Mr John Tyndall│Ordnance Survey Office│ Kinsale│
Leghlin Bridge│July 19th, 1841.
My dear John
A second time I send you the glorious intelligence of Colonel Bruen’s return for Carlow,1 also that of Mr Bumbury’s after one of the most tremendous struggles that ever took place in any County. The mobs that passed through this town on Monday last2 on their way to Carlow, headed by the most hellborn agitators with long poles in their hands and concealed pikes in their bosoms, was enough to strike terror into the most chicken hearted. They had along with them three green flags3 with mottoes on them and one of them was a representation of the devil with Bruen on his back. Below was printed letters:– ‘The Devil running away with Bruen’. The reception they met with in Carlow was anything but pleasing to them. As soon as they arrived at Bunn Bridge4 there was a very snug cannon there with a blazing match ready to receive them. Priest McMahon marched up to Colonel Jackson who commanded the military and told him that he would go bail for the peace of the town if the people, as he called them, were permitted in. Colonel Jackson asked him who he was and told him to be off about his business and that he, not the Priest, would secure the safety of Carlow at this time. Nothing can describe their chagrin; after all their swaggering and display they were obliged to return home in the midst of the most dreadful rain while starving all, without being able to rob a single baker of one loaf of bread. It was their intention to ransack the town and carry away their illgotten booty. This is no idle story but a positive fact as they brought cars and carts with them for that purpose. Nothing can describe the state of society in the Co Carlow at this moment and I believe the Romans5 and Protestants will never be on good terms with each other. They threaten us with a rebellion but we laugh at them with scorn. Your uncle Caleb was bailed on Friday last. Mr Steuart and Mr Henry Newton were his sureties. The trial I think wont go on this assize though Priest McMahon and Mary McAssey with about forty witnesses has left this town this morning for Carlow to hang him, but they will see to their cost that it’s all a mountain in labour.6 I was in Carlow from Tuesday till Saturday, and in the Court House when the Colonel and Mr Bumbury were declered duly Elected by the High Sherif amidst the most tremendious cheering and kentish fire7 ever beheld. The majority was small – only 98 – but if you knew our situation here you’d think we ought to be in a large minority. I told you that Bruen would be the victor amidst the most discouraging circumstances, and you cant call me a false prophet.
I am your affectionate father | John Tyndall
Caleb voted when bailed, I was in the booth.
RI MS JT/1/10/3232
LT Transcript Only
Colonel Bruen’s return for Carlow: A late edition of CS was printed on 17 July in order to print the result of the election.
The mobs that passed through this town on Monday last: On 12 July 1841 the mob in Carlow, which according to one observer consisted of ‘more than 100,000 people’, was kept in check by Colonel Jackson and his troops. ‘Not a drop of blood has been shed, and that is invariably the result of magisterial firmness and timely preparation’ (CS, 17 July 1841, p. [3]). This invasion of Carlow was widely reported in the national press (e.g. London Standard, 22 July1841, p. 2); see also letter 0076.
green flags: green is a symbol of Irish nationalism.
Bunn Bridge: presumably the bridge over the River Barrow linking Carlow and the suburb of Graigue (now Graiguecullen Bridge) which was built in 1569 and widened in 1815.
Romans: Roman Catholics.
a mountain in labour: In a story from the ancient Greek collection Aesop’s Fables, a mountain groaning loudly in labour gives birth only to a mouse. The fable is usually interpreted as relating to grandiose claims or threats which prove to be empty.
kentish fire: protracted clapping in unison in order to drown out an opponent; a tactic thought to have originated in 1828–9 when the people of Kent opposed speakers who favoured the Catholic Relief Bill.
The majority was small – only 9: Bruen polled 705 votes, Bunbury 704, John O’Connell, Jnr, 696, Ashton Yates, 697. In asserting that there was only a majority of 9 votes, Tyndall’s father appears to have been considering only the votes for Bruen and O’Connell and ignoring the votes for the other two candidates. 8 votes separated both Bruen and Yates and Bunbury and O’Connell.
Please cite as “Tyndall0078,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0078