The curious case of the Castletara cross crushers

The Celtic Cross is a very recognisable symbol of Ireland’s Christian heritage. Beautiful to look at, they easily catch my eye whenever I have an opportunity to visit any of the country’s historic monastic sites. This style of cross makes a popular decorative emblem and is often depicted on jewellery worn on a chain by the wearer.

The cross with its central circle appears to suggest completeness and its emerging arms whisper a reminder to the world, of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Opposition in the late 1890s to the placement of a Celtic Cross in the Church of Ireland graveyard at Ballyhaise caused an incident that made headlines.

At the heart of the story which follows, there was a widowed lady of limited means and, since the time of her husband’s death and with children in her charge, she had to scrimp and save until she accumulated enough funds to buy a headstone. The design of the memorial was of her own choosing, fashioned from marble, it incorporated a Celtic cross to then be carefully installed atop an inscribed stone.

In February 1897, the Rev Faulkner Wilkinson, who was rector, had permitted Mrs Alice Redding of 28 Harcourt Street, Dublin, to have the said headstone installed at her late husband’s grave in the churchyard at Ballyhaise. Here, we should mention that Mrs Redding had moved with her young family to live in Dublin in the interim since her husband’s death.

Mixed feelings

Parishioners feelings were mixed about the Redding’s new headstone and eventually some of the disgruntled voices became angrier in tone. The murmurings increased without any consideration for poor Mrs Redding. Meetings of the select vestry followed. One or two hotheads wrote to the local papers. Discontent spread rapidly. The Celtic Cross was not to their approval at all. Some years earlier the rector had attempted to include the design of a cross in a stained glass window but due to objections was forced to leave out the image.

It is of interest to note that for many years, crosses were not allowed to be displayed in physical form or image in many Church of Ireland buildings: until ideas changed on the matter. In the 1920s, Bishop William Moore started petitioning for crosses to be displayed on communion tables across the dioceses as a representation of Christianity and then, thereafter, over the following decades, many congregations applied to the Diocesan Court for permission to display this important Christian emblem.

‘Crushers’

Now, returning to the happenings of Castletara parish, we learn that the opposition to the Redding gravestone resulted in malicious action occurring on either the night of December 30, 1897 or in the early hours of December 31, when persons unknown entered the graveyard and desecrated the plot by smashing the Celtic Cross to pieces. Those who opposed this symbol of Christianity were quickly labelled by the press as the ‘Castletara Cross Crushers’. But these ‘Cross Crushers’ did not let the matter end there. Soon the resting place of another eminent character was in their sights for similar treatment. This time, a cross that had stood for 18 years from 1885 at the grave of John W. Humphreys was uprooted, taken away and lobbed into the nearby river. The church informed Mrs Humphreys that they would reinstall the headstone at their own expense.

Compensation

On June 4, 1898, The Anglo-Celt reported that the ‘principal business’ of the presentment sessions for the Upper Loughtee region was ‘the consideration’ of a claim made by the Representative Church Body (RCB) and the Rev Wilkinson to seek compensation of £25 for the malicious damage inflicted on the Reddings’ Cross. Mr Allen, solicitor, represented the church at court. However, up to 90 of the parishioners opposed the compensation claim and they in turn instructed another solicitor, W.J. Fegan, to oppose any form of compensation. It was decided then by the RCB to pursue a claim of £23, which would first have to be ‘brought before’ the Judge of Assizes.

In 2023, I wrote an account for the Breifne Journal which mentioned the Cross Crusher affair while discussing the arrival at Ballyhaise Church of Alfred George Elliott, the newly elected Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh who was there on a fact finding mission. Bishop Elliott was not a man to tolerate such barbaric activity and certainly this must have tested the early days of his episcopate. The article is titled, Bishop Alfred George Elliott (1828-1915): ‘An able man, though somewhat odd in his ways’. Indeed, like a referee in a wrestling match, the newly elected bishop found himself in the middle of the strange situation that erupted against the clergyman at Ballyhaise.

The Rector, it was alleged, may have been shadowed by various persons, that is, if you believe the word of a ‘special correspondent’ who blamed the ‘orangemen’.

The informant emphasised that the Cross on Humphreys grave was erected with the consent of two churchwardens, but at the heart of the Redding affair was that no such permission was sought, and the correspondent quoted a writer from the Cavan Weekly News who wished ‘more power’ to the crushers’ elbows. The piece further stated that there was a ‘hollowness’ to the ‘permission plea’ of the Orangemen because no permission had been obtained from anybody for the placement of six other headstones about the same time of the desecration. As well as his parishioners boycotting him, it was further alleged that the Sherlock Holmes in the Order were actively ‘shadowing’ Wilkinson.

Finally, we may wonder how the Rev Wilkinson could be so unwitting in such a serious matter: It was pointed out during the Presentment Sessions that he should have sought the approval of the Church Vestry, a committee that oversees the grounds and infrastructure of a local church.

Perhaps, it could be argued that the clergyman simply approved the headstone as a courtesy to Mrs. Redding. But the question is: Did he remain at fault for not taking into consideration his congregation’s sensitivities?

Then again, it is never right to take the law into one’s own hands either.

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