SHILLELAGH PARISH CHURCH SHILLELAGH CO. WICKLOW

ELLSION FAMILY HISTORY by JULIAN ELLISON

The Reverend Humphrey Eakin Ellison, clerk in holy orders, married Letitia Archdall, the sixth daughter of Lieutenant William Frederick Archdall of Farm Hill, County Wexford on June 30th 1863 (she was the only one of his nine daughters to marry). She had two brothers, the Reverend William F. Archdall, Rector of Rathcooney, Co. Cork and the Right Reverend Mervyn Archdall, Bishop of Killaloe.

A very illustrious family with a pedigree stretching back to John Archdale, Mayor of Stafford, England, in 1539, and beyond that to Sir Edward Archdale of Norson, Norfolk, and Macclesfield Cheshire who had a command in Henry the Fifth's Army at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

The author of “Monasitcon Hibernicum”, that history of the Irish Monastic Houses, was another member of the Archdall clerical procession and another Reverend Mervyn Archdall. Mervyn has been a constantly recurring name in the family since about 1700.

From the archives in the Registry of Deeds I unearthed various documents relating to the disposals of property left by Allan Ellison of  St. Michans. These show that in 1861 The Reverend Humphrey Eakin Ellison was evidently a Curate in the Parish of Liskinfere, County Wexford, where no doubt he met his wife to be. The Rector's name, who signed as a witness is given as the The Reverend William Brandon.

Another Deed dated 1865 is signed by Humphrey Eakin Ellison as Clerk of Kilfane, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and it was here that William Frederick Archdall (the Author's Father) was born. 1872 saw him take up the living of Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow, with Earl Fitzwilliam as his patron. He remained here for the rest of his life and though appointed to the deanery of Ferns in 1896, he died only a few months later, on the 12th of February, 1897.

It is not surprising that having settled down in the Rectory at Shillelagh he became very interested in choir training and became well known for his choir performances throughout the diocese. (One remembers that it was from the choir school of St. Michans that young Humphrey graduated.)

Shillelagh is such a pleasant and peaceful village set amongst the Wicklow foothills. Starting from the river in the valley the village rises through the winding road up the hillside. Standing above the village is the Church, a magnificent example of Wicklow stonework. On the opposite side of the road and a little further up hill there stands
the quaint old-world Rectory just as it was one hundred years ago.

I cannot imagine more beautiful surroundings in which to raise a family than here amongst the thickly wooded hillsides of the Fitzwilliam Estate with the river winding along below, while the area is so beautifully kept and well farmed. The following extract from a letter written at the time of his death by his son, Allan, tells us "He was just sixty three at the time of his death but looked seventy. The last illness was brought about by walking to see a sick woman who lived far away up a lonely hillside at the edge of the Parish". Other records tell us that he was taken to the Hospital at Ballard, not far from Shillelagh, but twelve days later he died there from pneumonia. He is buried in the family plot in Shillelagh Churchyard.

A further extract from his son's letter reads as follows: "The gardens here (at Shillelagh) are a golden sheet of crocuses, all the trees he planted have grown large and handsome, and the farm has been so much improved. The only real difficulty was the education of my younger brothers and the kindness of Earl Fitzwilliam has provided for that. Mother will have enough when her affairs are settled, and he has promised to get livings in England for me and my two brothers who are clergymen".

This would explain the appearance of three of the Dean's sons in English Parishes in later years. The Shillelagh family consisted of

1)       Willaim Frderick Archdall, born April 28th 1864.
2)       Frances Elizabeth, born November 14th, 1865.
3)       Allan, born June 1st 1867.
4)       John Eldon, born September 20th, 1869.
5)       Sara Jane, born January 13th, 1872.
6)       Charles Stuart Standford, born December 20th 1873.
7)       Henry Mervyn, born June 22nd, 1875
8)       Humphrey, born April 21st, 1877
9)       Francis O'Brien, born November 22nd, 1878
10)     Mary Beaconsfield, born March 7th, 1880
11)     Arthur Alexander, born March 16th, 1885.

Of these, two did not reach maturity. Henry Mervyn had entered Trinity College but died there in 1897, aged 21, while Alexander also died as a boy. This left six sons, five of whom took Holy Orders, leaving Frank, the youngest, who had not started on his college career when his father died. This left him free to choose for himself, he chose a medical degree.

He always said had it not been for his father's death at that time he would undoubtedly have had to take Holy Orders also. It was rather a pity breaking an incredible family church tradition. Even so, I am sure that a father and five sons, all in clerical garb at the same service, must surely be an Irish church record if not for the British Isles. This occurred at a service in Shillelagh when the Dean and his five sons all took part in the same service.

One of the amazing things about Humphrey Eakins Ellison was the fact that he entered all his sons into Trinity College on sizarships in the classics, straight from the Rectory, none of them ever went to schools and all were taught by their father. He was, we are told, a strict disciplinarian and moulded the obviously good material he had to what he considered its best advantage.