Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, June 17th 1865.

Editorial.

The project to erect chemical works on the Murrough of Wicklow by a company organised for that purpose, is a subject well worthy of the consideration of the inhabitants of the town.  That such an undertaking, if carried on properly, would add materially to its commercial prosperity, in various ways is beyond doubt, while the employment, which would be given to our labouring population, would rescue from want many who are now scarcely able to support themselves.  Our coasters would find additional employment in importing coal, salt, &c., and in exporting the produce of the works, while the necessity for increased accommodation would give an impetus to the efforts made to improve the navigation of our Harbour and river.  There are few sites more eligible than that chosen by the company.  The railway on one hand to bring in the ores from the mining districts, the river to convey to the Harbour's mouth the outgoing produce, and coal, &c., at a minimum freight.  On the other hand the caution manifested by the Commissioners is very commendable - past experience warns them against precipitancy in such matters.  A desire to benefit the town by giving accommodation to those whose enterprise would lead them to expend capital, is weighed against the possible evils which, as trustees of a public property, they are bound to guard.  Few towns possess so beautiful a promenade as our far-famed Murrough.  Already has a large portion of it been taken up by the Railway Company, and now an application is made to the Commissioners for that portion lying to the rere of the Marine Hotel [owned by Francis Wakefield.]  It is well known that poisonous gasses, and disagreeable effluvia emanate from works of the kind proposed, unless that preventives which modern science, aided by experience, have brought to bear to prevent their escape, and, should the Commissioners be brought to yield any portion of the Murrough, a strict undertaking and guarantee should be had, that these, as well as suitable chimneys, be erected.  Wicklow is pre-eminently suited for a first-class bathing-place; the suburbs shortly to fall into the hands of the Commissioners will make sites which we hope yet to see studded with villas, and the portion of the Murrough which will be available for building purposes, should not be polluted with noxious gasses as to make it untenable to all save those whose business it might be to earn their daily bread in the works which produce them.  We feel certain that the people of the town, many of whom we are aware feel a deep interest in the matter, may have the greatest confidence that the Commissioners will act in such a manner that, if they comply with the application of the company, it will be only after receiving full security that the above precautions will be adopted, and that a sufficient sum will be expended in building and otherwise, to make the letting desirable, and failing these, no matter what other proposals, be made to refuse any application hurtful to the health or interest of our townspeople.


The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, September 30th 1865.

Summary of News.

The Fenian Conspiracy is hunted up; at least the arrests are, for the last four or five days, few and far between.  What the infatuated dupes could have meant it is hard to comprehend.  They have done their best to injure the country they pretend to love so well.  They have not helped it forward with their own industry, and they have done their best to chase away capital, the only true source of progress.  In common with everyone we are naturally anxious to know the ramifications of this wild plot which we presume will come out in the evidence to be given this day, or some day next week, at the Police Headquarters in Dublin.

[Shanachai]

Part One.

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, June 17th 1865.

Editorial.

While opinions vary as to the best mode of dealing with the Irish land question, there can be little difference on the question that owners and occupiers should have full and free liberty to make the best use of it in their power.  Yet, it will hardly be credited in this free-trade age that a very injurious restriction exists, and is submitted to with hardly a remonstrance.  We refer to the prohibition to grow tobacco.  It is very well known that in many parts of this country and of Wexford the tobacco plant would thrive, but even for private use it dare not be grown.  This is a practical grievance which, if pressed upon the attention of Parliament would, undoubtedly, be got rid of.  Of course, it would have to pay the same amount of duty paid upon tobacco of foreign growth but subject to that, Irish farmers ought to have the right to raise it on their lands.  On the eve of a general election when candidates are generally free in their promises, it might be no harm to include one to take up this question.  We regard it of very considerable importance to the country.  It would be better, no doubt, if tobacco were not used at all, but as it is beyond doubt extensively used it would be far better if possible the money paid for it was kept at home than sent abroad to the stranger.

Progress of the Civil War in America.

To Europeans who were for the most part unprepared for the tremendous alterations in the different dispositions of the war, the spectacle which now presents itself to them appears more like a dream than a reality.  A few short weeks ago and the great question with us was, who is to  triumph - Grant or Lee?  Arrayed against each other in order of battle, at the head of trusty troops, it did not seem probable that their fortunes and positions would be so speedily changed.  Then, Davis was at Richmond, and Lincoln was alive; now, Davis lies manacled in a grim fortress and Lincoln lies dead!  Then, the South, having won respect from its opponents by bravery on the field of battle, could sue or threaten in the guise of an equal; now the rebellion is crushed; there is no ''South''; and those who unhappily associated themselves with the fortunes of the late confederacy, are regarded as traitors.

As we reflect on these things there are one or two matters which must arise to the minds of all men.  The first is, that the North must have been providentially aided to crush so gigantic a foe in so short a time; the second is that, having gotten the victory, it should endeavour to temper justice with mercy.  ''The quality of mercy is not strained,'' and indeed, if mercy is importuned for persistently, until it is obtained, the concession is not mercy at all.  It would be well for President Johnson - sternly just as he may be when he denounces the Confederates as traitors to the Federal power - and men who aimed at the life of the nation - to remember that forgiveness often goes farther than rigour, with nations as with individuals.  We cannot read the account of the ironing [ie, the throwing into irons] of the late President of the South without hope that no Christian gentleman would be guilty of the crime of treating in such a manner one who is in person and education at least his equal.  Public opinion revolts at such a proceeding, and we are hoping that the story may turn out to have been false, and concocted by political detractors.

[Shanachai]

Part Two.

[The American Civil War formally ended in April 1865, but sporadic fighting continued until June, when all remaining Confederate forces surrendered and dispersed, and President Johnson ordered the lifting of the blockade of the Southern ports.  On the 22nd June 1865, the day before the end of the blockade, Captain Robert Charles Halpin joined the Great Eastern as Chief Officer.  Two years earlier, while working for the European Trading Company, he joined the Eugenie.  ''It has been suggested that the Eugenie was a blockade runner, bringing supplies to the beleaguered Confederate States...According to the records of the New Hanover County Library, North Carolina, the Eugenie made ten successful runs through the blockade between May 1863 and January 1864.''*  In April 1864, Captain Halpin was in charge of the ss Virgin.  ''In August of that year the Virgin approached Mobile Bay, Alabama.  Although Mobile itself was still in Confederate hands the approach to the city was guarded by Fort Morgan which was under the control of the Union Army.  The garrison fired on her to stop, but Halpin ordered the Confederate flag raised to the mizzen peak and she glided past and on into Mobile to the rousing cheers of the besieged Confederate troops.''**

That flag was removed today, hopefully for the last time, from the South Carolina Statehouse Capitol. 

While the institutions of slavery weren't enough to deter Captain Halpin from making a mercenary buck, his cousin, Charles G. Halpine (son of the Rev. N J Halpin, who died at his writing desk in 1850 in a house he rented from Captain Halpin's uncle) fought a pivotal role for the forces of the North.  His great friend, the editor of the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley, attributed victory in the 'war for emancipation' to the influx of Afro-Americans into the Union Army.  White opposition to black Americans playing any role in the war was fierce on both sides.  Irish recruits in the northern army were particularly hostile to black emancipation, and violently objected to Lincoln's attempts to pave the way for the enlistment Afro-Americans.  According to Greeley, in a letter to Lincoln, the change of heart among the Irish was due almost entirely to the efforts of Charles G. Halpine, who eroded their resistance to black enlistment with a series of humourous sketches making the case for ''Sambo's Right To Be Kilt.'' 

After the defeat of the South and the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis, Halpine contribute to the national healing process by ghost writing a sympathetic biography of Davis.  This was the era of 'reconstruction', which aimed to protect black Americans and reintegrate the South into the Union on terms that were not unnecessarily harsh or too upsetting.  It began what historians refer to as the Second Industrial Revolution, and lead to a decade of feverish financial speculation.  The reconstruction era ended with the Panic of 1873, which in turn triggered the First Great Depression, or what some call 'the Long Depression'.  This extended period of price deflation did not end in the United States until 1879, and continued on in the United Kingdom until 1896.  These broader economic shocks were to play a telling role in the evolution of nationalist politics in Ireland, prompting the Halpins to respond in ways that I propose to chronicle and document in the coming months.]

*Jim Rees, The Life of Captain Robert Halpin, Dee-Jay Publications (2009), pp. 50 - 51.
**ibid.

[kenneth cooke]

Just to let you all know that I have started a new topic "Paget Halpen of Texas USA" which will concentrate on that branch of the Maryborough Halpens. So far, I have just summarised what has already appeared in this column.
Ken

[Shanachai]

Thanks, Ken.  I'll check it out.

[kenneth cooke]

Halpin or Halpen ?
Part 1 of this topic was started in Nov. 2007. I joined the discussion in June 2009, and now we are well into Part 4. But after six years we still have found only a few tenuous links between ‘my’ Halpens and the others, mainly Halpins. Apart from the similarity of the surnames, we find the first name ‘Nicholas’ occurring in both branches, one in Portarlington and one in Maryborough, both in Queens County. There are differing views about the origin of the name. Some of the contributors favour MacAlpin as the basis of Halpin, while some of the Halpen line tend towards Halfpenny. In my view the two explanations are not necessarily incompatible. They could both be correct, but refer to different families. Perhaps some MacAlpins dropped the ‘Mac’ (the MacSweenys also did that) and gradually became Halpin, consciously keeping the ‘-in’ ending, while some Halfpennys morphed into Halpens, knowing that the ‘-en’ was traditionally part of their name.
                                                                                   
I can give two examples of the Halfpenny/Halpen evolution: Paget Halfpenny, son of Nicholas of Maryborough, entered Trinity College Dublin, in 1698. He was noted by that name in a deed of 1727, but in another deed of 1748 he was noted as Paget Halpen. In fact, all members of that family, descended from Nicholas Halfpenny of M’borough, eventually became ‘Halpen’.

1761 The Dublin Directory-HALFPENNY John, Herald Painter, Britain St.
1776 Watson’s Almanack-  HALFPEN John, Herald Painter, 161 Britain St.
Hibernian Journal- DEATH 31 April 1777, in Gt. Britain St., Mr. John HALPEN, Herald Painter
1781 Watson’s-  HALFPEN Mary, Herald Painter, 161 Britain St.
 
So, in 1761, Halfpenny; 1776, Halfpen; 1777, Halpen; and in 1781 back to (?Mrs.) Halfpen

(A Herald Painter created all manner of heraldic devices and coats of arms for status-conscious local gentry and nobility, painted on boards for display on special occasions.)
 
Can anyone provide examples of the progression of the name MacAlpin to ‘Halpin’?

[Shanachai]

Like you, Ken, I've noticed the same progression from Halfpenny, through Halpenny, Halpenn, Halpen and Halpin.  I have a deed in which a Halpen and a Halfpenny strike a deal over the use of land.  My own theory is that as the colonization of Ireland spread throughout the country, and as it penetrated more deeply into the various layers of Irish society, there was pressure on the native population to assimilate, to become more like their colonizers.  The rewards for willingly adapting oneself to the new regime were considerable.  The penalties for resistance were also considerable, and ranged in severity from restrictions on trade and entry into the professions, to transportation to Van Diemen's Land.  I think the progression of the Halpin name, from Halfpenny onwards, represents the gradual drift of the Halpin family from their native (and Catholic?) roots to a new colonial (and Protestant?) identity.  But while that process generally moved in the one direction, from native to colonizer, from Irish to Anglo-Irish, it was not smooth.  Some branches of the family, with their roots still in the soil and their commercial activities based on the land, were slow to dispense with their original name.  But as their sons moved into the towns and cities and took up a profession, they Anglicized their names.  They wanted to distance themselves from their poorer cousins. 

Personally, I believe the Halpins originally came from Louth, where they had quite a bit of land.  They moved from there to counties like Cavan, Queen's County and Dublin, changing their identity and their name as they went.  As the generations passed they lost touch with their roots (but didn't forget them) and fully assimilated.  The Irish Halfpennys became the Anglo-Irish Halpins.  I believe most of the Halpin families in this thread are connected, but divisions emerged in the late 18th century that became increasingly political over time.  By the late 19th century my branch of the family was rapidly regressing back to its native roots and becoming increasingly nationalistic in its outlook, whereas its local blood kin became increasingly anti-nationalistic in its outlook.  Other branches of the family eventually sold up and emigrated.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, Saturday, February 27th, 1864.

Editorial

.

It is a fact, confirmed by ancient as well as modern experience, that one of the greatest sources of wealth and prosperity to any country is maritime enterprise.  Just as the interchange of ideas tend to foster and encourage a deeper research in every science beneficial to mankind, so does that of commodities between nations and people, enrich and benefit, as well as add to the social comforts of communities.  It is one of the wise arrangements of Providence, that throughout the whole creation, man must be dependant upon his fellow man, and so with the natural products of the earth; nations cannot within themselves produce all that is required to supply every want, but must seek from other sources and different countries, what their own industry and ingenuity fail in accomplishing.  The variations of climate, as well as the position of places, are so wisely ordained and adapted, that it is left only for the industry and enterprise of mankind to take advantage of them, in order to promote that social prosperity upon which the wellbeing of all depends.

But whilst taking an expansive view of the beneficial results of commerce, we must not overlook the resources of home.  The various ports of our coasts are so many outlets for the many productions of our own localities, which are transported to other parts of the empire, where a demand is created for them, whilst we, on the contrary, receive in return the results of those industrial occupations which distinguish that portion of the population; and thus a mutual interchange of labour is established, which adds to the prosperity of all engaged, whether in trade, agriculture, or labour.  To effect, therefore, a rapid and safe means of communication is essential as well as politic, and where the means are supplied in a great measure by nature, it is folly not to encourage the most ample development.  As this can only be on the seaboard by means of fishing, we should supply all the appliances to a good harbour, necessary to induce vessels of every description to visit our seaport, whether for the purpose of commerce or for repairs.  We regret that Wicklow, although well situated on the coast for the latter purpose, is not able to boast of much convenience, either for the repairing or building of vessels.  We have noticed, during the past week, that there were three vessels undergoing repairs, and one building, which proves how desirable it is to encourage this branch of trade, in order to prevent it going to other places, where, should it be necessary, by mechanical aids, the difficult process of overhauling a vessel can be accomplished with little trouble and much less expense than the one which has to be resorted to in this harbour.  We have been informed, by the owner of a vessel trading from this port, of the trouble and inconvenience, to say nothing of the risk, attendant upon repairing one under present circumstances, and whilst there are so many inducements held out to enterprise, in every way, in Wicklow, it is a matter of surprise to us that the great want of a patent slip has not attracted, ere this, the attention of those interested in the prosperity of the port; confident as we are that it will not only prove a source of remuneration, but a great incentive to the further development of the shipping trade connected with the town.

[Shanachai]

The Wicklow Newsletter, June ? 1865.

Summary of News in Other Papers.

Emigration: - Week after week we are pained to witness the departure of hundreds of our strong and youthful peasantry, of both sexes, for far off lands.  The elements for material prosperity are hourly quitting our shores, leaving behind the aged, the very young, the weak and the helpless.  If the exodus continues at its present rate for a couple of years to come, the bitter sentence of the London Times will be fulfilled - The Irish, indeed, will be gone with a vengeance.  We cannot stop to minutely trace the effects of this widespread emigration which have already made themselves felt throughout the country.  Two-thirds, at least, of the provincial towns are gradually losing both trade and population.  The receipts of railways show the falling off, while the country shop-keeping and trading classes find it difficult to eke out what pays their way, owing to a contraction of business.  Some well-conceived practical movement should be set on foot in order to limit this wholesale flight of the most industrious and hardy sections of our population.  Such a movement cannot be undertaken by the Legislature; it lies more within the province of personal and local enterprise.  - Sligo Journal.