Thomas Branagan

Thomas Branagan was a traditional Irish harper in the mid to late 19th century, who played at events in County Louth. This post is to discuss the references to him, and to start thinking about who he was and what we can say about him.

Header photo: the ruins of Stephenstown House, © Mike Searle CC-BY-SA

Birth and early years

If we believe that age given on his death record, Thomas Branagan was born in about 1825. I assume he was from Drogheda. At the moment we don’t have any more information about his family or youth.

Learning the harp

Thomas Branagan was one of the young boys who was learning to play the harp at the Drogheda Harp Society school. The school was set up and organised by the Dominican priest, Father Burke, and the harp school was really just another aspect to Father Burke’s religious and cultural revival projects in Drogheda. The school started at the beginning of 1842, and it seems to have come to an end when Father Burke died in October 1844. The school apparently ran in the Dominican friary house. I recently wrote up as much information as I could find about this harp school, in my post about another of the students there, Peter Dowdall.

Father Burke hired the traditional harper Hugh Frazer to be the teacher. As far as I can see, Hugh Fraser took his job seriously, and taught as many as sixteen boys to play the traditional wire-strung Irish harp over that two-and-a-half years that the school was running. Thomas Branagan would have been aged about 17 years old when he started. Because the harp school was connected in to the religious revival scene in Drogheda, we can presume that like all of the other boys there, Thomas Branagan was Catholic, and that he had taken the Abstinence pledge.

Hugh Frazer had learned the traditional wire-strung Irish harp in the early 1820s at the harp school in Cromac Street, Belfast, under Edward McBride and Valentine Rennie. They in turn had learned in the early 1810s under Arthur O’Neill at the harp school in Pottinger’s Entry, Belfast. Arthur O’Neill had learned in the 1740s under Owen Keenan of Augher, County Tyrone. So Branagan had a very good lineage in the inherited tradition of playing the wire-strung Irish harp.

Father Burke organised the making of harps for the pupils. A local carpenter, Francis Flood, made the instruments, and the pupils may also have been involved in the work. One of these harps is known to survive, in private ownership in Drogheda. It is clearly modelled after John Egan’s design of traditional wire-strung Irish harp. Each of the Cromac Street pupils was presented with one of these harps when they finished school, and I think that Flood must have used Hugh Frazer’s harp as a model. Presumably Branagan had a harp made by Flood, of this design.

The Drogheda concert

We first actually meet Thomas Branagan at the concert organised by Father Burke’s Harp Society, on 19th February 1844. The school had been running for two years by this point, and presumably Frazer and the organisers felt that the pupils were good enough to have a proper public concert to show off their talents. The concert was held in the Mayoralty House in the centre of Drogheda.

The advertisements in the newspapers (Drogheda Conservative Journal, Sat 17 Feb 1844 p3, and Drogheda Argus Sat 17 Feb 1844 p3) include a programme which lists the performers and what tunes they were to play. The people listed as performing are Hugh Fraser (the teacher of the harp school), and six other names: Master Halpin and Dowdall perform together; Miss Flinn; Mr. McEntegart; and finally O’Hagan and Branagan play together.

Unfortunately, each paper prints a slightly different programme. The Argus lists three tunes that “Hugh O’Hagan and J. Branagan” will play: the traditional harp air “The song of sorrow” (better known now as Uilleacán Dubh O); the set dance tune “The Sprig of Shillelah” (an English morris dance called the Black Joke); and the Tom Moore song air “The meeting of the Waters”. But the Conservative Journal merely says that “Hugh O’Hagan, & Thomas Branigan” will play “In Concert”, and after that it assigns the three named tunes to Hugh Frazer. I suspect that the Argus is the less reliable, with the typo for his name, “J” instead of “T”, and so I don’t trust the Argus’s tune lists either.

We do have reviews of the concert, but they don’t really help. The review of the concert in the Drogheda Conservative Journal (Sat 24 Feb 1844 p2) said “Messrs, O’Hagan and Branagan, played a ‘Concerto,’ and evinced great musical capabilities”. The Vindicator of 2 March 1844 p4 said that “among the pupils are two blind boys, who, when perfected, will be able, through the means of the harp, to make out a livelihood for themselves, without being a burthen on society. The pupils number sixteen…”. We know that Hugh O’Hagan was blind, but I don’t know who the other blind pupil was. But this is a clear statement that fourteen out of the sixteen were sighted.

Professional career

The Drogheda harp school was less well organised than the ones in Belfast had been. I think it ran more on Father Burke’s enthusiasm, and was not so focussed on turning out professional harpers. But Hugh Fraser clearly did his best to train the young boys up to a good standard of harp playing.

Thomas Branagan seems to have gone on to work as a professional harper, though we have very little information yet about his career. So far I only have two events which he played at. Hopefully more events or other information will turn up, and if they do we can add them to the bottom.

Rokeby Hall, 1849

Rokeby Hall is a grand country house near Dunleer, about seven miles north of Drogheda. The house was built in 1786 for the Archbishop of Armagh, Richard Robinson (1708-1794). He called his new house Rokeby, after his father’s house, Rokeby Park in Yorkshire. The Diocese of Armagh includes Drogheda, and living at Rokeby Hall would suit the Archbishop better for his regular trips to Dublin, than if he had stayed in Armagh.

After the Archbishop died, Rokeby Hall passed to his nephew, and then down through the generations. The nephew’s grandson, Sir John Stephen Robinson (1816 – 1895), inherited Rokeby Hall in 1847, and it is two years after that, that we find Branagan there.

The event being described was held on Saturday 27th October 1849. It was not actually in the house; the article says it was held in “a shed in the farmyard”. This could have been in the stable block, which is about 150 meters from the house; or it could have been at Marlay farm, which was the home farm of the estate, about two thirds of a mile north.

HARVEST HOME AT ROKEBY HALL
On Saturday evening last, Sir John Robinson, Bart., gave a harvest home, on a liberal scale, to the numerous farm labourers and tenants upon his estate, at Rokeby Hall. The place set apart for the entertainment was a spacious shed in the farm-yard, which having been nicely decorated with laurels, evergreens, &c., and brilliantly lighted with chandeliers, gave the festive board a rich and very brilliant appearance. The neatness with which the place was fitted out reflected credit on the worthy steward, under whose superintendence the preparations were made. At about half-past four o’clock, the party, numbering above two hundred, sat down to a sumptuous and substantial dinner, of the primest roast joints of mutton, rounds of beef, hams, &c., together with an abundance of excellent pudding, and a plentiful supply of strong ale. The comfort of the company was looked to by Sir John, his lady, and Master Richard, who were present on the occasion, and also the Rev. Mr. Allen, of Dunleer. Mr. Owens, the steward, was also present, and through his judicious management every individual was attended to in the best possible manner. Mr. Boyle, the under-steward, participated in rendering the entertainment satisfactory to all. The house-servants attended on the occasion, so that the entertainment was all that could be wished for to make the hearts warm of a grateful tenantry towards the liberality of a kind and respected landlord. Not the least important acquisition to the enjoyment was the presence of Mr. Branagan, a popular performer on the Irish harp, who delighted the company with pleasing airs on the national instrument. As soon as the cloth was removed three hearty and deafening cheers were given for Sir John, his lady, and family – a cheer for the Rev. Mr. Allen – and one for the Steward.

The party subsequently retired to a large barn, which was tastefully adorned with flowers, &c., and in the centre of which were two “dancing decks,” where the votaries of Terpsicore, to the sweet music of the violin, joined in the merry step “till day-light did appear,” when all adjourned to their respective homes, wishing Sir John and family a long and happy life. In the afternoon the tenantry were again feasted in a like manner, thus proving the happy feeling which exists between Sir John and his numerous and well-conducted tenants.

Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal, Sat 3 Nov 1849 p1

Terpsichore was the ancient Greek Muse or Goddess of dancing, and so we can paraphrase this description of the people who were into dancing, getting up on the two raised dance-floors that had been erected in the barn, and dancing to fiddle music until it started to get light in the morning, which is between 6 and 7 am at the end of October in Dunleer. Then it seems that on Sunday afternoon, everyone came back for another dinner.

The only information about Branagan that we are given, is that he was “a popular performer on the Irish harp”. This implies that people had heard of him, that he had some kind of public profile as a harper.

Stephenstown house, 1878

Stephenstown is a ruined country house, near Knockbridge, about four-and-a-half miles south-west of Dundalk. The house was owned by the Fortescue faily, but after the death of the last of the Fortescues in the 1960s, the hose and contents were sold off, and the house was abandoned and has gradually been collapsing ever since. As a little aside that is not actually relevant at all, at one point I did wonder if there had been an 18th century Irish harp at Stephenstown house. However since thinking that, I have seen the catalogue of the contents sale (16-17 July 1975) and there is no harp listed, so I think I was wrong about that.

On Wednesday 31st July 1878, we find Thomas Branagan playing the harp for a group of schoolchildren. The Fortescue family were hosting a party:

SCHOOL FEAST
On Wednesday the children attending the male and female National Schools at Knockbridge, were hospitably entertained at Stephenstown by Mrs Colonel Fortescue. After doing full justice to the good things provided for them, the children joyously took part in a series of amusements in the lawn. Colonel Fortescue and a number of ladies and gentlemen were present, and superintended the amusements, which were much enlivened by the performance of Mr Brannigan on the harp. Several valuable prizes were given to the winners of the several races, jumps, &c, arranged for competition.
After spending a most enjoyable day the children dispersed, giving hearty cheers for their kind and generous benefactress, and for Colonel Fortescue.

Dundalk Democrat, Sat 3 Aug 1878 p4

Another report gives similar information, but does not name the harper (Dundalk Herald, Sat 3 Aug 1878 p3). This article does however list a couple of the local gentry who were there to see the event (“Hon Mrs. Smyth, Mr. Murphy, J.P., Castletown”). This article also says the meal was after the entertainments, not before.

Death

Thomas Branagan died seven years later, on 11th July 1885, at Drogheda Workhouse. On his death record, his name is spelled “Branigan”; he is listed as male, married, 60 years old. His occupation is listed as “Harper”. I have not yet found anything about his wife, or if they had a family. I presume he was buried in an unmarked grave in Bully’s Acre.

When I looked at the death register, I saw that the death had been reported by Henry Duffy at the Workhouse, and signed by the Registrar, George Delahoyde, and then at the bottom of the page, the register had been signed off by the Superintendent Registrar, who was of course Thomas Branagan’s old classmate at harp school, Peter Dowdall.

If you look at my timeline of traditional Irish harpers in the long 19th century, you can see that Thomas Branagan survived very late in the tradition. I have only seven names who I know survived him: there is his old classmate Hugh O’Hagan who died in Dundalk in 1886; Sam Patrick in Belfast died 1888; Pat Murney in Belfast died 1890; Roger Begley in England died in 1896; his old classmate Peter Dowdall died in Drogheda in 1902; Paul Smith in Dublin died in 1904; and George Jackson in Belfast died in 1909. I know there was one more still alive in 1906.

I should add a final note about Thomas Branagan’s name, because there are a lot of related variant spellings. The surname database at gaois.ie under Ó Branagáin gives variant spellings (i mBéarla) Branagan, Brannigan, and Branigan. Barry Griffin’s distribution map of Brangan shows a strong cluster around Drogheda; he gives variant spellings Branagan, Branigan, Brankin, Brannigan, and Brennigan.

My map shows the places mentioned in this post.