Dear Pete, In studying my Longford ancestors I have come across the Bawn House. My Tithe Applotment Survey compilation, County Longford Residents Prior to the Famine, does indeed show that one John Ousley, Esq. owned the Bawn Estate (civil parish of Moydow, surveyed May 1834) and the adjoining townland of Aughalost (civil parish of Ballymacormick, surveyed January 1833), dates germane to your search. The site of the Bawn House can be found on Discovery Series Map 41 near the intersection of "70" and "15" with the word "Bawn" in red. There is a nice picture of the Bawn House in James P. Farrell's History of the County Longford (1891). He states, "One of the oldest gentlemen's residences in County Longford is Bawn House, in the half-parish of Moydow, and distant about a mile from the chapel. This old house is now shut up, and presents, as it stands away down in the fields, to the eye of a person standing on the road, a forlorn and deserted appearance; and yet there are many weird stories in connection with it. Immediately behind the Bawn House stand the ruins of the ancient castle of Moydow, or Moydumha. Some people suppose that these ruins formed the old Priory of St. Modiud the Simple. Such is not the case. Anyone can see that the ruins now standing were surrounded by a deep fortified moat, and that the building itself consisted of the usual tower and square keep. This, in fact, was the ancient castle of the Lord Moydumha, which was sacked in the 13th century at the time that Barry and Camagh Castles were leveled. I am sure that if any expert in antiquarian matters visits these ruins, he will agree with me as to their original purpose." My Trautt (Trott) ancestors are shown at Bawn in Griffith's Valuation of 1854. In May of 2002 I had the good fortune of visiting the grounds of the Bawn Estate itself. The landscape reveals what looks like an old moat from the former castle. From what I have learned, the Bawn House was demolished around 1944 or 1945, and all of the wood and stone were sold off. Currently, it appears that another residence has been erected on the site, with only some supporting structures such as outhouses and barns remaining from any original estate. There is no trace of the Bawn House when you visit the site today. I have a partial copy of the 6-inch Ordnance Survey map from this area which clearly shows both a rectangular structure marked "Bawn House" and a large square structure with interior courtyard marked "Bawn Castle and Nunnery" to the rear of the house. In History of the Diocese of Ardagh (1954), James J. McNamee, D.D. (Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois) writes of a return trip to Ardagh on the part of St. Patrick to investigate reports of impropriety (i.e. incest) between Mel and his "kinswoman". McNamee argues convincingly (against historians from 12th-century Jocelin to moderns Colgan and Healy) that the "kinswoman" of Mel, sent to Druim Chea, was Mel's own sister St. Eche, not St. Patrick's sister, Lupita, who would have been 70 at the time of Patrick's return visit to Ardagh. Lupita would have made an improbable partner in "crime" for Mel, and was known to have settled at Armagh with Patrick. Incidentally, Eche was also innocent, but likely fell victim to the newly baptized Celts' disbelief that Mel and his housemate and "kinswoman" could possibly remain celibate in the days when incest was not uncommon. McNamee writes, "The location of this Druim Chea at which Mel's "kinswoman" was settled by St. Patrick is not clear. It would have been to the west of Slieve Gaulry (the ancient Bri Leith), and is commonly supposed to have been at Bawn in the Parish of Moydow. A ruin there is marked on the Ordnance Survey map as a 'Nunnery,' but it is not certain that it was an ecclesiastical building at all. If we have argued aright that it was Mel's own sister, not Patrick's, who was involved in the calumnious report, we might suppose the reference [to the kinswoman] to be to St. Eche, sister of St. Mel, whose name is associated with the ancient Church of Kilglass, three miles from Ardagh. The objection to this would be that Kilglass is to the southeast and not to the west of Ardagh as indicated in the Tripartite [Healy] text. We might suppose, however, that Eche [was] subsequently removed from Druim Chea to Kilglass." (McNamee, p. 51) According to McNamee, O'Donovan quotes a letter from the parish priest, Dean Farrelly, in his Ordnance Survey Books: "The Dean adds: 'There is no tradition here to connect the Nunnery of Druim Chea with the ruins at the rear of Mr. Ousley's House in Bawn. It is believed to have been a Chieftain's Castle.' O'Donovan, however, was not satisfied with this, for in a subsequent letter he writes: 'The ruins of this Nunnery (Druimchea), said to be the oldest in Ireland, are now to be seen at the rear of Mr. Ousley's house at Bawn in the Parish of Moydoe and within about three miles of the Town of Longford. Now, if you draw a line from the ruins of this Nunnery to that of Saint Mel's Church at Ardagh, it will pass over the summit of the mountain Slieve Calry or Bri Leith.' Whatever about Bawn as the site to this Nunnery we may dissent from the statement that it was the oldest in Ireland. Clonbroney at least would have been older." (McNamee, p. 52) In any case, there is nothing of much interest to see at Bawn. I'm sure you have noted that Moydow Glebe is adjacent to Bawn. As you probably know, glebe lands were properties owned by the Church and generally exempted from paying tithes. My copies from the 6-inch map show a Fort, Glebe, Police Barrack, Schoolhouse and Church in Moydow Glebe. This is probably the "chapel" to which Farrell refers. The townland of Kilglass is a possible location for the Nunnery of Mel's kinswoman, which you seek. My O.S. map indicates that a glebe land in the civil parish of Kilglass straddles the line between O.S. 6-inch maps 19 & 23 (XIX and XXIII) and shows a structure designated as "Glebe House." Alas, I have no copy of the 6-in survey maps for that area. Do you? All the best with your quest ... I will be interested to hear what you discover. Guy A. Rymsza Author, County Longford Residents Prior to the Famine -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [LONGFORD] Mr. Ousley in Bawn townland This is not actually genealogical, but I think I need help from someone who might be aware of the Ousley family in Bawn townland, Moydow civil parish, in about 1838. One of the more interesting aspects of my Irish travels is locating Early Christian and early Medieval nunneries. I've been doing this for years, and have acquired a pretty-good reputation "in the trade" (whatever that is). One of my recent targets has been Druimcheo, in Co. Longford. This goes back to St. Patrick, St. Mel (of Ardagh fame) and Mel's "kinswoman", Lupita. Anyway, Patrick arranged for Lupita to go to Druimcheo, west of Bri Leith. John O'Donovan, in his Ordnance Survey Letters of 1838, deduced that this site is in Bawn townland. Here's the section from the OSL: "The ruins of this Nunnery, said to be the oldest in Ireland, are now to be seen to the rear of Mr. Ousley's house at Bawn in the Parish of Moydoo and within about three miles of the Town of Longford. Now, if you draw a line from the ruins of this Nunnery to that of Saint Mel's Church at Ardagh, it will pass over the summit of the mountain Slieve Calry or Bri Leith." This assumption of J.O'D is unproven, but I'd still like to take a look. Incidentally, the Ousley house was referred to as "Bawn House", which made me hope that it would be shown on my Townland Index maps. But it's not. I realize it's a long shot, but perhaps someone out there has the Ordnance six-inch map for that area of Co. Longford - map 19 (or XIX) - and could locate Bawn House within the townland and let me know? Unlikely, I realize. Google shows a couple of references to Bawn House, but not enough to precisely locate it. Any help would be appreciated. Pete Schermerhorn, in the glorious Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts ==== IRL-LONGFORD Mailing List ==== To find other Irish county web pages visit IGP: http://irelandgenealogyprojects.rootsweb.com