The Order of Knights Templars was introduced into Ireland about the
year 1174, by Richard, surnamed Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, or
Strigul. A Priory was founded by him in that year, under the invocation
of St. John the Baptist, at Kilmainham, in the County of Dublin, for
Knights Templars, (see Archdall's Monasticon Hibernicum, pages 222 et
seq.) and King Henry II. granted his confirmation. Hugh de Cloghall was
the first Prior, and enjoyed that office till about the year 1190. The
noble founder had enfeoffed the Prior in the whole lands of Kilmainham;
and dying in 1176, was interred in Christ Church. The two Orders
of Knights Templars and Hospitallers were confirmed the same year.
After this, Hugh Tirrel bestowed upon the Prior of this hospital the
lands of Chapel-Izod and Kilmehanock, "free from all secular services
and burthens, with all liberties and free customs, in wood and open
country, in meadows and pastures, in roads and paths," &c. &c.
Kilmainham continued to be the Grand Priory or Preceptory of the
Templars, till their suppression in 1312; and the Superior of the
Order, according to Sir James Ware, sat in the House of Peers as a
Baron, a privilege enjoyed, as regarded the military orders, only by
the Grand Priors of Kilmainham for the Templars, and of Wexford for
the Hospitallers. He is styled by Archdall, quoting different ancient
records, sometimes _Prior_, and sometimes _Master_, as in the case of
Maurice de Prendergast, 1205 and 1210; sometimes _Preceptor_, as "D.
Walens, Preceptor of the Templars, 1247;" sometimes _Grand Master_, as
"1266, Robert was Grand Master of the Templars in Ireland this year."
In 1288, we find "William Fitz-Roger was _Prior_ this year, and Thomas
de Thoulouse _Master_ of the Templars;" in 1296, "Walter le Bachelour
was _Master_, and William de Rosse was _Prior_, who the same year was
made Lord Deputy of Ireland." He continued in these offices till 1302,
when he was made Chief Justice; and appears in this year also to have
preferred his complaint against the sheriff of Dublin for an illegal
seizure, as "the _Master_ of the Templars." And in 1309, Gerald, son of
Maurice, Lord of Kerry, is spoken of as "the last _Grand Prior_ of the
Order."
The subordinate governors of the Order appear to have been styled
indiscriminately Preceptors or Commanders; and their castles or estates
Preceptories or Commanderies. These were (according to Ware and
Archdall) at Clontarf, in the county of Dublin, founded in Henry II.'s
reign, as it is supposed by the Nettervilles; St. Sepulchre, in the
city of Dublin or its suburbs, near the place where the Archbishop's
palace stands; Kilsaran, in the county of Louth, founded in the 12th
century by Maud de Lacie; Kilbarry and Killure, the one about a mile
and a half from Waterford, and the other two miles east of that city,
in the county of the same name, both founded in the 12th century, the
founders unknown; Crooke, in the harbour of Waterford, four miles east
of the city, founded in the 13th century, by the Baron of Curragmore;
Clonaul, in Tipperary, as also one at Thurles, in the same county,
where a castle now standing was, according to the tradition of the
country, for no record exists, the castle of the Knights Templars;
Teach-Temple, or Temple House, in the county of Sligo, founded in the
time of Henry III.; Mourne, in the county of Cork, founded in the reign
of King John, by Alexander de Sancta Helena; Killergy, or Killarge, in
the county of Carlow, "founded in the reign of King John, by Gilbert
de Borard, for Knights Templars, under the invocation of St. John the
Baptist; Kilclogan, in the county of Wexford, founded in the 13th
century by the family of O'More, which appears to have had a large
estate attached to it, from the report made in the thirty-second year
of King Henry VIII., quoted by Archdall, page 748; and Dundrum, in the
county of Down, where is a strong castle, now in ruins, said to have
been built by Sir John de Courcy."
All these Commanderies and Preceptories were, together with the Grand
Priory of Kilmainham, granted on the abolition of the Order, to the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, in whose possession they continued
till the dissolution of monasteries in the reign of King Henry VIII.
It may not be uninteresting to add the account of Archdall regarding
the circumstances which attended the persecution and attempted
destruction of the Order _in Ireland_.
"In 1307, Walter de Ewias, or de Aqua, being Prior, the King (Edward
II.) transmitted to John Wogan, Justiciary of Ireland, the order
made for the suppression of the Knights Templars in England, on the
Wednesday after the feast of the Epiphany, enjoining him to have it
executed in Ireland without delay, and before the rumour of what was
done in England could reach this kingdom. The mandate was accordingly
obeyed, and on the morrow of the Purification the Templars were
everywhere seized."
"1309. The King, by writ, dated September the 29th, did further command
the said Justiciary to apprehend, without delay, all the Templars that
had not yet been seized, and them safely to keep in the Castle of
Dublin, together with those who had been before apprehended."
"1311. On the petition of Henry Danet, or De Tanet, the late Master
of the Templars, and the other members of that Order, the King, by
writ, dated December 4th, did grant for their support the manors of
Kilclogan, Crooke, and Kilbarry."
"1312. This year, on the morrow of St. Lucia the Virgin, the moon
appeared variously coloured, on which day it was finally determined
that the Order of Knights Templars should be totally abolished."
* * * * *
"The trial of the Templars was conducted with great solemnity in the
city of Dublin, before Friar Richard Balybyn, minister of the Order
of the Dominicans in Ireland, Friar Philip de Slane, lecturer of the
same, and Friar Hugh St. Leger. Amongst other witnesses against the
Knights, were Roger de Heton, Guardian of the Franciscan Friars;
Walter de Prendergast, their lecturer; Thomas, the Abbot; Simon, the
Prior of the Abbey of St. Thomas-the-Martyr, and Roger, Prior of the
Augustinian Friary in Dublin. The depositions against the Templars were
weakly supported, yet they were condemned; but more indeed through
blind compliance with the prevailing practice throughout other parts
of Europe, than any demerits being proved against their persons. Their
lands and possessions of every kind were bestowed upon the Knights of
St. John of Jerusalem by the Pope, which grant was confirmed by the
King, who at the same time entered a protest of his rights against the
assumed power of the Pope."
[Illustration]
EXTRACT OF CHARTER BY KING JAMES THE IV. OF SCOTLAND, CONFIRMING GRANTS
BY KINGS MALCOLM IV., ALEXANDER II., ALEXANDER III., JAMES II., AND
JAMES III., TO THE KNIGHTS OF THE HOSPITAL AND TEMPLE.
Jacobus Dei Gracia Rex Scotorum. OMNIBUS probis hominibus tocius
terre sue clericis et laicis salutem. SCIATIS nos quasdam cartas
et euidentias per quondam nostros illustrissimos predecessores
Scotorum reges factas et concessas Deo et SANCTO HOSPITALI DE
JERUSALEM ET FRATRIBUS EIUSDEM MILITIE TEMPLI SALOMONIS, videlicet,
CARTAM confirmacionis quondam serenissimi patris nostri cuius anime
propicietur. Deus factam super carta confirmacionis quondam aui nostri
Jacobi Secundi regis Scotorum in qua inseruntur quatuor carte quondam
predecessorum nostrorum Malcolmi et Alexandri Scotorum regum facte
dicto Hospitali de Jerusalem, nunc Torfiching nuncupat. ac ffratribus
eiusdem de nonnullis elemosinis terris toftis libertatibus tholoneis
consuetudinibus in empcionibus et vendicionibus qualitercunque
contingen. amerciamentis et priuilegiis ac super feodo et forisfactura
suorum libere tenencium ut in dictis quatuor cartis predecessorum
nostrorum in eisdem cartis confirmacionis in forma maiori insertis
plenius constat et continetur de mandato, nostro uisam lectam inspectam
diligenter examinatam, sanam integram non rasem non cancellatam nec in
aliqua sua parte suspectam ad plenum intellexisse sub hac forma:--(1.)
JACOBUS Dei gracia rex Scotorum, omnibus probis hominibus tocius
terre sue clericis et laicis salutem,--Sciatis nos quasdam cartas
et euidentias per nostras illustrissimos, predecessores factas et
concessas, Deo et sancto Hospitali de Jerusalem ffratribus eiusdem
militie Templi Salomonis, videlicet, Cartam confirmacionis quondam
nostri serenissimi progenitoris Jacobi Secundi Scotorum regis factam
super cartis quondam Malcolmi et Alexandri Scotorum regum dicto
Hospitali de Jerusalem, nunc Torfiching nuncupato ac ffratribus
eiusdem de nonnullis elemosinis terris toftis libertatibus tholoneis
consuetudinibus in empcionibus et vendicionibus et qualitercunque
contingen. amerciamentis et priuilegiis vt in quatuor cartis
predecessorum nostrorum in dicta carta confirmacionis in maiori
forma insertis continetur de mandato, nostro uisam lectam inspectam
et diligenter examinatam sanam integram non rasam non cancellatam
nec in aliqua sui parte suspectam, ad plenum intellexisse, sub
hac forma. (2.) JACOBUS Dei gracia rex Scotorum, Omnibus probis
hominibus tocius terre nostre clericis et laicis salutem, Sciatis
nos uidisse inspexisse et diligenter examinasse cartas et euidentias
illustrissimorum progenitorum et antecessorum nostrorum, viz. Malcolmi
Alexandri et Alexandri regum Scocie, quarum tenores de uerbo in verbum
sequuntur. [Here follow the respective grants of confirmation by the
above Sovereigns, three of which are addressed to the Hospitallers,
and one (by Alexander II.) to the Knights Templars. These we could
have wished to have quoted at large, but find it would exceed our
limits. The Charter then proceeds]--"QUASQUIDAM" cartas et euidencias
tam dictas cartas confirmacionum quondam patris et aui nostrorum
qua measdam quatuor cartas predictorum predecessorum ac donaciones
concessiones libertates priuilegia ceteraque omnia et singula in
eisdem contentis in omnibus suis punctis et articulis condicionibus
et modis ac circumstanciis suis quibuscunque forma pariter et effectu
in omnibus et per omnia ut premissum est approbamus ratificamus et
pro nobis et successoribus nostris pro perpetuo confirmamus. Ac
insuper, ubi in dictis cartis non clare constat in illo termino 'de
tholoneis' nos tamen ob singulares specialesque fauorem, amorem, et
delectionem, quos gerimus ergo dilectum familiarem militem, nostrumque
consiliarium delectum Wilelmum Knollis, modernum preceptorem eiusdem
Loci de Torfichin, nostrum thesaurarium, Volumus, Concessimus, et hac
presenti carta nostra Concedimus eidem Preceptori et suis successoribus
Preceptoribus de Torfiching ut sint liberi a solucione alicuius custume
de quibuscunque bonis et mercanciis suis destinandis per eosdem ad
partes extra-marinas pro solucione ipsius Preceptoris responsionis, que
vero responsio extendit ad ducentos ducatos, et quod annuatim in nostro
saccario videatur ad quantam summam custume dicta bona se extendunt
et tantum eidem Preceptori allocatur. In cuius rei testimonium, huic
presenti carte nostre confirmacionis magnum sigillum apponi precipimus.
Testibus, &c. Apud Edinburge decimo nono die mensis Octobris anno
domini millesimo quadringentesimo octuajesimo octauo et regni nostri
primo.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]