Cill Cháis (Kilcash) was the great house of one of the branches
of the Butlers near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, until well into the
eighteenth century. To the east of the ancient church are the
ruins of Kilcash Castle, where Lord Castlehaven, noted Confederate
Catholic commander in the 1641-52 war, wrote his memoirs.
The haunting early 18th century song Cill Cháis mourns the
death of Margaret Butler, Viscountess Iveagh ["Lady Veagh"]. Her first
husband, the attainted Jacobite Brian Maginnis (Mac Guinness), having
died in the Austrian service, she married Colonel Thomas Butler of
Kilcash Castle, a nominal Protestant who connived at her sheltering
of Catholic bishops and priests there.
..."What will we do for wood now that the last of the forests are down...".The English
hacked down the forests so that the Irish couldn't take refuge in them and raid the
planters who had stolen their land.
Údar anaithnid Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad? Tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár; níl trácht ar Chill Cháis ná ar a teaghlach is ní bainfear a cling go bráth. An áit úd a gcónaiodh an deighbhean fuair gradam is meidhir thar mhnáibh, bhíodh iarlaí ag tarraingt tar toinn ann is an t-aifreann binn á rá.
Ní chluinim fuiaim lachan ná gé ann,
Tá ceo ag titim ar chraobha ann
Anois mar bharr ar gach míghreanni,
Aicim ar Mhuire is ar Iosa
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by Thomas Kinsella Now what will we do for timber, with the last of the woods laid low? There's no talk of Kilcash or its household and its bell will be struck no more. That dwelling where lived the good lady most honored and joyous of women --earls made their way over wave there and the sweet mass once was said.
Ducks' voices nor geese do I hear there,
A mist on the boughs is descending
Then a climax to all our misery;
I call upon Mary and Jesus
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