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Abbeyleix Heritage House
Abbeyleix Heritage House is Laois' biggest history museum, community centre and business hub.
✨TRIVIA THURSDAY✨![]()
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This week's quiz is on mountains of Ireland! You can take the quiz by following the link below, or you can test yourself over on our instagram stories @ abbeyleixheritagehouse 🏔![]()
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This week’s CURATOR SPOTLIGHT is on Wellesley Bailey. Bailey has quite an intriguing story, as throughout his life he worked with leprosy sufferers, at a time where there was a large stigma surrounding the condition. Bailey was born in Abbeyleix on April 28th 1846, yet there are reports that he was born in 1848 instead. His father Thomas Andrew was an estate agent for the Cosby family, the family that were landlords of lands around Stradbally, Vicarstown, and Ballyroan. Bailey had nine siblings. The Bailey family resided at Thornberry House, and Thomas Bailey acquired the lease after it was transferred from the Croker family in 1843. Thomas left Thornberry sometime before 1860 and moved to Stradbally. ![]()
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Wellesley Bailey attended Preston School in Ballyroan and Kilkenny College.Bailey was brought up in the Protestant faith, yet he did not care much for religion. Bailey then attended Church one day at the request of his childhood girlfriend Alice Graehame. Bailey suddenly felt a calling from God, and decided to dedicate his life to the faith. Wellesley Bailey left Ireland for Australia and New Zealand, having been born during famine times there was little opportunities for anyone in years following the tragedy. However, Bailey did not find much success, and he returned home. ![]()
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Bailey then decided to travel to India in the hopes of better prospects being available to him there. He arrived in Faizabad c. 1869 expecting to meet his brother (a soldier) to work as a policeman. However, on arrival he learned that his brother had been moved elsewhere. Bailey met a Lutheran missionary and began to learn Hindi. His time spent lodging with the missionary shaped his own desire to become one himself. He also still kept in contact with Alice Bailey, and in one of his letters to her he asked her to marry him. Alice accepted his proposal, and travelled to Bombay to be wed. Wellesley Bailey became a teacher and missionary for the Presbyterian Missionary group the American Presbyterian Mission. He went to teach in a school in the Punjab region. He married Alice Graehame in 1870 in Bombay (Mumbai), and the couple stayed in the country for several years.![]()
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Bailey soon began helping those with leprosy. Leprosy was relatively unknown at the time, and Bailey recounted how he was only familiar with the term from the bible. He was invited by a Dr. Morrison to visit homes of lepers that he was treating. After this visit, Wellesley Bailey decided to dedicate his time to supporting those with leprosy.![]()
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However, Bailey’s time in India would be cut short. His wife Alice became ill and suffered dreadfully in the heat of punjab. The couple decided to move back to Ireland, where Bailey would try to gather funds to send over to leprosy sufferers back in India. Back in Ireland, Wellesley Bailey and Alice stayed with the Pim Sisters in Dublin. The Pims were a successful Quaker family with many business connections. Wellesley Bailey proposed establishing the organisation Mission to Lepers, then renamed The Leprosy Mission years later in 1965. The Leprosy Mission was very successful, receiving much funding from acquaintances of the Pims and funding from the Pims themselves. ![]()
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Wellesley and Alice Bailey returned to India and lived in Himachal Pradesh. Bailey worked part of the Church of Scotland and spent most of his spare time caring for leprosy patients. Alice’s health unfortunately deteriorated once again and the couple left India once more. The couple had permanent residence in Edinburgh since 1882. They had four children, three sons and a daughter. While away, Bailey became Secretary of the Leprosy Mission. He travelled to several other countries in the East, such as China, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and also went to Australia and New Zealand to raise awareness and to garner support for the Mission. Wellesley Bailey retired from the Mission in 1917. By this time the Mission had garnered over 14,000 people to work for their cause. ![]()
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Wellesley Bailey’s Mission is still in operation today, and is one of the largest leprosy-focused organisations in the world. Bailey died in 1937 aged 91, and died in Edinburgh.![]()
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Sources: Dictionary of Irish Biography: www.dib.ie/biography/bailey-wellesley-cosby-a03![]()
The Leprosy Mission Organisation: www.leprosymission.org.uk/about/our-history/
TRIVIA THURSDAY ![]()
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Our Trivia Thursday quiz this week is on the rivers of Ireland! The quiz is up over on our Instagram stories, and is also available via the link below:![]()
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This week’s CURATOR SPOTLIGHT is on Bishop Daniel Delany. Pictured is a portrait of Delany along with his chair! Bishop Daniel Delany was born February 1747 on the Castlecoote estate in Mountrath and became the Bishop of the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. He came from a Catholic farming background, and originally attended a hedge school. Hedge schools were secret schools set up for Catholic children in Ireland to receive an education after the introduction of the Catholic Penal Laws. These were a set of laws that discriminated against Irish Catholics and prevented them from becoming educated, having social and political power/influence, and from owning large areas of land/property. The Penal laws decreed that only Anglican schools were allowed to operate in Ireland, instantly excluding the Catholic majority who were unwilling to convert. Religious orders, who predominantly ran Catholic schools, had property often confiscated from them. Hedge schools were therefore deemed illegal. Delany’s father passed away when he was around 10 years old, and his younger brother John was quite poorly. His mother, Elizabeth, decided that Daniel should move in with his aunts who owned a shop in Mountrath town, so that he might have a more prospective future.![]()
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At aged 16 Delany snuck away to Paris to gain an education with the help of a good friend of his who was a Protestant. This friend helped Delany learn Latin so that he was prepared for his time in Paris training. He was educated at the Irish College in Paris and joined the priesthood. He worked in Paris for a time as he legally could not work back home. ![]()
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Delany eventually returned to Ireland in 1776/1777 claiming to be a layman. He went to Tullow, Carlow to help the poverty stricken in the area, and was curate to Bishop James Keefe. He became parish priest in 1779 and established Sunday schools for the people of Tullow as well as a youth band, which would perform hymns. Delany would become co-adjudicator to Keefe, and would succeed him as Bishop after his death in 1787. Delany was at first not well-liked by many of the clergy due to him agreeing with Catholics pledging allegiance to King George of England. Many were also fearful that his public displays of his Catholic faith, such as ringing the Angelus bell , would cause backlash from local Protestants. Delany was known for his strong oratory skills which he had perfected from his years practising in Paris. He soon became well-liked, and began working on building up the Catholic community once more.![]()
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In the latter half of the 18th century the Penal Laws began to relax slightly. Taking advantage of this, Delany along with Keefe worked at building monasteries, schools and churches. He oversaw the establishment of St. Patrick’s College in Carlow, along with organising Corpus Christi for Tullow. Delany needed significant funding for the construction and running of St. Patrick’s, and held church collections. This caused many to turn against him yet again. After some legal issues, the college opened in 1793. He also held collections to fund the construction of churches in Mountrath and Tullow. After his mother’s death in 1794 Delany donated some of his inheritance to charities, and donated prayer books to children.![]()
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Delany did not lead without controversy. As well as his many church collections, his political opinions were often seen as unpopular, such as his opposition towards radicalism and the 1798 Rising in Ireland. Delany aligned himself with the government in some instances, which angered many Catholics.![]()
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While public opinion was often divided on Delany, his work did lead to the establishment of the Brigidine Sisters and the Patrician Brothers. The Brigidines were a religious order who were of the Congregation of St. Brigid. The original Order was established sometime in the fifth century, but had become obsolete since the Reformation, when Christianity split into multiple churches such as Catholicism and different branches of Protestantism. Delany refounded the Order in 1807 in Carlow, and the Order went on to set up schools, two of them (primary and secondary) being in Abbeyleix. The Brigidines would arrive in Abbeyleix in 1842, and would continue to serve the town for decades, closing in 1990. He also was involved in the establishment of the Patrician brothers, who oversaw the teaching at the North Boys’ School (Heritage House!) in Abbeyleix from the 1930s until the school’s closure. The Brigidines also established schools in Mountrath (1809-2009) and Goresbridge (1858-1978), amongst others. Bishop Daniel Delany died in July 1814 in the care of the Brigidines in Tullow. ![]()
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Source: Irish Dictionary of Biography- Delany, Daniel![]()
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#abbeyleixheritagehouse #bishopdanieldelany #curatortuesday #abbeyleix #brigidines #patricianbrothers #irishhistory
🏫TRIVIA THURSDAY🏫![]()
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This week's Trivia Thursday quiz is on the Schools of Abbeyleix. Test yourself through the link below, or give it a go over on our instagram stories @abbeyleixheritagehouse !📖![]()
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forms.gle/Gzqwya6YK3yzui4K6 ![]()
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#abbeyleix #heritagehouse #abbeyleixheritagehouse #TriviaThursday #quiz #irishhistory #localhistory
