Raphoe

At the Inquisition of Lifford in 1609, the jurors of Donegal summarised the duties of the erenagh, indicated his status, and specified exactly the position he and his sept held in relation to the bishop of Raphoe and in relation to parish administration. The explicit statement of the jurors makes it clear that the erenagh was to be appointed by the bishop, to whom he took an oath of fidelity; secondly, the bearer of the title should be "the most ancient", that is, the oldest member of the sept; hence the office was not hereditary; thirdly he held his lands from the bishop, to whom he paid the "rents and duties" formerly paid to the comharb of a monastery; fourthly, the annual rent payable by the erenagh, and fixed by immemorial custom, could not be increased by the bishop; fifthly, the church lands were inherited, not by the chief erenagh alone, but by all the members of the sept to which he belonged; sixthly, the erenagh enjoyed security of tenure so long as the rents were paid; seventhly, in the event of an erenagh sept becoming extinct, the bishop was to "ordain another erenagh sept in it's place with the advice of the gravest men of the church"; lastly, the chief erenagh was to enjoy among his sept "a freedom above the rest", but the jurors of Co.Donegal were unable to state precisely the nature of that freedom. Turning to the parish of Templecrone the jurors produced a concise statement on the system of ecclesiastical organisation that had existed in the parish over several centuries. There were, said the jurors, an erenagh, namely Ó Dúbhthaigh, a parson or parish priest, and a vicar in Templecrone. The presence of a vicar is questionable in view of the explicit statement set forth in a survey of Co. Donegal made at Lifford on 9th.August 1608 which states that "in Templecrone there is a parson only". It is possible that the 1608 survey refers to conditions in that yeare only whilst the jurors of 1609 were referring to age old accepted practice and custom. Moreover, the fact that there were "two gorts of glebe" in the parish implies the presence of a parson and a vicar.

The town of Raphoe is dominated to the east by the imposing ruins of the Bishop’s Palace or "Castle" as it is known locally. For over 200 years the Palace was the residence of the Bishop of Raphoe until 1834 when the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe was created after the death of Bishop William Bissett. Standing on a mound outside the Diamond of Raphoe the former palace is an impressive edifice. Even though totally destroyed by fire in 1838, its massive walls and parapets are still standing today.

In 1633 John Leslie, a soldier of fortune from Scotland, and known as "The Fighting Bishop" who had as a reward for his services to the Crown on the continent been made Bishop of the Western Isles, was transferred to Raphoe where he succeeded Bishop Knox. The Latin inscription on the foundation stone on the east wall tells us that the work on the Palace commenced with the laying of the stone in May 1636. The building was completed after only fifteen months in August 1637 when the topmost stone was placed in position. Leslie was the first Bishop to live in Raphoe, earlier Bishops had all lived at Rathmullan.

Almost immediately after it was completed the palace was besieged by Cromwellian forces. Bishop Leslie, a fierce Royalist, had taken an active part in the siege of La Rochelle, the capital of Protestant France, as part of Buckingham’s army. The ruins of his headquarters can be seen to this day on the Ile de Re` off the French Atlantic coast. The palace was captured but he was spared and allowed to remain until 1660 when he was moved to Clogher. He was paid an annuity during the Republic by Cromwell on condition of remaining peaceably in the palace, the Church of Ireland having been suppressed at that time. Indeed he was the only Episcopalian Bishop allowed to remain during the Commonwealth period in Ireland, having his own private army! At the Restoration we are told that such was his zeal to present himself to King Charles II that he rode from Chester to London in twenty-four hours.

In 1638 at the age of 67 he married Dean Conyngham’s daughter Katherine, who was aged only 18. One of their children was the famous "non-juring" clergyman Rev. Charles Leslie, who refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to King William III. Ironically his articles attacking the King, whom he alleged to have been more involved in the massacre of Glencoe than he would admit to, led to his imprisonment for a time in London.

The Castle suffered again in 1688, but when peace was restored, Bishop Cairncross rebuilt the house in 1695, successive Bishops added to its comforts, and by 1746, it must have appeared a most imposing and elegant residence standing in a well- timbered park. Bishop Barnard felt the difference when he was translated from the luxurious amenities of Raphoe to the Spartan conditions under which the Bishop of Derry lived, and immediately set out to build himself a new palace in that city, which was the residence of the Bishops of Derry for the next two hundred years.

In the late sixteenth century, the McNaughtens came from Scotland to Antrim to act as seneschals or stewards for their kinsmen, the MacDonnells of Antrim. The John McNaughten of our title was born in 1722 and, while still very young, succeeded to a substantial property. As a youth at school in the Royal School Raphoe, and afterwards at Trinity College Dublin, he became so addicted to gambling that even as a young man he was forced to sell some and mortgage the rest of his estates. His first wife, a sister of Lady Masserane, had a tidy fortune of her own; but she died from shock and a broken heart on the fourth anniversary of her wedding, when her husband was arrested for debt in his own parlour, having managed to get through both his and his wife’s fortune in that short space of time.

Andrew Knox of Prehen, near Derry, then took pity on McNaughten’s plight and invited him to Prehen for a few weeks until another position could be found for him. While at Prehen he determined to marry Knox’s heiress, and in a very short time had induced the young lady to read the marriage service with him in the presence of a witness. It is said she qualified her responses with the words "if my father consents". He then claimed her as his bride, a claim which her father promptly had declared null and void by the Court of Delegates. Then, in order to free his daughter from McNaughten’s attentions Mr Knox decided to move his family to Dublin. McNaughten, hearing of these plans, arranged to ambush them en route and to abduct his lady love. He then chose a spot on the Derry – Dublin road three miles from Strabane and,with a servant and two tenants, took up position there. Knox feared something of this nature and well-armed guards rode with the family coach. In the clash which followed, McNaughten was wounded in the back and, in a rage rushed towards the coach to shoot Mr Knox. The daughter, sensing what was happening, threw her arms about her father and, in shielding him, received the full charge of gunshot in her side. She died in agony a few hours later. This tragic occurrence took place on 10th November 1760.

Two hours after the attempted abduction, McNaughten was captured, but only after a fierce struggle followed by attempted suicide. One of his accomplices, tenant Thomas Dunlap, was betrayed a few days afterwards and was lodged in Lifford jail with his master. McNaughten’s other associates, George McDougall and James McCarrell, escaped. The prisoners were tried for murder at Lifford on 11th December 1760 and condemned to death. Before being sentenced to death, McNaughten implored the judges to spare Dunlap whom he described as "a poor simple fellow, my tenant and not guilty of any crime". It was a fruitless plea and both were sentenced to be taken to the scene of their crime and hanged.

So great was McNaughten’s popularity that no carpenter could be found to erect a gallows and Miss Knox’s uncle and friends had to provide one. The smith who was supposed , by law, to knock the handcuffs from the condemned man only did so when compelled and a hangman had to be brought from as far away as County Cavan. On the gallows McNaughten conducted himself with much dignity and courage and even assisted in settling the rope about his neck while at the same time declaring that the anticipation of death was worse than the reality. The rope snapped under the weight of his body and he was flung to the ground uninjured. The crowds roared in triumph and urged him to escape by making way for him in all directions. Instead, he calmly reascended the ladder with the remark that no one would ever have to point at him or speak of him as "half-hanged McNaughten". The rope did its deadly work the second time, then served Dunlap likewise. It is said their bodies lie in one grave behind the Church of Ireland in Strabane.