Patrick Byrne part 10: in the Scottish borders and touring Ulster, 1850

And so we continue to try and work through all of the documents for the life of the traditional Irish harper, Patrick Byrne (1790s – 1863).

You can catch up with his life and work up to this point, in my previous posts about him:
Part 1 covers Patrick Byrne’s early years and education, down to his discharge from harp school in 1822.
Part 2, looks at his early career, working for patrons in Ireland and England from 1822 to 1837.
Part 3 covers his first visit to Scotland over the winter of 1837-8, and his tour of Ireland in 1839-40.
Part 4 looks at him playing for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle, and then touring mostly in Ireland and a bit in England in 1841-4.
Part 5 covers just six months, from when he went to Scotland at the beginning of 1845 until he headed back to Belfast on 25th June, including the Waverley Ball and having his photographs taken.
Part 6 covers the rest of 1845, and the whole of 1846, touring in the north of Ireland and the English midlands.
Part 7 covers Scotland in the first half of 1847, Ireland for the second part of 1847; England in the first part of 1848, and back in Ireland in Autumn 1848.
Part 8 covers Byrne’s trip to the south of England over Christmas 1848, where he played events in Hampshire and Wiltshire; and then the first half of 1849, when he went to Staffordshire and then came back to Ireland and met the antiquarian John Bell in Dungannon.
Part 9 covers his pursuit of Queen Victoria from Dublin to Balmoral in the summer of 1849.
This post (part 10) follows him from the end of 1849 through to the end of 1850, in the Scottish borders and touring Ulster.

As I work through the records of Patrick Byrne’s life, I am greatly helped by John Scully’s book, (Ah! How d’you do! Sir!, Carrickmacross 2024) which gathers documentation on Patrick Byrne. I find it very interesting that both John Scully and I have spent a lot of time searching through newspaper archives for mentions of Patrick Byrne; and while there are a lot of articles and clippings that we both found independently, there are also quite a few that only one of us spotted. I think this is a significant cautionary tale about the amount of stuff that remains to be found about the other harpers, but also perhaps about Byrne. In these posts, I credit John for items that I only located after seeing the reference to them in his book.

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At the end of October 1849 Patrick Byrne was apparently on his way back to Ireland from Edinburgh. In mid-November, we find him with his old patrons, the Shirley family of Lough Fea near Carrickmacross.

The Agricultural Dinner

On Monday 19th November 1849, Evelyn J. Shirley, and his son Evelyn P. Shirley, gave out the usual annual prizes to their tenants of the Farney estates, to reward the most productive farmers. The awards of the prizes was in Carrickmacross, ouside the estate office. That evening, Evelyn P. Shirley hosted a celebratory dinner for the prize-winners in the Shirley Arms Hotel. The newspapers reported in detail on the dinner, the speeches, and who was there; and at the end of the report we are told:

…During the evening, a great many fine songs were sung, some of them in the Irish language, and the proceedings were further enlivened by the strains of the Irish harp, played in very good style by a Farney man.

Newry Telegraph Thu 22 Nov 1849 p3

The Farney man was, almost certainly, Patrick Byrne.

At the moment I don’t know where Patrick Byrne spent the rest of 1849. He may have stayed at Lough Fea for Christmas, or gone to some of his other patrons in Ireland. But he was back in Scotland for a few months at the beginning of 1850. We will track the references and see what we can say.

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In the West Highlands, early 1850

We have a letter of recommendation, written for Patrick Byrne. The envelope is addressed:

Major Campbell
of Skipness
3. Woodside Terrace,
Glasgow.
hand by
Mr. Byrne

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, D3531.G.1

The letter reads:

[Kilmartin], 1st [???^ry] 1850
My dear sir,
The Bearer of this is
[Mr] Byrne, Prince Albert’s [Irish]
Irish Harper. The [poor] man
was born on the Estate of
my Father in law, M^r. Shirley,
who has always taken a great
interest in him. He gets a
pretty good livelihood by
going thro’ the Country, &
playing to the [natives]. He is

a well conducted, intelligent
man, & a welcome guest in
the houses of many of the
first people in Scotland &
England. He has been staying
with me for a fortnight &
intends to visit Glasgow on his
way to Spottiswoode, where Lord
John Scott has, I believe, invited
him. Should it be [in your]
[power] to introduce him to
any of your musical friends

he would be [???] grateful
[??] the [poor].
Believe me,
yours very truly,
Neill Malcolm

PRONI D3531.G.1

My main problem with this letter is that I cannot properly read the date. I was thinking it was “Feb^ry” but it is possible that it says “Jan^ry” instead. The handwriting is pretty poor all the way through.

Anyway we can use this letter to reconstruct Patrick Byrne’s movements at the beginning of 1850. He had spent “a fortnight” either at the end of December 1849 or the end of January 1850, staying at Kilmartin House, in South Argyll. The owner (and writer of the letter) was Neil Malcolm, 13th of Poltalloch (1797-1857). Neil Malcolm’s second wife was Louisa Shirley, daughter of Evelyn John Shirley and Eliza Stanhope, so it is obvious how Patrick Byrne would have got an introduction to go to Kilmartin.

Kilmartin House was demolished in the later 19th century after Poltalloch House was built to replace it on a different site. As an aside, we can note that in the early 20th century, Ian Malcolm of Poltalloch owned two different reproduction medieval wire-strung harps.

On to Glasgow

After he left Kilmartin, Patrick Byrne was heading to Glasgow, and so he carried with him Neil Malcolm’s letter. The letter is addressed to Walter William Thomas Beaujolois Campbell, 11th of Skipness (1807 – 1877), at 3 Woodside Terrace. I am not finding him in the post office directories, but he is listed in the Scottish Census of 1851, as “Major & Staff Head Of Pensioners Army Hospital”, 3, Woodside Crescent.

Now I know the census enumerators often did not use the post office street numbers, but just numbered the houses sequentially as they visited them. And we can see on the drawing that Woodside Terrace continues seamlessly on from the left hand end of Woodside Crescent. So at the moment I think we can believe the postal address given on the envelope, and suggest that Patrick Byrne was at the present day 3 Woodside Terrace.

The little note at the bottom left of the envelope “hand by / Mr Byrne” indicates that the letter was not posted with a stamp, but that Byrne carried it to Glasgow with him. And for some reason it was either never delivered, or perhaps more likely Walter Campbell gave the letter back to Byrne, and Byrne kept it with his papers.

On to Spottiswoode

Assuming that Byrne did go to visit Walter Campbell in Glasgow, he may have stayed there from a few days to a week or more; and then according to the plans outlined in the letter, it looks like Byrne was headed to Spottiswoode House, which belonged to his patron Alicia Ann, Lady John Scott. Alicia and her husband Lord John Scott usually lived in Warwickshire, but they kept Spottiswoode house; it was where Alicia Ann grew up, and where she retired to after her husband died.

Concert in Kelso

Presumably while staying at Spottiswoode with John and Alicia Scott, or perhaps more likely after he had left Spottiswoode House, Patrick Byrne performed a public concert in Kelso, 14 miles to the south-east. The venue was the Queen’s Head, where he had performed back in 1847.

ANCIENT IRISH MUSIC
______
MR. BYRNE,
THE BLIND IRISH HARPER,
WHO has had the honour of playing before Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness Prince Albert, and other members of the Royal Family, and who has further had the honour to be appointed IRISH HARPER to His Royal Highness Prince ALBERT, begs to announce to the Ladies and Gentlemen of Kelso, that he intends to perform a number of
IRISH, SCOTCH, AND WELSH AIRS
ON THE IRISH HARP,
IN THE
QUEEN’S HEAD ASSEMBLY ROOM, KELSO,
ON
FRIDAY EVENING, 29th MARCH, 1850,
When he hopes to be favoured with a liberal share of public patronage.
Admission, 1s. – Children Half Price.
Doors open at 7 o’Clock. – Performance to commence at Half-past 7 o’Clock precisely, and continue till 9 o’Clock.
Tickets to be had at the BAR, Queen’s Head Hotel, at Messrs. [ROBBERFORD]’S and Mr. PATTISON’S Booksellers, and at the KELSO MAIL OFFICE.

Kelso Chronicle Fri 29 Mar 1850 p1

We also have an editorial comment in the same issue:

THE IRISH HARPER. – it will be observed from an advertisement in another column, that Mr. Patrick Byrne, the famed Irish harper, is to give an entertainment this evening in the Queen’s Head Assembly Room. The numerous audiences who listened to his fascinating performances on this dulcet instrument during his visit to this town three years ago, will never forget it, and, if they think with us, will again long for another opportunity of gratifying their musical taste. Mr. Byrne handles the harp in a masterly manner, and, in executing the wild and stirring airs of “Ould Ireland” and Wales, and the sweet and touching melodies of Caledonia, displays great skill and judgement, and also an enthusiasm characteristic of his countrymen. We trust the admirers of the “art divine” will muster in considerable strength, and give the minstrel a bumper house prior to leaving for his native land – “Erin go Bragh.”

Kelso Chronicle Fri 29 Mar 1850 p7

John Scully found a review of this concert, published a week later. I say “review” though I don’t think this actually tells us anything about what happened, except that the turnout was good, and people enjoyed it. Perhaps we should have cut everything after “satisfaction”.

THE IRISH HARPER. – On Friday evening, Mr. Byrne, the famed blind Irish harper, gave an entertainment in the Queen’s Head Assembly Room to a numerous and highly respectable audience. His execution of the Irish, Scotch, and Welsh airs, were admirable, and gave the greatest satisfaction. Though years may have left its impress on the “frame corporeal,” they seem to have had ho effect on his spirits, which are as lively and buoyant as they were in the green days of other years. He still touches the strings of the harp with a master hand – an instrument
      Beloved of old, as poets sing,
      Where purple bled the vine –
      Beloved of Israel’s minstrel king –
      Sweet harp of Palestine –
And his stories and anecdotes are told with indescribable drollery and humour, and make him a general favourite with rich and poor. Whither he may direct his wandering steps, and wherever he may “pitch his tent” to strike the lyre, we wish him every success and a hospitable reception – such a reception as was wont to be given to ministrels in ancient times.

Kelso Chronicle Fri 5 Apr 1850 p6

“The last minstrel” at Bowhill

Patrick Byrne seems to have moved on from Kelso, to spend the early or middle part of April at Bowhill House, near Selkirk, visiting the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch was the older brother of Lord John Scott who Byrne had been visiting at Spottiswoode.

Patrick Byrne had visited Walter the Duke of Buccleugh during his first trip to Scotland in the winter of 1837-8 (see part 3). Back then I was guessing that Byrne may have been at Dalkeith Palace, but now I am wondering if I was wrong about that, and now I am thinking it may be more likely that that initial visit was also at Bowhill.

These visits in March and April 1850 have clarified for me the tight group of Patrick Byrne’s patrons within a 15 mile radius of his old friend George Sudden’s home village of Clintmains in the Scottish borders, in the heart of Walter Scott country.

We have two references to Byrne’s visit to Bowhill in mid April 1850, after Byrne had done the concert in Kelso, but neither pins down the exact dates of the stay. The Newry Telegraph prints information sent in to them by a correspondent:

BYRNE, THE BLIND IRISH HARPER. – We have been favored with a letter, dated Selkirk, N.B., which mentions that our gifted and most amusing favorite, Patrick Byrne, has been spending the last week at the princely residence of the Duke of Buccleuch, Bowhill House; and that the Noble Duke and Duchess have been very kind and condescending to him, expressing themselves highly pleased at the tones of the old Irish harp.

Newry Telegraph Sat 20 Apr 1850 p3

N.B. is a very 19th century way of referring to Scotland; it stands for “North Britain”. I am not aware of any corresponding usage of “S.B.” to refer to England though.

John Scully found a similar item in the Dublin newspaper, the Freeman’s Journal, reprinting an article from the Border Advertiser. Unfortunately I don’t have access to the Border Advertiser to check the date of this article’s original printing, which would tell us the dates of Byrne’s visit.

THE BLIND IRISH HARPER. – It affords us sincere pleasure to make known, that for six days past, Mr. Byrne, the choice old harper, concerning whom we have made honourable mention more than once, was the honoured and welcome guest of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleugh, at their favourite residence of Bowhill, in whose princely halls Mr. Byrne tuned to the songs of other days his darling instrument, to the high, though not unclouded, but still hallowed delight of its noble inmates, whose hearts must, in some degree, have been touched by the many remembrances called forth thereby of the olden times. How beautifully appropriate, on such an occasion as the one referred to, is the introduction to the “Lay of the Last Minstrel.” The scene seems almost the same as the one depicted by the great departed, so faithfully is both place, minstrel, and duchess delineated:-
      “The way was long, the wind was cold,
      The minstrel was infirm and old;
      His withered cheek, and tresses grey,
      Seemed to have known a better day;
      The harp, his sole remaining joy,
      Was carried by an orphan boy.
      The last of all the bards was he,
      Who sung of Border chivalry;
      For, Well-a-day! their date was fled,
      His tuneful brethren all were dead;
      And he, neglected and oppressed,
      Wished to be with them, and at rest,
      No more, on prancing palfrey borne,
      He carolled, light as lark at morn;
      No longer courted and caressed,
      High placed in hall, a welcome guest,
      He poured, to lord and lady gay,
      The unpremeditated lay.”
And again, for Mr. Byrne traversed the entire domain, and climbed the steep ascent that leads to “Newark’s ruins gray” –
      “He passed where Newark’s stately tower
      Looks out from Yarrow’s birchen bower.
      With hesitating step, at last,
      The embattled portal arch he passed,
      Whose ponderous grate, and massy bar,
      had oft rolled back the tide of war –
      But never closed the iron door
      Against the desolate and poor.
      The Duchess marked his weary pace,
      His timid mien, and reverend face,
      And bade her page the menials tell,
      That they should tend the old man well:
      For she had known adversity,
      Though born in such a high degree.”
We can well believe that the leal hearted old harper will remember to his dying day the genuine goodness that prompted the noble Duke and Duchess to invite him thither, and when there, the great kindness that was manifested towards him. – The Border Advertiser.

Freeman’s Journal Fri 26 Apr 1850 p3

“The great departed” was of course Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832). I have quoted this article in full because I think it is very informative as to how Byrne was seen by these Scottish patrons and the public, framed very much in terms of Walter Scott’s Lay of the Last Minstrel published in 1805. The poem tells the story of a harper visiting a previous Duchess of Buccleuch at Newark Tower, which is about 2km north of Bowhill House. I think the poem is hugely important in framing Patrick Byrne’s Scottish career.

When the article says that “Mr. Byrne traversed the entire domain, and climbed the steep ascent that leads to ‘Newark’s ruins gray'”, I think we have to take this as straight reportage; that as part of his stay at Bowhill, Patrick Byrne actually did go out across the demense and parkland at Bowhill, perhaps walking for half an hour with a guide; that Patrick Byrne climbed up the slope, to go into the ruined tower-house. Perhaps Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch (1811 – 1895) had gone ahead and was waiting inside for Byrne. Perhaps he played for her there. Or perhaps the whole party just went there together to view the ruin and discuss the literary heritage of the place. But it must have been powerful for them all to be walking in the footsteps of their predecessors from Walter Scott’s poem.

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Back to Ireland, May 1850

It looks like Patrick Byrne returned to Ireland at the end of April 1850. We have another letter of recommendation which Byrne kept for the rest of his life.

The envelope is not stamped, as if it were to be hand delivered by Byrne himself. It is addressed:

Rev^d James Hardy
College Street
Armagh

PRONI D3531.G.1

And the letter reads:

[Rahans] May 12^th 1850
My dear James
If ever you receive
these few lines it will be from
the hand of Prince Alberts
Harper otherwise our old
friend Patrick Byrne who
I think you have seen here
if not at Tandragee. He has
been here for the last ten days
& is now on his way to Armagh
with the hope of making a

little money by playing
in public or private or if he
can procure an introduction
at the school He is really
an exemplary person most
respectable & moral in his
conduct & kind & liberal to
his friends who are very
poor & live in this neighbour=
=hood & tho often at the
houses of the great he never

expects to be better treated
than the servants of whatever
house he may be in & always
contrives to make himself
a favourite with them.
He wishes to testify his grate=
=ful recollection of poor
Henrys kindness to him by
playing some evening [at your]
house if agreeable for you
Sarah & the children.
I hope you will excuse this

long note & soon answer it &
be able to say [your eyes are]
quite well & that Sarah & the
children are well also. I have
been a [sad] invalid lately tho
now quite well having had a
kind of fever that confined me
several days to bed & tho not
considered dangerous or ma=
=lignenet [reduced] me a good
deal. Your [Uncle] & [Eleanor]
are quite well. Give my
kind love to Sarah & believe
me most truly y^s [J Reed]

PRONI D3531.G.1

I had a hard time trying to read the signature and the place-name, but I think this letter was written by John Reed (c.1770-1860), who is buried in Creggan churchyard. John Reed is listed as holding the big house and land in Rahans townland in the Griffith Valuation of 1861 (presumably the information was collated the previous year). Rahans house is still shown on the 1908-9 OS map, but is not there now.

I note Reed’s comment to Hardy, that “I think you have seen [Patrick Byrne] here if not at Tandragee”. This tells us that May 1850 was not Patrick Byrne’s first visit to Reed at Rahans.

So if Patrick Byrne had been staying with John Reed at Rahans for “the last ten days” on 12th May, he must have got to Rahans on about 2nd May 1850. Perhaps before then he had been for a couple of days with his sister Alice at the farm at Beagh.

After finishing with Reed at Rahans on 12 May 1850, he headed north to Armagh.

I think the letter is addressed to Rev. James Hardy (c.1814–1874). His wife was Sarah née Harden. The address is given as College Street, Armagh, but I am not finding where on College Street they were staying. As an aside, the letter mentions “the children”; their son Edward John Hardy (1849-1920) later wrote a book titled How to be happy though married.

Hardy was the perpetual curate of Moylary (now called Mullary), Co. Louth, which is a small parish just to the east of Collon where Mary Doran was from. But obviously James Hardy was not staying in Mullary when the letter was written to him; instead he was in College Street, Armagh. I wonder if the Mullary thing is just a bureaucratic source of income for him; and whether he had another parish closer to Armagh. Or maybe I have the wrong man altogether.

The comments in the letter about Patrick Byrne being “on his way to Armagh with the hope of making a little money by playing in public or private” makes it sounds like Byrne does not have definite full-time invitation to stay with and work for an aristocratic patron, but rather that he maybe has a few contacts and is hoping to fill in his schedule of playing odd evenings or ad-hoc concerts once he gets there. I presume “the school” that Patrick Byrne was hoping to “procure an introduction at” was the Royal School on College Hill, which continues on out of town from College Street.

Masonic meeting

A week later, on Monday 20th May, Patrick Byrne was in Dundalk, making good use of his Freemasonry connections. I suppose it is possible he was still carrying the letter and on his way to Armagh; or he might have come to Dundalk from Armagh on his way South. I don’t know.

MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. – A meeting of the Eureka Masonic Lodge was held at their house, Douglas-place, Dundalk, on Monday last. The members dined together, and entertained Brother Byrne, Prince albert’s harper, who, we understand delighted the brethren assembled with his instrumental and vocal performance.

Newry Examiner and Louth Advertiser, Sat 25 May 1850 p2 via John Scully p71

I think Douglas Place is the little gardens opposite the Cathedral, where Frances Street and Crowe Street meet. The building looks like a lovely 18th century townhouse but is actually a very sensitive new-build from 1995. The masons had moved out to a new purpose-built hall in 1888.

Our sources for this period are a bit sparse, with only one mention every month or so.

Viceregal Lodge

John Scully found a brief report in the Dundalk Democrat and People’s Journal, Sat 22 June 1850 p4; I thought there must be other newspapers covering this, and so I found the earlier Dublin notice:

MR BYRNE THE IRISH HARPER.- On last Monday evening this eminent harper had the honour of performing before their Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant and Countess of Clarendon at the Viceregal Lodge.

Freeman’s Journal, Wed 19 Jun 1850 p2

Those two are the only reports I have seen; usually I expect these high society events to get reprinted in the gossip columns of all the papers. But the next day (Tuesday 18th) the Lord Lieutenant gave a big dinner to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo and so it is possible that Byrne merely paid a low-key private visit to the Lodge, and the newspapers were not that bothered. I did wonder for a minute if this is a spurious article, if some editor found a press release from a previous visit and accidentally printed it in that day’s paper. Not everything you read in the newspaper is true, after all!

Tour of Ulster, July 1850

It looks like Patrick Byrne headed north, and visited various places in Ulster over the summer of 1850. We don’t have precise dates and even the order of where he was at is not clear. It looks like he was in Dundalk in the middle of July.

THE IRISH HARP.- Mr Byrne, the celebrated Irish harper, has left Dundalk for Castleblayney, on a projected tour through Ulster, and we have no doubt he will receive that encouragement from his northern admirers which has been so liberally extended to him in England and Scotland, and to which his musical attainments pre-eminently entitle him. Mr. Byrne, during his recent stay in our town, was a frequent and welcome visitor at the hospital country residence of Sir John M’Neille, whose liberal patronage of Irish art and Irish music, make him justly dear to every genuine lover of Ireland. Would that many of our local nobility and gentry were inspired by that noble feeling which makes it both a duty and a pleasure to patronise native genius.

Newry Examiner and Louth Advertiser Sat 20 Jul 1850 p2

I think “hospital” is a misprint for “hospitable”. Sir John Benjamin MacNeill (1793-1880) was a railway engineer. He is listed in the Griffith Valuation of 1854 as holding Mount Pleasant House, about 3 miles north of Dundalk. He had been born there, but it seems that the house had been was newly rebuilt or remodelled into its present form in 1850. The house is now used as a convent.

It sounds like Byrne was not staying at Mountpleasant, but was staying in town and working various different private events, but was “frequently” at Mountpleasant – and presumably John MacNeill was his most high-profile client in the area.

Byrne left Dundalk before 20th July 1850, and headed for Castleblayney. We have no record of what he did there, but it looks like he may have carried on from Castleblayney and headed for Monaghan town towards the end of July. This next clipping was published before the Dundalk one above, but I am guessing it refers to his plans for the end of the month. It is not entirely clear.

THE IRISH HARP.
We have learned with pleasure that our old friend, Byrne, the “last of the minstrels” is about paying our town a visit, where we know, he will be heartily welcomed. Mr. Byrne, indeed, may be styled the last of the Irish Bards, and, tho’ the last, not the least. In his performance on the ancient instrument of Ireland, he is unrivalled; and, perhaps, since the days of Carolan, none could “touch the strings” with equal sweetness. Monaghan, we are proud to say, may claim the honour of giving birth to this dark child of song, and his youth and early manhood were spent in the halls of the great baronial families; – the Leslies, Anketells, and Shirleys always had and have a corner and a failthe for the blind bard; and many an humble hearth would gladly welcome him to whose sweet music even Royalty has lately lent a pleasant and attentive ear, and to whom our lyrical brethren of Caledonia awarded the “bays,” in the halls of Balmoral.

Northern Standard Sat 13 Jul 1850 p2

Of course Byrne was not “the last”; in 1850 we can count about 20 other professional Irish harpers working in Ireland, and Patrick Murney was at around this time teaching the next generation of young boys in Belfast. But this kind of comment is just marketing I think, as well as fitting in to the Walter Scott “last minstrel” tropes.

Anyway we can extract some straight facts; Byrne is on his way to Monaghan. There is a useful name-check of Byrne’s old patrons in County Monaghan; we have a lot of information about his main patrons, the Shirley family at Lough Fea. We have a lot less about him visiting the Leslie family at Glaslough; I have mentioned in previous parts of this series that we have a few passing mentions of Byrne going to Glaslough.

But I have not yet come across the Anketell family. William Anketell (1790 – 1851) lived at Anketell Grove, near Emyvale. We need to look out for references to them employing a harper at the house.

After being in Monaghan (assuming he actually got there), Byrne headed East into County Armagh.

BYRNE, THE IRISH HARPER. – On the evenings of Friday and Saturday, Mr. Byrne played on the national instrument, of which he is so thorough a master, in Markethill and Poyntzpass. On both occasions he had crowded audiences, to whom his exquisite performance on the harp gave high gratification.

Newry Telegraph Tue 13 Aug 1850 p3

Presumably he was in Markethill on Friday 9th August 1850, and Poyntzpass on Saturday 10th, though we are not told the venues. John Scully found the story reprinted in the Northern Standard Sat 17 Aug 1850 p3; I am finding the story reprinted in the Ulster Gazette Sat 17 Aug 1850 p4, Athlone Sentinel Wed 21 Aug 1850 p4, and Sligo Chronicle Sat 24 Aug 1850 p2. But I have no adverts or reviews or anything else.

I also presume Byrne was doing private events for various patrons, but we don’t have any trace of them.

Byrne carried on heading South-East, through Newry and out the other side along the north shore of Carlingford Lough. We are told later (see below) that he was staying mostly with Roger Hall at Narrow Water Castle, but he also did a couple of public concerts.

On 16th August he was in Rostrevor, though we are not told the venue:

THE IRISH HARP. – A correspondent in Rostrevor acquaints us that Mr. Byrne, on last Friday evening, entertained a large party of fashionables, in that locality, who, to judge by their rapturous plaudits, highly appreciated the popular minstrel’s strains on his primitive instrument.

Newry Telegraph Tue 20 Aug 1850 p3

A week later, on Mon 26 Aug 1850, he was in Warrenpoint, performing in the Court House. I think this used to be on the site of the Town Hall:

WARRENPOINT. – Byrne, the Irish harper, played a number of his favorite airs and related some of his most racy anecdotes here yesterday evening, in the Court-house, to a large and highly respectable audience, who seemed greatly delighted with the evening’s amusement, if we can judge from their continuous plaudits. During the most part of his stay in this neighbourhood, he has been stopping at the hospitable mansion of Roger Hall, Esq., Narrowwater Castle, who has been a generous patron of Mr. Byrne for nearly thirty years.

Newry Telegraph Tue 27 Aug 1850 p3, via John Scully p72-3

If Roger Hall had been Byrne’s patron for “nearly thirty years” in 1850, he must have started engaging Byrne as soon as Byrne left the harp school in 1822. I discuss Byrne’s early patrons in Part 2.

A week later, on Mon 2 Sep 1850, Patrick Byrne was at Newcastle, further around the coast. We are not told where the venue was:

BYRNE, THE IRISH HARPER.- This descendant of our ancient bards performed on the harp to a large and fashionable audience, at Newcastle, on Monday evening last. All present appeared highly pleased with the strains of the national instrument, and warmly applauded the venerable minstrel.

Newry Telegraph Sat 7 Sep 1850 p3, via John Scully p73

After this, Patrick Byrne apparently continued on around the coast, to stay with a patron in Portaferry, which is where a letter was addressed to him the following week. I don’t really know where Byrne was staying; I am struggling to read the name on the letter. It may be J Nugent, and so it may be Patrick John Nugent (1806-1857), who owned and lived in Portaferry House, but it may be some other member of the Nugent family residing in the town of Portaferry.

I don’t think Byrne had gone to Portaferry just to visit Nugent; I think that he had an ulterior motive.

The Lord Lieutenant’s visit to Ulster

Patrick Byrne had fairly often been invited to play before the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park, Dublin. But in the autumn of 1850, the Lord Lieutenant, George William Frederick Villiers (1800–70) 4th earl of Clarendon, was doing a tour of Ulster. Patrick Byrne must have got word of this proposed visit, and wrote a letter to Lord Londonderry who was going to host the Viceregal visit. We don’t have Patrick Byrne’s letter (unless it is in the family papers waiting to be discovered), but we do have the letter from Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778–1854), preserved in Patrick Byrne’s papers at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The envelope is addressed:

The Irish Harper
Care of [J Nugent] Esq
Portaferry
[Vane] Londonderry

PRONI D3531.G.5

The last line is at the bottom left of the envelope, as the sender’s name. The envelope had a stamp, but the stamp is missing. There are five postmarks stamped on the back of the envelope, recording its progress through the postal system: “GLENARM SE 9 1850” “LARNE SE 9 1850”; “BELFAST SE 9 1850 EV^g“, and “NEWRY SE 10 1850 M”. The letter reads:

Tower of Garron
Sept 9 1850
Lord Londonderry
begs to inform that he
has recieved his letter
& if he will come next
friday by 6 o C^l p m
to Mount Stewart
he will have an [occasion]
of playing before the
Lord Lieutenant

PRONI D3531.G.5

Mount Stewart is about 20km north of Portaferry, on the east side of Strangford Lough; it was the seat of the Stewart Marquesses of Londonderry (Charles Vane had been born Charles Stewart but changed his name to Vane after his second marriage). The house is now owned by the National Trust.

The letter was sent on Monday 9th September; we next find Patrick Byrne at Mount Stewart four days later, on Friday 13th September 1850. John Scully found the newspaper report of the events a Mountstewart, across two pages (Belfast News Letter Tue 17 Sep 1850 p1-2). Patrick Byrne has a cameo appearance:

BANQUET AT MOUNTSTEWART
About eight o’clock, in the evening, a numerous and distinguished company of the nobility and gentry of the counties of Down and Antrim, as also guests from other localities,, and the visitors at present stopping at Mountstewart, sat down in the noble dining-hall to dinner. Previous to the announcement of dinner, Mr. Byrne, harpist to Prince Albert, performed some delightful airs on the harp, in the large drawing-room, into which the guests were ushered through the principal hall…

Belfast News Letter Tue 17 Sep 1850 p2 via John Scully

In other words, after a long day of activities, all of the aristocratic guests were ushered through the large Central Hall and into the drawing room, where Patrick Byrne was playing the harp. Presumably, pre-dinner drinks were being served and the guests were mingling and chatting. Then dinner was announced, and everyone went through into the dining hall, and Patrick Byrne could pack up and leave.

We have a rather worrying reprint of this same story on the same day in the Banner of Ulster, Tue 17 Sep 1850 p1, where the harper is named as “Mr. Jackson”. If I didn’t have the letter from Lord Londonderry inviting Byrne to come, I would have taken seriously the possibility that it was not Byrne who played at Mountstewart that evening, but his younger contemporary Alexander Jackson.

Anyway, the same page of the Newsletter also has a brief clipping mentioning Patrick Byrne’s onward movements:

BYRNE, THE IRISH HARPER. – We shall gratify not a few lovers of our national minstrelsy by informing them that Byrne, the celebrated Irish harper, and harpist to Prince Albert, who was at Mountstewart on Friday evening during the entertainment to the Lord Lieutenant, is at present in Belfast, where he will remain for a day or two, prior to paying a few visits to his patrons in the county Antrim. His old friends will be to glad to learn that he is in the enjoyment of excellent health.

Belfast News Letter Tue 17 Sep 1850 p2

So Patrick Byrne was in Belfast in mid September for a few days; we are not told what he was doing in Belfast. I don’t think he did any public events such as concerts; he may have just gone to a few private aristocratic houses.

After that he headed north into Antrim.

In county Antrim, September – October 1850

On Tuesday 24th September, Patrick Byrne performed a public concert in Antrim town. However I am not finding any more information about this concert, and I don’t know where the venue was.

BYRNE, THE IRISH HARPER. – This old favorite, perhaps the last representative of the race of our ancient bards, has, we are informed by a correspondent, recently been performing in Shane’s Castle, the residence of Lord Viscount O’Neill, the last lineal descendant of the Kingly race of Hy Niall. On Tuesday last, he gave a public concert, in the town of Antrim: it was attended by a large number of the respectable inhabitants, and the efforts of the “fine old man” to please appeared to give great satisfaction…

Newry Telegraph Tue 1 Oct 1850 p3

We are told that Byrne has been at Shane’s Castle, working for John O’Neill, 3rd Viscount O’Neill. The castle is only about 5km from the town. In 1850, Shane’s Castle was a burned out ruin (as shown in the photo here) but the replacement Victorian house had not yet been built, and so the residence was at the stables. I think this is the first reference I have to Byrne going to Shane’s Castle, but we met Lord O’Neill in part 6, when Patrick Byrne was visiting O’Neill at Rockport Lodge.

On Thursday 26th September 1850, we find Patrick Byrne again in Antrim town, this time providing music during a dinner.

ANTRIM UNION FARMING SOCIETY’S CATTLE SHOW
—
THE annual exhibition of this society was held on Thursday, within the demesne of Lord Massareene, Antrim.
…
In the evening the members and friends of the Society sat down to a substantial dinner in M’Anally’s hotel. The viands were of the best description, and the entertainment was enlivened by the performances of Mr. Byrne on the Irish harp.
… [long description of speeches and toasts]

Northern Whig Sat 28 Sep 1850 p1

The 1852 street directory lists Mrs M’Nally as running the Massareene Arms Hotel on Main Street. This eighteenth century hotel was fire damaged in the mid 20th century and subsequently demolished. There is no trace of it now; I think it must have stood about where the Iceland Supermarket on High Street is now. John Skeffington, 10th Viscount Massareene was another old patron of Byrne and we met him in part 6 as well.

The same article from the Newry Telegraph continues by telling us about Byrne’s plans for October 1850:

…Our correspondent further states, that Mr. Byrne intends visiting Moneymore, Cookstown, Dungannon, &c.; where, we doubt not, he will be received with a genuine cead mille failthe.

Newry Telegraph Tue 1 Oct 1850 p3

We have earlier references to Byrne visiting all three of these places. Patrick Byrne was in Moneymore and Cookstown in 1842, though we have no information about what he was doing (see Part 4). I mention there that there is a letter in Byrne’s papers addressed to “Mrs [Dr Barnett} / Money More” who may have been the minister’s wife; she may have been his patron there who he was visiting. And of course, the antiquarian John Bell was in Dungannon, and we discussed him in Part 8.

It looks like this was just a quick journey down the West side of Lough Neagh, because Patrick Byrne was already back at Lough Fea near Carrickmacross just over a week later.

Agricultural dinner at Lough Fea

On Thursday 10th October 1850, Patrick Byrne played the harp as part of the entertainments at a dinner held in the great hall of Lough Fea house, for the successful winners of the annual prizes for the best and most productive tenant farmers on the Farney estate. The estate invited a reporter from the Newry Telegraph to attend, and his long and detailed report was printed over four-and-a-half columns, taking up most of the page (Newry Telegraph Tue 15 Oct 1850 p3).

The Newry Telegraph article is full of praise for the good management of the estate, and the article describes how the estate was managed and run in some detail. It also tells us who was there; about fifty people. Evelyn J Shirley (1788-1856) acted as chairman of the dinner; his son Evelyn P Shirley (1812–1882) was also seated at the head of the room alongside estate managers and clergymen. “Mrs. Shirley, and a number of the ladies, graced the company with their presence in the gallery”.

… Mr. Patrick Byrne, the ancient Irish harper, who belongs to Farney, played a great number of airs, in a masterly style, during the evening, appearing to enter into the spirit of the proceedings with enthusiasm. A piper, also, by playing several pieces, contributed to the enjoyment of the company. Two of the tenants, Mr. John Goodman and Mr. Peter Cassidy, sang a song in the native Irish tongue, to the great delight of every one present. A more agreeable or social entertainment could not be desired, the greatest / greatest harmony animating the whole company. Each person was liberally supplied with wine or punch, it is needless to say, of the best quality; and the domestics entering into the spirit of their master, were most assiduous in their attention to the comfort of the guests. The tables being cleared,
The CHAIRMAN gave “Her Majesty the Queen,” which was duly honoured. Air – “God save the Queen.”
CHAIRMAN. – “Prince Albert and the Royal Family.” Air – “The British Grenadiers.”
The CHAIRMAN said he had now the pleasure of proposing the health of “The Successful Candidates.” (Three times three.) Air – “See the Conquering Hero comes.”
Mr. THOMAS MEE responded. He said it was with feelings of great pleasure he rose to return thanks…

Newry Telegraph Tue 15 Oct 1850 p3

And so the long article continues with the speeches of the various people, the different toasts proposed, and the airs played after each toast. We are not told, but I imagine it may well be that Patrick Byrne was playing these tunes on the harp. (sometimes a military band would be at an event like this to play after each toast, but sometimes we know the harper played these tunes on his traditional wire-strung Irish harp).

Other airs played included “The fine old English gentleman”, for the toast to E J Shirley; “God speed the plough” for the toast to “the unsuccessful candidates”; “Planxty Connor” for the toast to Evelyn P Shirley, who responded by refuting the criticisms of himself and the estate from Tenant League agitators. The air “The Bold Dragoon” was played for the toast to George Morant, the Agent (i.e. the estate manager I suppose); Morant read a letter from former tenants (Owen and John McQuillan) who had emigrated to Australia, which praised Shirley for funding the passage and helping them find a better life overseas. Then there was the reading of the results, naming each tenant farmer; and after that the toast to the judges had the air “The Campbells are coming”. Then Evelyn J Shirley proposed the toast to “the strangers” (i.e. visitors to the estate who were at the dinner), and the air played was “Fly not Yet”. Then Shirley proposed a toast to Mr William George Smith, the sub-agent, and the air was “Patrick’s Day”. Smith’s response was again highly political, criticising the Tenants League agitators and promoting the mutual interest of tenants and landlords. He finished by proposing a toast to “Success to the Farney tenantry”; the tune was “Long life and success to the farmers”. Then Shirley proposed a toast to “The Ladies”, with the tune “Here’s a health to all good lasses”. After that, Mrs Shirley’s health was proposed, but she didn’t get a tune – or perhaps the reporter was too distracted to write it down, because the next toast proposed by Shirley was “The Press”, with the tune “Garryowen”. Mr. Porter from the Telegraph responded. Then E J Shirley and his son E P Shirley and their guests from England left, and W G Smith took over the chair; the evening continued for another two hours. There were more toasts, but no more tunes are mentioned. Near the end, W G Smith proposed a toast:

The CHAIRMAN next begged to give the health of a gentleman who had stood in the presence of her Majesty, and who was an honour to Farney: “Mr. Patrick Byrne, the Irish harper.” (Loud cheers.)
Mr. BYRNE said he was a Farney man, and proud of being so. He never forgot that, and never would. No toast gave him so much pleasure as “Prosperity to Farney”, for it was through the kindness of the Farney people, that he had had the honor of appearing twice before his Sovereign. (The old bard was warmly cheered.)

Newry Telegraph Tue 15 Oct 1850 p3

There is a very grumpy article about this dinner in the Dundalk Democrat, Sat 19 Oct 1850 p2. The article complains that they did not hear about the dinner, and were not invited to cover it, while the Telegraph got an invitation to go. The Democrat article quotes some of the passages from the Telegraph in praise of Shirley and the management of the state, and counters them with vicious criticism of Shirley, the Estate, and of the Telegraph for supporting them. The Democrat’s angle is radical tenant rights; being against evictions, against high rents, and against the coercive relationship between landlord and tenant. The article gets excited by the Irish songs, and says that “Goodman and Cassidy are wags … Farney abounds with Irish poets, who can write verses in the old native tongue; and when the muse is in an angry mood, her denunciation of tyranny and tyrants are awfully grand, and the maledictions she pours forth are almost sufficient to make the nerves of the hearer tremble as if operated on by a galvanic battery”. Patrick Byrne is mentioned by name, but does not get blasted in the way that the others do; except for a rather confused swipe when “the health of Prince Albert was given, and the harper and piper played ‘The British Grenadiers,’ thus insulting the ‘Shirley Brigade,’ whose prowess and daring they should have celebrated before that of all other forces, as it was they who provided the good things eaten and drank during at the dinner”. I think the “Shirley Brigade” refers to the landlords and the estate managers but it is not entirely clear. We also have to remember that, though the Democrat would have a lot of local knowledge of the estate and the people involved of all classes, they were not actually at the dinner and so everything they say is based on reading the Telegraph’s eyewitness write-up.

Did the harper and piper play together? Or is this an invention of the Democrat? I don’t know. The Democrat’s article is fascinating from a social history and land politics point of view, but we are here to find out about the traditional Irish harpers, and so I think we can ignore it.

The Telegraph’s account gives us a great tune-list for this event. We can perhaps imagine Patrick Byrne choosing what tunes from his repertory to play for each of the toasts, as a humourous or relevant commentary on each person. And Byrne’s little speech at the end is very touching.

The references to Shirley as the “fine old English gentleman” reminds us that Lough Fea was not his main house; he was really an English aristocrat based at Eatington Park in Warwickshire. The local paper there reprinted the story (Leamington Spa Courier Sat 2 Nov 1850 p4, via John Scully p74).

A month or so later, we find Patrick Byrne in Armagh.

The Archbishop of Armagh, November 1850

PATRICK BYRNE, THE IRISH HARPER. – This almost the “last of the Irish bards” has, during the past week, been delighting the visitors at the Palace with his exquisite performances on the national instrument, the harp “that once through Tara’s hall” led captive, by the fascinations of its powerful strains, the minds of Prince and peasant, alike encouraging to deeds of arms on the battle-field, and infusing “Love’s soft whisperings” into the breasts of the young and gay. – Mr. Byrne, we understand, remains in town for a short time, and we trust advantage will be taken of the circumstance so that the “lovers of sweet sounds,” of whom we have no lack, may be gratified by the performances of one who really has the power of drawing them forth as seldom has been done. We are much gratified in seeing our old friend, who is now “well stricken in years,” as lively and gay as he was in the hey-day of youth, giving promise of a lengthened and vigorous old age, and we anticipate yet many visits of the old minstrel to our locality, where he has so often contributed to lighten the cares of life by his beautiful execution on the sweetest of musical instruments.

Armagh Guardian Mon 25 Nov 1850 p2, via John Scully p74-5

This really doesn’t tell us very much. In 1850, Patrick Byrne would have been in his early to mid 50s; he must have been looking old to get these comments about his age and health.

The Archbishop’s Palace is a substantial grand house in a large parkland demense on the south edge of Armagh city; nowadays it is owned by the local council.

The Newry Telegraph hardly gives us any more information:

THE HARP, &c. – Mr. Patrick Byrne, the last of the National Minstrels, is, at present, sojourning in our City, and purposes, I believe, treating the good folk of Armagh to a display of his unrivalled performances on the harp. He had recently the honor of playing before a select party at the Palace, and of eliciting that commendation which all parties of refined taste would extend to such a rare musical treat.

Newry Telegraph Thu 28 Nov 1850 p3 via John Scully p75

I have no more information about the performance contexts. It is possible that Patrick Byrne played a public concert; or it is possible that he only played at private parties, with the event at the Archbishop’s Palace being only the highest status and most newsworthy one.

Anyway he soon moved on north-west into county Tyrone.

Omagh, 12-13 December 1850

Patrick Byrne advertised two concerts in Omagh:

ANCIENT IRISH MUSIC.
—–
MR. BYRNE,
THE BLIND IRISH HARPER,

WHO has had the honour of performing several times before Her Majesty Queen Victoria, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and other members of the Royal Family, and has lately been specially appointed Irish Harper to his Royal Highness, begs to announce to the Ladies and Gentlemen of this Town and its vicinity, that he intends to perform a number of IRISH, SCOTCH and WELSH AIRS, on the IRISH HARP, in the Grand Jury Room of the COURT-HOUSE, on the Evenings of THURSDAY, the 12th, and FRIDAY, the 13th DECEMBER instant, when he hopes to be favoured with the same liberal patronage which has been bestowed upon him in all other towns in the North of Ireland, which he has visited.
Tickets, Price 1s., may be had at the Office of Tyrone Constitution, the Post office, Provincial Bank, and Ulster Bank. Children, Half-price.
Performance from Half-past Seven till Half-past Nine o’clock.
——
(Extract from “Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal.”)
“The Harp appears to have been the national musical instrument of Ireland from a period beyond the range of authentic history. It continued from the days of antiquity to the end of the eighteenth century, to be practiced by a body of men generally blind, often of good families and respectable acquirements, who travelled about the country, receiving and giving entertainments in the houses of persons of condition. – Mr. Patk Byrne is a worthy representative of the fraternity and one of the few blind Irish Harpers now remaining. He makes a livelihood by playing to parties, and for this purpose visits the principal towns in the United Kingdom. He is a delightful performer on his instrument.”

Tyrone Constitution Fri 6 Dec 1850 p3

Just like in Dungannon the previous year, this text is not really a quote from Chambers’s but is a heavily edited paraphrase, to position Byrne as the inheritor of the 18th century tradition. I discussed this in part 8.

The woodcut is interesting and I have not seen it before. We now have three different harp woodcuts used for Patrick Byrne’s events; the “winged maiden” used by the Newry Telegraph, and the nice Kirkwood engraving of his own harp that we saw on the Dungannon flyer in 1849; and now this one showing the medieval Brian Boru harp.

The same issue of the newspaper included an editorial comment, referring to the advert:

“THE HARP THAT ONCE.” – It gives us much pleasure to direct the attention of our readers to the announcement in this day’s paper of the contemplated performance, in the Court-house of this town, on the evenings of Thursday and Friday next, of Mr. Byrne, the celebrated blind Irish harper, who has performed with applause before royalty on many occasions. Seldom has so rich and rare a treat been promised to our musical friends. Besides his claims as the sole remaining representative of a worthy race, who in the olden time kept alive in the breasts of the ancient Irish, feelings of piety and chivalry, he has the further claim on our sympathy of being “a blind man,” while he is also a superior minstrel. The antiquity as well as the delightful melody of the harp – the most enchanting of our ancient Irish instruments – will, we have no doubt, attract a large assemblage of the lovers of sweet sounds, to enjoy the lays of “the last minstrel;” and we are satisfied from the reception Mr. Byrne has elsewhere experienced that he will not disappoint their most sanguine expectations. In addition to his performance on the harp, he is in the habit of enlivening the pauses by some quaint anecdote or perhaps by a capital song, as was the wont of the race he so worthily represents. He has been last in Armagh, where he entertained the Lord Primate and a large circle of the nobility and gentry, to their extreme delight.

Tyrone Constitution Fri 6 Dec 1850 p2, via John Scully p75

We have a couple of reviews or mentions of these two concerts. John Scully found this review of the Thursday evening event:

THE IRISH HARPER. – A large and most respectable audience were highly entertained last night, for upwards of two hours, with the unique performance upon the harp of Patrick Byrne, the last of the old Irish minstrels. He is an exceedingly good humoured and jolly old man, possessing a considerable fund of genuine, hearty Irish humour. His execution on the harp was beautiful. All the airs were loudly applauded, and some encored. We were particularly delighted with “Brian Boru’s march to the field of Clontarf,” which he played in the most finished style of execution, and apparently with peculiar enthusiasm. He filled up the pauses with droll Irish stories and bon mots; and varied the entertainment occasionally with comic songs, of which he appears to have a large collection, and to which his style of singing does ample justice. The audience were exceedingly delighted, and enthusiastic in their applause. He is to perform again in the Court-house tonight.

Tyrone Constitution Fri 13 Dec 1850 p2, via John Scully p75

I think this is a very useful review and, unlike some, it actually tells us quite a lot about Patrick Byrne’s music. I find it interesting that the only tune named is Brian Boru’s march – it obviously stood out to this reviewer. The description of the songs and stories gives us a good sense of how Byrne structured his performance.

We have a much later reminiscence, that tells us about a patron of Byrne in Omagh:

…The late Dr. Fleming, of Omagh, was very much attached to Mr. Byrne, as he stayed in his house while in Omagh…

Ulster Herald, Sat 29 Aug 1903. Thanks to Colin Crossey for sending me this.

The writer of this was Henry McBride, the nephew of Patrick Byrne’s second harp teacher Edward McBride. Henry remembered Byrne performing a concert in Omagh but I don’t think it was this one since Henry would only have been aged about 13 at this stage. Byrne did play concerts in Omagh in subsequent years (which of course we have not yet dealt with). In Evelyn P Shirley’s papers dealing with Byrne’s estate after his death, there is a letter to Shirley from Hans Fleming (1814-1887), which gives his address as Palisade House, Omagh. We might wonder if Byrne was staying with Hans Fleming at Palisade House in December 1850, as we know he did on subsequent visits. According to Kenneth Allen, Palisade House was on Church Street, opposite St Columba’s Church of Ireland.

John Scully (p76) found a mention of an unnamed “blind Irish harper” who played at a private dinner, given in honour of A G Simpson, inspector of schools, which was held in the Abercorn Arms Hotel in Omagh, on Fri 13 Dec 1850 (Tyrone Constitution, Fri 20 Dec 1850 p3). The article says that after all of the toasts and speeches, “the blind Irish harper was introduced, and performed a number of popular airs…” If we think (as seems likely) that this was Patrick Byrne, then it looks like as soon as his second concert finished at 9:30pm on the Friday night, he was whisked from the Court House, down the road to the Hotel, where he played for this private engagement. Or could there have been a second traditional Irish harper in town that evening?

After that our trail goes cold and I have no more references until we find Patrick Byrne over in England in the spring of 1851. But we can deal with that in the next section.

Edit: Part 11 has now been posted

As usual, I have added all these places to my map.