REVENGE IS (BITTER) SWEET
by Shaun Ivory
Whilst one can sometimes consider – even accept – the argument for supernatural phenomena in sombre surroundings, such as dank dungeons, gloomy glens and crumbling castles, it's a different story when it occurs in open countryside and leafy lanes.
The Shallardstown legend is perhaps the strongest case in Ireland for a place in the X Files. Did it or did it not exist? With so much written about it why is the site so difficult to find? It was one of the first ghost stories my mother told me (she was from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary so I had no reason to doubt her then).
The big house that was Shallardstown may no longer exist but its description brings it readily to life, even in this text-message century. This from American author James Reynolds, who visited there in the 1930s:
'Shallardstown stands deeply embowered in trees, namely Irish oaks and beeches. It is a gracious house of soft white Connemara stone, not too large, but spacious. The flight of stone steps leading to the portico is a miracle of line and balance. The portico itself is one of the finest in Ireland. Inside the house are a series of living rooms opening one into the other in the Italian manner.'
A classic tale of sibling revenge, frustrated love, simmering hatred, a jewelled riding crop, a curse and a macabre deception; all these contributed to the tragic events that spiralled around the vortex that was Shallardstown mansion.
Located at Ballymacorthy, near the village of Clogheen, Co. Tipperary, Shallardstown was built in the early 1800s by Cadogan Parrott, becoming his family seat on his marriage to the beautiful Angela Gammage.
They were blessed at first by two daughters, Angelica and Rosaleen, but after some years Mrs Parrott committed suicide and then Cadogan died soon afterwards, leaving the elder daughter as the new chatelaine of Shallardstown.
Angelica cast about for love and her gaze landed on one Dagan Ferritter. But as is often the way he fell for the younger sister and they wed in 1837.
Being granted a small allowance from Angelica, the couple toured the Continent, while Angelica left for London, where she met a young Russian diplomat, Prince Nicholas Orloff, at the embassy there. A whirlwind courtship, wedding and honeymoon in St. Petersburg followed. They returned to Paris but tragically the young prince caught a chill and died. All the elements for tragedy began to fall into place, like the tumblers in a lock.
Angelica returned to Shallardstown, dismissed all the servants bar one, the butler, Creed. She stayed home, saw no visitors, everything being brought in by Creed.
Meanwhile, the Ferritters came home, too, but the widowed Princess denied them access, even audience, compelling them to exist in a small hut nearby, not too patiently waiting the day when Rosaleen could assume her role as mistress of Shallardstown.
It was shortly after this time that Angelica started going out daily, leaving the grounds precisely at three o’clock in a landau, Creed acting as coachman. She remained hidden from view of any curious eyes, only her hand being visible, holding a bejewelled riding crop, a sentimental reminder of the wonderful if brief time in St. Petersburg.
This daily drive around the beautiful countryside of the Vee Pass would take exactly one hour. The routine never varied, continuing for many years, only ceasing when when the parlous condition of Rosaleen and the man who had spurned Angelica, Dagan Ferritter, was brought to penury and near starvation.
Finally goaded into action by the jeers and insults of the locals, Dagan took his courage in both hands and stormed up the long drive, hammering on the front door and demanding to see Angelica about Rosaleen’s rightful inheritance.
At first Creed barred Dagan’s angry entrance but then suddenly caved in, confessing to the most startling deception the country has ever witnessed. His mistress had been dead for eleven years but, in accordance with her strict instructions, she was taken out in the landau, still clutching the riding crop to give the impression of her corporal presence around the countryside.
This otherwise unbelievable story was given credence through a letter left by the Princess Orloff, in which it clearly set down the terms of her revenge on sister and brother-in-law. But this protracted delay in Rosaleen’s long-awaited inheritance was not enough! The letter also contained a cruel and sadistic rider to the testament that the riding crop should take pride of place in the great hallway of the mansion and a curse bestowed on anyone who dared remove it from its glass showcase.
The couple chose to ignore such warnings and moved in straight away, but the tragic nature of the big house was not to be denied. Within a year both were dead. So the Whip of Orloff stayed in position and the property passed into the hands of a cousin, after which some years later it was purchased by a religious order of nuns.
But that was not the end of the affair as strange stories began to circulate. Several accounts of a shapeless form were seen, standing in front of the showcase that had once contained the bejewelled crop and the sounds of a coach being driven away from the front door. The mansion became vacant again and a caretaker swore he had seen a ghostly figure on the stairs on at least two occasions. Further, he stated that he frequently had to close the mysteriously opened lid of the empty showcase, especially around 4 p.m.
By the 1930s Shallardstown was still in use as a boys boarding school but by the ’60s it was a crumbling ruin. Today you would be hard put to find one stone upon another as you travel out of Clonmel on the way to Clogheen.
That’s if have the nerve to seek it.
Your Family Crest
Irish Roots Search
WONDERFUL VALENTINES GIFTS FROM IRELAND
The formation of the Irish State (the 'Free State') in 1922 landed the new Irish Government with a sudden abundance of practical issues to solve. Apart from the fact that a Civil War was about to break out there was also the not inconsequential issue about how the new Ireland should announce its arrival to the world.
It was the following year, 1923, that the other 3 stamps in this most famous set of Irish stamps were issued. Lily Williams, Millicent Grace Girling and John J O'Reilly designed the famous blue Celtic Cross stamp, the Four Provinces of Ireland stamp, and the famous 'An Claidheamh Soluis' stamp (meaning 'the sword of light').
