of the girls to write to me soon and let me
know how you and dear George are...love from all here for you both...Caroline Knox

The Big House

George Digby

Kate Digby

Handmade bookmark made for Kate by an unknown gift giver.

Lizzie & John Smyth, 1961

The Big House was almost invariably the centre of the workers' world with its own hierarchy, yet despite the comparative grandeur of the homes. money was frequently in short supply. By the year George and Kate married, one quarter of Irish landlords were either insolvent or on the edge of bankruptcy. George left his estate, the lands of Cloonegeragh, Lisnalton, Kilroosky and Drumdaff, to his wife and children as Tenants in Common. Records show that in November, 1856, only weeks after George's death, over two hundred acres of Digby land were offered up for sale.

The Digbys employed many people to run and work their lands, including families at Drumdaff on its 269 acres. To some workers the Irish Big House represented oppression and to others security of employment and identity. In a series of wonderful letters written in the 1960's by Lizzie Smyth, nee McDermott, to Everard's son, Gerald and his wife Frances in Australia, Lizzie paints a fascinating picture which brings all those people of Drumdaff to us today, the lives the workers, the tenants and the Digby family, as the following excerpts from her letters recall her life on Drumdaff as a child, in beautiful detail.

Mary and George Digby

Caroline Digby

George Digby

Everard Digby

Derrane Chapel 1990

To my childish mind Drumdaff was a palace and Miss Mary its queen. I didn't care much for Miss Caroline. She was reserved in manner, tall and stately and didn't bother to make friends with us children and get their funny answers. They had a lovely orchard with all kinds of fruit and a special gardener who kept all the paths in trim and bordered by box-wood. I often helped Miss Mary pull black currants, raspberries etc. They made jam of all the surplus fruit and I often got the job of stirring the jam and was rewarded by getting a pot to take home.

Some of the old neighbours told me that old Mr Digby was a Protestant but his wife was Catholic & she brought up her children catholics.

They were good practicing Catholics and Miss Mary supplied the flowers to decorate the altar; I often walked with her to "Derrane" Chapel and helped her carry the flowers and the Ballagh church also. She also played the Harmonium in the choir and gave me an invitation to come in to the choir during devotions; this gave me a thrill because they were all "grown ups" who sang and I drew aside the curtain to let my school pals see my exalted position - childish pride. One of the singers there was Mrs. Gilooly's mother, maiden name "Annie Connor".

I remember an incident the year of my 1st communion (I was about 8) I had a white dress, wreath & veil & Miss Mary said that if she could get another little girl to walk with me she'd procure two baskets of flowers which we could strew in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the procession in Ballagh, they gave me a seat in their carriage and picked up Marion Devine Carrowerin? to accompany me, we had two beautiful baskets lined with silk full of cut flowers & had long handles, I was foolish enough to think they'd leave us the baskets but "no" they were kept for special occasions.

I remember the Mistress and Miss Mary and Miss Caroline (as we were taught to call them); the Mistress always dressed in black silk or satin. It was a favourite walk of theirs to come by our house down by the bog and how my mother would make it a point of having our faces washed and hair combed in front of the ladies. They had cousins, "Foleys" from "Lisnaneen House" ten miles away...and Mrs Foley, when visiting, called to talk to my mother. Her oldest little girl, "Eveleen" was my age and she'd put us back to back to see who was the tallest. Of course Eveleen was always beautifully dressed and I was the bare-legged little peasant. Mrs Foley often gave my mother left off dresses for us. Another visitor to Drumdaff was a very old stout lady named "Miss Hawkes". I take it she was sister to the Mistress and the maids loved to see her - she used to joke with them in the kitchen. Mrs Digby was quite the reverse; she was thin and stately and very reserved in manner.

The staff of the Digby household was upright, they'd do anything for the ladies and they in turn showed great kindness to the staff. I was often asked to take a large jug of soup or a roll of butter and a pot of jam to sick tenants.

While living at Drumdaff the Digbys entertained their friends. Amongst them were two Miss Nolans of "Beechwood House", spinsters and noted horsewomen. Others were the Mapothers of "Ketleaven House" and the "Cottons" of "Briarfield". Several others I can't remember, but all came in their coaches with their coachmen in livery. I helped in the kitchen at some of these dinners too and my chief job was basting the roast which was a huge piece of beef suspended from the ceiling by a swivel which kept turning round and round in front of an enormous big turf fire in the grate. The dripping ran into a container with an open holder and my task was to keep pouring the dripping over the roast with a large ladle. The rest of the dinner was cooked in pot ovens. I often tiptoed behind the maid to get a peek at the lovely ladies and gents around the dinner table.

Once I had an "abcess" on my "jaw" and Miss Mary told my mother to take me to see Dr George. That very afternoon they had visitors, it was winter time, the place was lit by paraffin lamps and candles and Miss Mary took me into the hall, and by an over hanging lamp and a candle held by Miss Mary he lanced the lump and then Miss Mary gave me a bunch of dark grapes because I made no noise. I had never seen grapes before and she was afraid I'd yell and that the visitors would hear it.

At the far end of the orchard there was a Summer-House where all the garden tools and empty flower-pots etc was stored, then in the corner was a "dogs' graveyard". They had a lovely "Pom" named "Warry" and when he died he was buried beside the summer house and a stone about one and a half feet high for a tombstone. There were other stones, but I only remember the stone of "Warry".

I have another memory of my brother Michael (a year younger than I) helping turn out the cows after milking. I was about 7 years and while waiting in the yard Dr George came through with the coachman who was leading a young horse and when the Dr turned to Michael he said "Hello snotty nose" and the child got so offended he ran for a yard brush standing against the wall to hit the Dr. I felt angry and threatened a good thrashing for he being so bold as to stand up to the Dr, but the Dr. only smiled and said, "You are a brave lad and you'll go far". How right he was for that bold child was manager of the "Empire" race track in New York at the age of 30. He got a clerkship in the Roscommon newspaper at the age of 13 and seven years later went to the U.S.A.

One evening Master George (the Dr) came along with his lovely "back-to-back" trap and a pretty lady beside him, Pat Curley went to open the gate and I heard Mrs Curley say "That's the doctor's fiancee." It seems now that the Doctor was engaged but to whom I never knew, anyhow he died before he married; He was a handsome man with a moustache and he came regularly to Drumdaff every Sunday afternoon and while there the tenants came to him with their ailments.

Education, work, play and death

Stonyhurst College, a vast contrast to schools available to children of the estate tenants

Everard Digby, back right, as a student at Stonyhurst in the School of Grammar, 1873-74

Whilst children of the tenants attended local schools, they only did so when they were not needed at home to help with farm work. Most left school early and took their place alongside their mother or father as an extra pair of hands, for survival was the priority.

In stark contrast, while their sisters stayed at home, Everard and George were sent away to boarding school in England, to the Jesuit run Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. While George's academic record is not known he must have done well as he gained entry to Medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. Their education was a classic one, covering such subjects as languages and philosophy. Everard won the Matriculation Prize in 1874, for which he was awarded a book, "Elementary Treatise on Natural Philosophy" by A. Privat Deschanel, a tome about the importance of physics which is difficult to imagine being read today by any school leaver. A Certificate of Honour from the University of London reveals he was placed no less than forty-third in the honours division. Everard was a prolific writer, and many notebooks, plays, poetry, essays, letters and personal records survive from his lifetime, often written in one of the languages he learnt at Stonyhurst.

After matriculation Everard returned to Drumdaff to find his mother Kate with charge of the property on her shoulders. Her brother and nephew who were supposed to be sharing the responsibility, he identified as "useless drunkards". Thus Everard found himself with the job of agent and manager. According to his memories of this time, written eight years on, for the next three years he fell into a country life "uneventful and unprofitable", a life diversified by cricket, hunting and shooting. The postcards below right show there were plenty of hunt meets to choose from.

Illustration from A Patrick's Day Hunt - "When the hunt is on it's holiday".

Everard's saving grace was a conversation he had with a friend in the spring of 1887 who challenged him to think seriously about his future. The general feeling of his uncle William, his father's brother, was that he should leave Drumdaff and Everard himself was at a point where he "felt infinitely disgusted with the life I had been living."

This life included, amongst his pursuits, stag hunts often held twice a week as the postcard Roscommon Stag Hounds shows. Lizzie Smyth remember the activity thus:

The stag hunt was a much enjoyed sight, only gentry took part and at the end of the
day's hunt the "Master" gave ten shillings to anyone who caught the stag alive.

An article under the heading Roscommon 100 years ago was published in a Roscommon newspaper on January 23rd, 1976. Amongst the recollections is one of the hunt.

A special "meet" took place...on St Stephen's Day 1875. Among those on horseback were...E.
Digby...A red deer was released on the Fuerty Road... the animal headed for the Emmlagh
River, swam across and made for Rockfield, crossing the Castlerea road and striking off through Cloonabane and on towards Smaghraun Bog and was finally captured close to Rockfield mill
and put in a stable nearby. He was by then completely exhausted.
A second stag was released on the road near Ardakeeran. The hounds hunted him as far north
as Windfield . The deer was finally pulled down in a field about 200 yards from Two-Mile-Bush.
This ended the day's sport - with very few casualties reported.

All this reflection on his life and what he wanted to do with it led to Everard's decision to study law, for which he always felt an inclination, and about which he held the view that "it would be very fine to speak in court and defend prisoners". According to his later writings he struggled financially and was forced to borrow money to enable him to continue his study at Trinity College. Unfortunately his health deteriorated so badly that he was forced, after graduating, to leave his beloved Ireland.

In the spring of 1879 I suffered an attack of Inflammation of the Lungs which nearly
carried me away and left me in such a state of health that life was not worth living in
the climate of Ireland. This, in connection with difficulties monetary and others which
I saw arising, helped to discourage my legal studies, and between February 1879 and
November 1880 I, on more than one occasion entertained the idea of giving up the
bar, and embarking on something that would give me a fixed salary, however small, in
a favourable climate. My friend dissuaded me from this and I was eventually called to
the bar in Nov. 1880, having negotiated another bill to provide the money needed.
Retrospective, May 20 1882

In 1881 Everard left Ireland, not to return until 1914 on the death in Dublin of his last remaining sibling, Mary, at the age of sixty-one. Her body was taken by train to Roscommon for burial at Aclare. In a letter to Gerald Digby, Jimmy Finn of Roscommon recounted that one old man who came to meet the funeral complained that his pony could not keep up with the well fed horses and he bailed out about two miles from Roscommon.

The following was written by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Gillooly in 1958. Her family were tenants of the Digbys and bought Drumdaff at some later date. Mrs Gillooly was living there in 1990.

Peter Noone's father attended the funeral - it was 2 miles long. All the tenants were
there and the relations and a lot of Dublin people. So Gerry can rest that all his
people are buried together at Aclare.

In the decade following Everard's departure, Mary witnessed the deaths of her mother, sister and brother, one after the other..

Postcard - College Green & Trinity College, Dublin.

Lizzie Gillooly at the back door of Drumdaff with the author in 1990

Kate Digby in her old age

Dr George Digby's house, Abbey Street, Roscommon town.

Appreciation to George Digby

Prayer card for Kate Digby on her death, June 6, 1892

,I remember the death of the mistress...the tenants' wives went to pay their respects & my mother took me along with her. She was waked in the front bedroom and to the left of the stairs and while there Dr. George came in & kissed her on the forehead. Next day the tenants assembled on the lawn to carry her coffin & each was supplied with a piece of "crepe" to tie around his hat as mourning for a dear mistress.

Her prayer card asks, Of Your Charity, pray for the repose of the soul of Catherine Digby (Drumdaff) Who died on the 6th June, 1892, On whose souls, sweet Jesus, have mercy.

There follows a prayer - Gentlest heart of Jesus! ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the soul of thy servant, Catherine: bring her from the shadows of exile to the bright home of heaven, where we trust, Thou and Thy Blessed Mother, have woven for her a crown of unfading bliss.
Jesus Mercy! Mary Help!

Dr George Digby lived in Abbey Street in Roscommon town, where he had his general practice. When he died of typhus on February 21, 1894 he was only thirty eight years old and, according to Lizzie Smyth's writings, engaged to be married. James Quinn, the schoolmaster of the local National School, was a great friend to George and the Digby family. He composed an appreciation of his friend which all the schoolchildren had to commit to memory. One of these children was Kate Brennan who grew up on a farm next to Drumdaff. She later became Mrs Carlos who could still remember it sixty-three years later. She wrote it down as she remembered it to her son, Pierce, who later lived on the same farm next door to Drumdaff. Lizzie Smyth remembers Kate's father, Patrick Brennan, who was a tailor.

The Old Man "Patsy Brennan" was a tailor. I was often in their house when I was a young one, he made my father's clothes & I marvelled at the way he could hop up on the sewing table & bend his legs under him and sew away. The girls worked the machine.

The handwritten tribute to George Digby was, many years later, sent by Pierce Carlos to George's nephew, Gerald Digby, in Australia.

George Digby is dead and the places that knew him once will know him no more. His premature decease at the early
age of thirty-eight is another striking proof of the dreadful uncertainly of human life. Standing beside his open grave
breeding, rank, high professional skill must now be left out of the consideration, though all were his. But a few short months ago no-one doubted a happy future for a gentleman so respected and beloved. May the green sod rest lightly on his ashes in the lonely graveyard of Aclare.

George Digby was buried alongside his mother and his baby brother Thomas. As well as their graves there also exists a memorial plaque in pink Italian granite on the now ruined church wall.

Only two years later, on March 12th, 1897, Caroline died, like George, of typhus, after being nursed at the home of her Aunt, Mrs Foley at Lissanean. It was at this time that Mary, now the only remaining family member, moved to Blackrock, a suburb of Dublin, where she remained for the rest of her life.

Sale of the Digby Lands

When Mary moved to Dublin she and Everard, as absentee landlords, were faced with the question of what to do now none of the family was actually living at Drumdaff. Whether it would be sold or leased was the question, considering it had been the Digby home for generations. They had to take into account that Everard was the only child of Kate and George who had children and they lived in Australia, on the other side of the world. Despite Mary not wanting to let go of Drumdaff, they eventually came to the decision to sell it, and to this end they appointed a Land Agent, Mr W. E. Holmes of Dublin and Roscommon, to oversee the sale. There followed protracted negotiations with existing tenants who wished to purchase land to work it for themselves. In a letter to Everard, Holmes wrote:

I had a long talk with your sister Mary the other day and I think she agrees with me that if we can sell the Drumdaff Estate on the figures which I
am about to give you, it would be much better to do so...I propose to sell to small tenants for 21 and a half years purchase on first term rents
which would amount to £8,997 and I propose to sell Drumdaff to O'Hara if he will purchase it, or else some other party for £4,500.

First page of letter to Everard Digby regarding the sale of Drumdaff

An ongoing exchange of letters shows a long debate about who the lands would be sold to, and then the difficulty arose of getting tenants to agree to the terms proposed. The process began in 1904 and took over five years, with sale eventually going through the Estates Commissioner.

We enclose your Affidavit which it will be necessary for you to swear...We believe the purchase money of the Estate will this day be lodged in the
Bank of Ireland where it will be placed on Deposit Receipt until the Judge orders payment...March 22, 1910

Lizzie Smyth remembers the change of owners of Drumdaff.

I was twelve years old when the Digby's left Drumdaff and the new owner, "O'Hara", took over with a man servant - he looked over sixty years;
was a great farmer re cattle and sheep, but no fine work like flowers; he let the sheep graze over the pleasure ground Miss Mary and I tended
with such care. Mr and Mrs O'Hara took over the front seat of the church which had been the property of the Digby family.

Amongst the Digby's family papers is a collection of newspaper cuttings in which is a poem 'The Durham Cattle Drive' signed by Echo of Kilbride, both paper and date unknown. It is a poem about the greed of landlords driving people off the land and out of Ireland on coffin ships, but one verse stands out as pertinent to this story.

My thoughts revert to Drumdaff, which Digby late had sold,
Who must have prized his country's looks above the grasp of gold.
He sold the land just at its worth and left his grove of trees
As heirlooms to his tenantry to guard them as they please.

Outbuilding, Drumdaff, 1990. In the triangle above the stable door is carved the Digby family crest.

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