Fhirtearaigh an Bhaile Uachtaraigh

Causation trumps randomness, every time. That events emerge as consequences of precursors, and are formed by myriad related influences that also extend from predecessor commissions and omissions seems without refute. Our lives also then, take certain form under the influence of innumerable actions and reactions extending back into time immemorial. Channeled and directed in more or less greater ways by all that has happened before, we make our choices, and in doing so set in motion the context of the future.

Not all those factors at play in our lives have emerged from human activity, and those human influences are in turn the sum of many individual actions. Many steering currents have emerged from people who lived long ago, far away and are unrelated to us in any meaningful way. That those who lived close to our ancestors, and most importantly those ancestors themselves have had a greater impact upon us as individuals seems obvious.

General statements about individuals don’t provide much insight into their nature. “Good”, “bad”, “caring”, “loving”, “energetic”, “creative” – all of these are terms that we encounter daily, as applied to the people around us, and to the degree such labels bear on the matter at hand, they might be useful. Without context or additional qualification such terms simply do not help much in defining the identity of an individual, as we are much more complex than simple topical labels might indicate.

My sense is that families, growing through time as a succession of generations do reflect a summation of their individual constituent members, and that as families do have certain commonalities in any given generation, the qualities that reflect these commonly held characteristics do have some certain merit and applicability.

About those Ferriters: Philip was a swordfighter, Nicholas (in his successive iterations) a warrior, Eamon a survivor, Piaras and his sons and great grandsons all soldiers of note. Piaras a poet and musician, Nicholas again, as a sea captain, Edward the holder of a great estate, Padraig a chronicler. These are just fragments of the whole picture of the past. In the flowering of freedom, both away in America and at home in Ireland, the efflorescence of Ferriter Family talent can only be seen as extraordinary. In the past four generations we have had many military men of distinction in both deed and position, people who were and are talented artists, great storytellers, historians, academics, athletes, doctors, scientists and engineers, people of the law, leaders of all sorts, and on and on.

Not every family on this earth is like this. Few are.

Here I should tip the nature of one of our familial mysteries: while the family has produced a few nuns, my research has never revealed any Ferriter priest. We have offered our very lives in defense of our religion, and in defense of the priests of that faith, but have never produced one, at least on the record. Most Irish families produced priests in every generation – certainly through the post penal law times, and in America. There are no Ferriter priests on record, for at least the past 200 years. I have no additional comment upon that, at least not right now.

That there are darkly colored aspects to our lives and our collective past – yes, of course that also is true. Perhaps these traits are more pronounced, and in greater color - more vivid than in many families. Perhaps such things serve as a counter balance to the great positives we often exhibit. These things will be topics for future essays.

What does any of this mean? Less the apparent lack of priestliness, the Ferriter (Feiritear/ Ferreter/ Farritor/ Ferritor/ Firtear/ et alia) family is brimful and flush with talent, capability, and accomplishment.

Since we can look at ourselves today, and across the recent yesterdays, and back into the deeper past, we can conclude that only circumstance has precluded more visibility and that the long generations when suppression of language and faith ruled, the spark of greatness was preserved. One can only imagine what hidden talents and glories were cherished within the Ferriter families of those times – the spoken poets, the fighters, the fishermen, the sailors, the singers and musicians…of this I have no knowledge, yet have certainty.

Looking ahead, the illumination of our shared past seems to me to be a worthwhile goal. That the isolated lines of descent in the U.S.A. and elsewhere - founded by cousins or siblings who lost touch with one another - that we all share in this seems to me to be without question and without doubt. The influences and patterns set by twenty generations of predecessors may not be extinguished in three or four – what seems more likely is that the commonalities we share, along with the wonderful distinctions of our individualities underwrite the familial affinities that Ferriter men and women have for one another.

That there may be a Ferriter “brand” and that this characteristic transcends isolation of time or space seems to be the real deal. The things that I post on this blog may serve to highlight certain of those things, as they may seem to have echoed down the years. I hope so.

Bailiú Fiacha, 1307

Bailiú Fiacha, 1307



Medieval life in Ireland was most often harsh, and frequently violent. The intrusion of the Normans and the follow-on attempts of the English monarchy to exert control within Ireland created extended periods of social, political and economic turmoil, and the constant friction between the Norman Lords and the Irish, as well as between the Norman Lords themselves led to a succession of minor wars that sputtered for centuries.

English Law extended only to those of English birth, English Heritage (including the descendants of the Normans), and those few Irish who had been granted coverage by the crown. During the first 150 years following the initial incursion, a large swath of southern Ireland, extending down the coast from Dublin, and westward across the Earldoms of Kildare, Ormond, and Desmond had recognized the authority of the English crown, and the legal apparatus of English government. Outside of this area, Irish (Brehon) Law prevailed.

Land ownership, and control of land by the Ferriters extended directly from application of English Law. At present, our understanding of Ferriter entitlements suggests that the initial grants and enfoeffments were provided by the DeMarisco lordship, and when local authority passed to the Desmond FitzGeralds, the feudal commitment of the Ferriters passed to that family also. During this time, Ferriter lands in Ossurys cantred (Western Corkaguinney) were quite extensive, including all of Dunurlan, Marhin, and parts of Kilamrkedar and Dunquin Parishes, including the Blasket Islands.

So, in the year 1307, the chief of the Ferriters seems to have been Phillip le Fureter. This Phillip’s name appears on a number of legal documents of the period, both Close Rolls, (which documented inheritances and property transactions), and on Plea Rolls, (which documented the legal activities of the Justiciar, who was a sort of traveling Chief Justice for those portions of Ireland under English Law). Philip was then the landlord for all of the tenants living on Ferriter lands, some of them Irish, some English, and some family members.

The following text is taken from the Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland, 35 Edward I, Membrane 45:

“Yet of Pleas of Plaints at Ardart, before John Wogan, Justiciar on Monday the morrow of St. Barnabas”, June 12, 1307:

Ph. Le Furetter junior was attached to answer Hugh de Barry, of a plea wherefore when Hugh was in his house at the Tyf, in autumn, a.r. xxxi., Philip sent his men to Hugh’s house, to slay him.

Who by command attacked the house for a whole night, wishing to slay Hugh. And on the next day, Philip bringing in his company Nich. O Molran, a felon who abjured the land out of the church of Ballysyd, and other malefactors, went there and broke Hugh’s house. So that Hugh barely escaped on a horse. And Philip with Ric. De Leye and Walter de Hereford, afterward assaulted Hugh, and wounded him badly with a sword, so that he barely escaped on his horse to the church, and he unjustly took from Hugh a horse, value 10s.

And Philip comes and says that he did no injury to Hugh, and he prays that this be enquired by the country. Hugh likewise. Therefore let it be enquired.

(Following unrecorded testimony:)

The Jurors say that Philip came upon the land of Hugh which he held from Philip, and distrained Hugh, his tenant for pleas in default. And Hugh, seeing Philip coming and understanding that he wished to take, in name of distraint, a horse of his, ran to the horse and mounted it and fled.

And Philip rode his horse after him, and his horse stumbled and fell, and threw Philip to the ground. And Hugh, perceiving this, leaving his horse, returned to Philip and with his knife drawn would have slain Philip, his lord, to whom he had not yet done homage or fealty. And Philip perceiving this, and not otherwise able to escape, drew his sword and put it between him and Hugh. And Hugh vehemently moved with anger, intending to strike Philip with his knife, ran upon Philip’s sword, and wounded himself. As to the other trespasses, which Hugh says were done to him by Philip, they say that Philip is not in anyway culpable..

Judgement that Hugh take nothing by his plaint, but be in mercy for false claim.


Quite an exciting story! Professor Paul MacCotter, who identified this document in his “The Ferriters of Kerry” (Journal of Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, 2003) informs us that the malefactor, Hugh De Barry leaves Ferriter lands, and within a years time is hung for murder.

This episode should leave us with a greater appreciation for what life in West Kerry was like for the early Ferriters, and with a better understanding for what having feudal authority over the tenantry on one’s lands really entailed. Within a generation following this event, the authority of the crown had begun slipping away, and with the naming of the first Earl of Desmond in 1328, many royal prerogatives reserved for the crown were granted the Earl.

The Desmond FitzGeralds in turn, gradually adopted Irish ways, and within a century following Phillip le Fureter’s adventure as told above, West Kerry had become quite Irish, and notions of English law held little weight. Yet the Ferriters held their lands, by virtue of feudal bonds with the Desmond Earls. Loyalty to the FitzGeralds extended up until that time the House of Desmond was overthrown and destroyed by the Tudors, a full two and a half centuries following the story of Philip and Hugh.

The Captain of the Whip: December 10, 1941, Cavite, P.I.

The following account is as written in my father's own hand after the action. His account is somewhat longer, and there are other parts of the larger story that may be posted on this blog later. I chose this date for this excerpt, as tomorrow marks the anniversary of the day upon which the events occurred. Most people know of the action recounted, which followed the attack on the base at Pearl Harbor by someting like 48 hours. Here is a piece of that history:

The Captain of the Whip: December 10, 1941, Cavite, P.I.

The commands: “General Quarters!” “Heave Around!” got the Whippoorwill to Battle Stations and under way. We headed for Manila. Submarines were coming out as fast as they could from their buoys and from alongside tenders. They submerged when they were clear of the breakwater.

Then we saw the enemy. All sorts of planes, light bombers, fighters, heavy bombers, were there. There appeared to be over a hundred of them. Our big, slow-moving flying boats were flying toward Corregidor, keeping close to the water.

An attack was started on our starboard side, toward Nichols Field, an Army airport. We shot at a number of planes in that direction. Two planes were hit and crashed. We were shooting at them but so were a lot of other people. Every once in a while a submarine would show his conning tower, so we would not run over them. They became quite a nuisance, and it seemed that we annoyed some sub or other every time we turned.

After we neared the breakwater we turned and headed toward San Nicholas Shoal. Bombs were dropped on Manila Harbor among the merchant ships, but only one was hit. The attack on the navy yard was now in progress. We kept up a fire on low flying fighters and dive bombers coming out from attacks on the navy yard. One came very near to us, coming up on our port quarter. The after machine guns fired at him, and some light colored smoke came out of his fuselage. He tried some kind of maneuver, banking his plane and putting a burst of machine gun bullets about 50 feet ahead of the ship. We put on full left rudder and went from “Ahead” to “Full Astern” in an effort to let him get ahead of the Whip. He crossed close aboard ahead of us and fell into the water, sinking immediately.

Cavite Navy Yard was a mass of flame. We headed for the yard to see if we could help, and to see if our boat was still there. The wooden boat had been left in Canacao Bay to reduce the splinter hazard on board the Whip. We had left one man with the boat, the boat engineer, armed with a Springfield rifle.

About this time the Isabel reported over the radio telephone that she was in communication with the navy yard. I asked her to have the navy yard tell me where they needed us most. The navy yard never answered. We saw the yard signal station. It was flying a distress signal - I said, “Boy! she isn’t lying! She is in distress if anything ever was!” It was difficult to decide where to go. The Pidgeon was playing her hoses on some barges that were burning at the end of Guadeloupe Pier. I made out a destroyer at the small pier between Machina Wharf and Guadeloupe Pier.

I sent the Pidgeon a signal: “The Whip is going in and take out that destroyer.” We went in between Guadeloupe Pier and Machina Wharf. It was a mess. It was the Peary. The ship had many little fires all over her. She had been strafed and had been struck by bomb fragments and debris. The war heads and torpedo air flasks in the torpedo overhaul shop on Machina Wharf next to her were exploding. The air was filled with clouds of debris.

A small motorboat under the command of an Ensign, a young reserve officer, attached to Inshore Patrol, assisted in the efforts to take out the Peary. The heat and explosions made ship handling difficult. The pressure would be on one side and then on the other. The Ensign tried to take lines from the “Whip” to the Peary without success as we made our approach. We put our bow against her stern. We made fast with a 6-inch line. We backed and parted the line. The heat or a falling fragment might have caused the line to part. We tried it again. Again the line parted. It became more difficult to keep in position for backing out. The wind and the current kept working to put the Whip broadside to the end of the pier. This was bad.

Guadeloupe Pier and Machina Wharf each attended a good distance beyond this little pier. We came up to the Peary again. We went quite far up on her port quarter. This was the side away from the pier. I sent a man over to the Peary to make sure that she had no mooring lines to the pier. The Whip’s man reported when the lines were clear. We backed and she came away.

We backed clear of the dock. There was shoal water not far from the piers. We went alongside the Peary. This was more easily done than jackknifing her. The Whip went between the Peary and the burning barges off Guadeloupe Pier. We had all of our hoses going all of the time. Once in a while we played the water on the bridge to cool that place off. The men on deck were kept cool by hosing them down when it became too hot.

The Peary was short of men. Some of her officers and crew had been killed in the navy yard where they were working. Others were in the navy yard but unable to get back to the ship.

We went out of the navy yard searching for the target raft mooring buoy. I asked the acting executive officer of the Peary whether he had any other ideas to suggest concerning the Peary. He replied in the negative. There was a great deal of loose gear floating around in the water. It seemed that we might not be able to find the buoy. The Peary had no anchors aboard. We connected one of our bower anchors to a heavy piece of wire rope which was led from the bow of the Peary. After getting ready to anchor the Peary we found the buoy and moored her to it. The Peary and her surviving crew were saved.

The Treasure of the Fortune

During the year 1649, news of terrible new predations by the English spread across Munster. Cromwell himself had taken command of the New Model Army, and his “Ironsides” (as the men of that army were known) had proven invincible in combat against the poorly organized Irish. Yet in the far west – in Kerry – life seemed almost peaceful.

However violent the reduction of Leinster may have been, Kerry remained at a distance and in relative peace. The Earl of Ormond presided as the King’s representative in Ireland at his seat in Kilkenny, with Murrogh O’Brien, Lord Inchquin in command of the Munster Army, and Lord Muskerry gathering forces at Ross Castle.

Piaras had returned to Ballysible before the Siege of Limerick in 1646, and had strived to avoid involvement in the internecine squabbles between the Northern Chiefs and the Ormondist Party. He had occasionally played the role of diplomat, and had made favorable impressions upon the papal legate, Rinuccini, as well as with military leaders of both stripes. Most of the patriarch’s time was spent with his new wife, and with his new children, (to Dominick's mind the ill-conceived Halflings), little Maurice, and the infant Redmond.

Dominick had married in the years following the fall of Tralee, and had a young son of his own, a new Piaras, who was being raised and tutored in the manner of the elder Piaras – reading and writing in Irish and English, with Latin and Greek to follow. To Dominick’s unspoken irritation, the elder Piaras insisted upon having his own second family taught in the same sessions as Dominick’s son.

The onset of the new year found both Dominick and Risteard at home in Ballysible, with their father, a rare gathering. Although Piaras had spent most of his time at home pursuant to the early Confederate victories in 1641 and 1642, Dominick and Richard alternated time in the field with the Munster Army, wherein Dominic was now a temporary Major and Richard his Lieutenant. To have all three at the manor at the same time almost never happened.

As 1649 rolled into the year of our Lord 1650, a great North Atlantic storm was born, and grew on the ocean far to the west. By late January, the great storm churned the seas off Ireland. For days, strong southeast gales drove sheets of icy rain and high surf against the shore.

The western reaches of the Dingle Peninsula have long been famous for shipwrecks – extending as it does out into the North Atlantic bounded by great cliffs rocky headlands, shoals, and with Ferriter’s Islands, the rugged Blaskets lurking close offshore. During the retreat of Spain’s great armada in 1588, one of the greatest vessels in the Spanish fleet, La Santa Maria de la Rosa foundered and sank between Great Blasket and the mainland, joining many other vessels lost in those waters over the centuries.

Truth be known, the Feiritearaigh had benefited from some of these disasters. During the period of time when the FitzGerald Earls of Desmond held sway across that part of Ireland, a provision of the landholding required wrecks of the sea to be forfeit to the Earl. Of course, this was an honor system, and one best supported by the Earl’s generosity in terms of sharing such bounty with any who risked their lives in securing salvage. Ferriter’s castle had several fine demi-culverins from such wrecks, and Piaras’ mansion was well served by plate that once graced various captain’s tables, accumulated over the time since the Ferriters arrived.

The great storm lashed Ballysible for days. On January, xx, 1650, the winds began to abate, with visibility improving on the dawn of that day and at that time Ferriter tenants on both the slopes of Slea Head and Great Blasket sighted a foundered ship in the channel, drifting inshore toward’s Ferriter’s Cove. The alarm fires were lit, and a house to house alarum passed through habitations in and around Ballyoughtra and Ballysible.

“Shipwreck!”

“All hands muster at the Cove”

“Rally upon Captain Piaras!”

“Arms, to arms, gather weapons at the Fort, and make for the Cove!”

With Piaras and his sons at home, leadership of the recovery effort fell immediately to Captain Ferriter, with his newly brevetted son, Major Dominick to lead the boarding party. Several dozen men, armed with pikes, broadswords, and a few muskets had also rallied to the cry, and several curraghs put out from Ferriter’s Cove, with four men pulling oars on each, and a fifth and sixth man handling muskets fore and aft.

Dominick, armed with a brace of pistols, and his great sword, forged for him after Knockanauss hanging across his back, leaned forward from the bow of the lead boat, as if by stretching out he could somehow reach across the water and seize the prize alone. Richard led the men on the rearward boat, and all of the light, nimble craft streaked towards the stricken vessel.

The men quickly saw that the vessel was not a warship, a fishing boat, nor one of the small merchant ships that plied the coastwise trade between Cork and Galway. No, Indeed this was a full-sized ship, and ocean going merchant vessel, and by her flag, a Dutchman. Oh – ho….riches, perhaps!!

That the ship was stricken was sure; her mainmast was gone, and most of the remaining spars and rigging a hopeless tangle, She had a list, and from the volume of water going over the side, had all hands manning pumps. The wind pushed the vessel irresistibly shoreward, and without assistance, she would be prey to the rocks along the shore at Dun Chaoin.

Pull, pull!” shouted Dominick above the wind, exhorting all of the boats to make speed and close the distance before the hapless ship became more unstable. Major Ferriter could see that the Dutchman had a pair of falconiers placed in stanchions near the bow, closest to the incoming Irishmen, and trained directly upon them.

“Place a volley of musket across her flank below those guns” And the weapons spoke. The gun crews at the demi-culverins backed away from their cannon, and the ships captain came to the side rail with a hailing horn:

“Ahoy, you Irish men, I speak the English, not Erse. I am Peeter Peeterson, Captain of this ship, the Fortune, of Flushing, in Zealand, bound for Cape Verde”

“ Ahoy Fortune, I am Ferriter, Major in command, I speak English. You are far from your destination, Captain!”

“Indeed, Major, We have been blown a bit. We are as you see, but I will not offer this vessel as a prize of the sea”

“Captain, this is Ireland, and we are not at war with the Dutch. Show us that you are not carrying weapons and powder for Cromwell, and we will talk!”

Now, at about this time, Dominick and his men espied the Blasket Islander’s boats approaching from the opposite side. There were another fifteen men in those boats, and the combined numbers clearly gave the advantage to the Irish, and the Dutchmen realized this.

“Major, if your men are willing to take a spell at the pumps, and are willing to help get the ship into safer waters, then you will be welcome aboard.”

By this time, Ferriter’s boats were closing on both port and starboard of the Dutchman, with lines and grapples tossed over the thwarts, the Irishmen, about thirty in number, swarmed aboard, sabers and broadswords slug over their shoulders.

“Richard, get men below to take over the pumps – Master, will you have someone show my brother where the pumps are working? And Master, now you must explain to me what you are doing in these waters, and show us what your cargo is!”

“Dear Major, although I must thank you for providing my men some rest, I must insist that you stay away from my cargo, and understand that this vessel remains under my command, and is not a wreck of the sea, and available for salvage.’

At this moment Richard, who had gone below with his pumping crew came back through the hatch, speaking in Irish: “Brother, this ship is not long for the sun and the stars, she is sinking fast! If we are to save anything, let that salvation be now!”

At this Dominick motioned for his men to take up positions about the Ship’s Master and other men on deck, withweapons drawn, such that no attempt to re-claim the ship could be attempted. In clear English, Dominick declared:

“Master of the Fortune, your main mast is well and truly sprung, and the hull beneath the waters has been breached below the step. This ship is sinking, and sinking fast – your men at the pumps are exhausted, and only my men can now pump quickly enough to keep this hulk afloat. By the Law of the Sea and of Ireland, I claim this ship as a wreck, and all salvage rights are mine!’

The Master grew pale and red by turns. “Bedamned pirates! I am Master of this ship, and I decide whether she can sail, or sink! Unhand my men, you Irish savages! Release this ship now, and return to your boats, or I, Peeter Peeterson, Captain of the ship Fortune, will see you all hanged as pirates!”

At this Dominick, cool as ever responded: “Master Peeterson, this is not Zealand. You have no power here. I am Major Dominick Feiritear, and I command the Munster Army in these parts, and my father, Captain Piaras Feiritear is Master of the shore, and leads all the men of Corkaguinney. My brother, Lieutenant Richard Ferriter has told me that he has seen that this ship is sinking, and I will not doubt his word. Rest assured, we will save your cargo. If that cargo proves to be powder and shot for the Bloody Protestants, then it shall be you that hang, and hang before you ever feel land beneath your feet!”

“Bring us a rope! Richard, take four men and get below to see what this wreck has aboard. If its guns or powder you find, call up, and we will swing Mr. Peetersen aloft upon my word!”

The moments ticked by into minutes, and the Master and his crew were herded onto the main deck. A stout noose was tied, and placed close by Mr. Peeterson, who muttered and cursed quietly in Dutch. At length, Richard reappeared, and in Irish spoke to his brother:

“Oh my brother, this tub is a joy! The hold is packed with fine cloth, and all manner of pots and plate, made in blue colors, all clean and brightly shining! And look, I found these amongst the poor Master’s things, all a-tumble in his fancy cabin! At that Richard extended his fist, opening it to display a palm covered in gold doubloons and silver pieces of eight.

“Why, our fair Dutchman has a chest of these, he does!”Richard, set Duffey to guard that chest, and go with your swiftest two boatmen back to shore and fetch Father aboard! We need his judgment upon this matter! Now hand me that fistful, and keep everyone’s hands clear of that treasure box!”

And the in English: “Master Peetersen, show us your ships carpenters, and lets us have them below decks, for as we get the water out of this hulk, we will be needing to patch her hull.”

The ship’s Master spoke quickly in Dutch: “Anders and Riijn, get below and fetch your tools and wood to the mainmast step, We will save this ship, even if it be for the pleasure of these damned Turks who are parading as Irishmen. Everyone mark my words – we could have saved this ship!”

And then in Engish : “Ferriter, my crew could have saved this ship. We asked for no assistance, and by seizing this vessel, and stealing her cargo, you have all become pirates! If we were in God’s country, I would laugh at your hanging, but as this is Ireland, and I see that you are more Turk than Christian, I will assist you in saving my ship. Just know that my purser has on account every scrap of cloth, every plate, and every coin aboard the Fortune”

By this time, the Kerrymen were winning the battle against the sea, and the Fortune stopped settling further into the water. Master Peeterson sent some of his men, those who were a bit rested and fit to work, below to take a hand in the pumping. He also deployed his anchors, to slow the landward creep of the ship, keeping the savage shoal waters near inshore a fair distance away.

As tempers had cooled, and all of the Dutchmen’s weapons were secure, both the Irish and the Zealanders went to work cutting away the storm damaged rigging, and setting salvageable fittings and spars aside, while carefully coiling the tarred rope for later use.

In Irish, Dominick spoke: “Moriarty, unpin those little cannons from the rails, and place them in my boat, Tie Master Peeterson to the mainmast stump, and Duffy, you and I let’s get below to take a closer look upon this treasure!”

Below decks, Dominick marveled at the stout little chest, chained at both ends to the ship’s ribs, lid prized free by Richards strength, and careful application of a pike blade. There were many pieces of silver, and many of Spanish gold glinting amongst them. Buried in amongst the coins were a few fine signet rings, two golden spoons, and a length of gold chain.

“Ah, beauty, look at this, my friend Duff! And look about you! A fine long glass for espying the ladies at their bathing, and books on the movements of the planets and the moon! Oh my word, taste this sherry! The best Spain can provide! Close that hatch, and we will guard this liquid jewel until my father comes aboard.”

And at that, the contents of the Captain’s decanter ceased to be a part of this story.

Before they day was much past high noon, (remember, this tale began at first light), Captain Piaras Feiritear came aboard, with a dozen or more additional hands to work the pumps, and to set things aright. He first addressed the ship's Master, speaking clearly in Dutch:

“Herr Master Peeterson, my apologies for my son’s rough behavior, and for any upset they may have caused. Lieutentant Ferriter has informed me of our timely rescue, and the ensuing salvation of your vessel, or shall I now say, our vessel. As you know, shipwrecks are enjoyed by those who find them, and although this hulk still floats, all evidence as provided me supports the certainty that she would have been on the bottom long before this hour, had my men not intervened.”

The ship’s Master slowly turned prple, and began to sputter.

“Before you speak, Herr Ship’s Master, hear me once, and one time only. I understand that cannon were pointed at my men, and further that Protestant tracts have been uncovered in your stowage. Those things are enough to cite you as in Cromwell’s aid, and I will have you hanged this instant should you utter a single word. I am a gracious host, as you will learn. My men will salvage what we find useful, and we will repair this ship at my yard in Ferriter’s Haven. Once done, if my Lord Inchquin has no need of this ship for war, I will sell it back to you for the contents of her cargo. Meanwhile, my men will remove this cargo, whatever it maybe, for safekeeping. If any part of you hold contains power, shot, or guns, you and your officers will be brought to Dingle for trial as spies and traffickers in aid of Cromwell.”

Returning to Irish, Pierce continued, speaking to Richard: “Find your brother. If he is drunk with that idiot Duffy, throw him over the side. If he is minding his business, pass on to him that we are taking the treasure and such other small items as might be useful ashore now. He shall remain on board tonight, and you and he will alternate being aboard until this ship is fit to be sailed again. Destroy all of the ship’s papers, and any account books that are found. Clean out each officer’s stateroom, to ensure that this order is fully met!”

Returning to Dutch, “Herr Ship’s Master, you will join me tonight at my home. Please recall my words, and recall them each day until you are back in Zealand”

And with that Captain Ferriter returned to his boat, (a stout wooden craft, not a curragh), and in company with Master Peeterson, set off for Ballsibbel.

And so the treasure of the ship Fortune, out of Flushing, Zealand, bound for Cape Verde, came to be held by the Ferriters. Now under the current tenancy, Lord Orrery, the Earl of Cork, the grand Mr. Boyle – well, he would hve the contents of this wreck as his. But Lord Cork had fled in 1642, and Lords Ormonde, Inchquin, and Muskerry had authority now, and scant little of that, at least in Corkaguinny. The Merchants Trant and Rice in Dingle might have some say there, and by virtue of tenure, perhaps the Knight of Kerrys word would be shown some respect, but in fact, after Tralee fell, Captain Piaras Ferritear, The Feiritearach, spoke with more authority than any other man – at lease upon his demesne.

Before dawn the next day, the Fortune had been towed into Ferriter’s Haven, and materials were gathered to repair the breach in her hull, and once a mainmast could be secured, re-step the mast, a re-rig her.

The Ferriter’s kept the ships crew confined aboard, and used their skills to help repair the ship. After some few days of confinement at Ferriter’s House, Master Peeter Peeterson was provided a horse to and a guide to accompany him to Dingle, where he could arrange for re-supply of his vessel, and send a mail to the vessel’s owners such that any worries they might have about the ship’s whereabouts be dispelled.

When Master Peeterson had departed, Piaras instructed Dominick and Richard to gather together all of the men who had participated in the initial boarding, including the Islandmen. When all had gathered at Ferriter’s Fort on Dun Point, Piras had his sons lug the heavy little treasure chest out from within the castle.

In his clearest loud Irish battle voice, he spoke: “Men! Heroes of the Sea and Land! Brave adventurers whose hearts never quail when challenged by the grey green sea, and her monstrous waves! You men who answered the call to the boats without hesitation, you are my joy, and your county’s great hope! Invincible bold men of Ferriter! For such men, some sharing of the sea’s bounty is just!”

And with these words, he dipped his hand into the chest, scooped out silver pieces of eight, and made the rounds of these thirty or so men, giving each man three coins, more money than most had ever seen, let alone held. This complete, he broached a small hogshead of what had been Master Peeterson’s sherry, and they all found some vessel to drink from, and toasted Ireland, the Pope in Rome, and the late King Charles, and the new King Charles, with a final tip to the memory of the late, great FitzGerald Earls of Desmond, who lived on in memory.

Of course, the tale does not end here. We know that the outraged ship’s master, Herr Peeter Peeterson, proceding to Dingle, made a formal complaint to anyone would would rcieve it, and this included Lord Inchquin, (who would not be denied his share of the spoils), and Lord Ormond, who was most concerned with what sort of political problems might extend from this, and whether his Lord Prince Charles, at his court in exile, might hear of this and be offended in some manner.

In consequence of these complaints A formal petition appeared before the Marquis of Ormond, “on behalf of Peeter Peeterson, Captain of the ship called the Fortune, of Flushing, in Zealand, showing that: --

Petitioner had the ship richly laden by some of the States of Zealand and committed to him to be brought to Cape Verde on the coast of Barbary. Having lost his mainmast in a storm about 14 days ago he put into the bay of Dingle Icouch [Dingle].

He was at once boarded by Capt. Piers Ferretter and many of his retinue who came on board the ship by way of saving her. They broke open his chest and took out 316 pieces of eight. Afterwards they went under deck and took out much holland and other rich commodities " and to use the said captain's own expression, they used him rather like Turks than Christians."

Accordingly and " as the Irish and all other professing for his Majesty have as much security in Zealand and Holland and all other places under the command of the States thereof as their own natives" and as the captain expects reciprocity, he prays for restoration of his goods and that he may safely come into the harbour to get what he wants.

25 Feb. Order of the Marquis Of Ormond.

Limerick.

Granting petition. Any claim by Capt. Ferretter to the money to be referred to the Marquis.

Which petition, having been granted, was followed in turn by:

“28 Feb. Lord Inchiquin to [Ferriter] .

The Fortune of Flushing, Peter Peeterson [?] Boon, master, was driven into Dingle Bay into a storm in January last. She was boarded by soldiers under Major Dom. Feriter in boats who stayed aboard for days, and complaint hereof has been made by the master. It appears that, but for the boarding, the men and goods might have perished. Major Feriter shall return to the master the kittles and cloth taken from aboard, and pay sixtyt pieces of eight, which was all that came into his hands, to the same. He shall procure a mainmast, yards, &c., from his father to fit the ship. By doing so he shall quit liability for all other damage done aboard. P. f. Signed (hoi.) : Inchiquin. Followed by—

Same. Further Order of Lord Inchiquin to Same.

You shall pay Peter Peterson Boon what is necessary to fit out his ship, taking a bill of exchange for my use upon Peter Felings Burgom [aster] van Flushing. What you shall so lay out Donogh McFeenin, Esq., Receiver of the co. Kerry, shall allow out of your receipts and put the same in acccount on me.

P. J. Si(/ned (hoi.): Inchiquin.

So be it. Sadly that chest of treasure, having dwindled to 65 pieces of eight, further dwindled to nothing upon presentation of certain charges upon Herr Peeterson, Master of the Fortune, by Captain Piaras Feirtear for services rendered in saving his ship, as discovered foundered and sinking in the Channel between Ferriter’s Haven and Ferriters Islands, in January, 1650.

And the brace of demi-culverins taken from the Fortune as a prize of the sea. Well, those cannon served Major Dominick well, through to the fall of Ross Castle, in 1652. That tale is to be told later.

-

DOMINICK

Why was Dominick Ferriter so important in the history of the Ferriter Family?

In simplest terms, he was the first “modern” Ferriter. The evidentiary artifacts that are coming to light regarding the events of Dominick’s life bring to mind several ideas: one, that Dominick strived to conform in all matters save faith – which was not a problem during his lifetime in that Charles II and James II were at least “closet” Catholics themselves. Two, he strived to maintain his “Gentleman” status, probably to the detriment of the “cadet” line of his supposed half brother Maurice. These attitudes passed along to succeeding generations, led his line into conformity, sale of remaining holdings in Ballyferriter, movement away from the Dingle, away from Kerry, and ultimately the fading away of that line. Ironically, the line seems to have become extinguished in England, perhaps fittingly.

In search of Englishry.

Dominick’s Father, Piaras may have recognized his historical ancestry, and hence felt some loyalty to the crown. That said, Piaras most certainly was raised with the knowledge that his family had been centuries – long allies of the Desmond FitzGeralds, and that these friends had been exterminated by the English Tudors, along with many of his kinsmen. He spoke and wrote in Classical Irish, and most likely often dressed in the traditional manner, as his father and grandfather almost certainly had. In balance Piaras lived and behaved as a Gaelic Irishman – as had many of the “Old English” before him. He is remembered as an Irishman.

Dominick must be regarded as a man in transition. More so than Piaras, his life seems to have been lived under arms, and not simply serving an Irish cause. Both he and his brother Richard were no doubt under the flag of Munster at Knocknanuss when Lord Inchquin and his English defeated Lord Taaffe and the Army of Munster in 1647, and where Richard was taken prisoner. Following Muskerry’s surrender at Ross castle in 1651, where in both Dominick and his brother Richard seemed to have been part of the garrison, Muskerry took Irish troops into service on the continent. These men were a part of the generation-spanning migration of Irish soldiers, loosely term “The Wild Geese”. Dominick and Richard were both among them.

After the Cromwellian victory, depleting Ireland of trained and able soldiers, both officers and rank and file, served the interest of England. Any Irish fighter off the island was one less potential soldier to be met in the field. So, permits were granted for Lord Muskerry and others to enlist and transport thousands of recently defeated Irish soldiers to the continent, and offer their services to foreign sovereigns. Many simply joined the army of the Prince of Wales, (soon to be Charles II), while others were offered essentially to the highest bidder. Of Muskerry’s men, some went initially to Poland, to fight the Swedes and the Ukrainians. Others went to Bordeaux, where regiments were mustered to fight in several conflicts that existed, principally between Spain, France, and Austria. Dominick served under foreign flags for eight years.

Upon his return, Dominick, who had not been a part of the blanket restorations offered those who has served directly in Charles’ army in France, petitioned vigorously for restoration. That high politics must have been at play is underscored by the individual nature of his restoration, and the rank of his sponsors.

That Dominick tried to live like an English gentleman following his return seems clear. That he laid the course for his line, in terms of their struggle to maintain social position, business dealings, and eventual conformance to Church of Ireland Protestantism also seems clear. Yet, he must also have been instrumental in cementing the notion that the “King’s Cause” should be adhered to in 1688, which certainly proved key in the final dénouement of the Catholic Irish.

Finally, events that transpired a generation after his death, with his great niece and nephew selling the remainder of the landholdings and moving away, and his own great grand daughters marrying into prominent local families divorced from “Irishry” - all betoken the breadth of the chasm that had emerged between the “a mhaola” Feiritears and his own lineal descendants.

Feiritears remaining in Dunurlin were forced into the peasantry. Ultimately this may have been the salvation of the Irish nature of our family. Penal Laws, Evictions, famine, immigration – all of the defining traumas of the “real” Irish during successive generations were experienced by the Ferriters. Marking us and making us.

Would our family have fared better as people on this world had we been embraced by Dominick, taken an early conversion, and ascended as did so many FitzGeralds, Trants, Rices, and Husseys? Might a Ferriter have been the acquisitor of local lands on the cheap, and styled themselves “Lord Ferriter” in lieu of Mullen, alias de Molyens, Lord Ventry. Who knows what alternative outcomes may have played out had Dominick not been who he was?

Despite the generations of pain and anguish – despite the suffering – we are all who we are in some way due to Dominick.

Dominick Ferriter, a warrior chief of the clan, in his own way and in his own time.

Site Map for The Ferriter Gathering

View Ferriter Family Gathering 2009 in a larger map

O.K., What you see here is the Google Earth satellite view of the Gathering Place, with key features indicated. As noted, there is camping, nature walks, a swimming and fishing pond, a natural spring that ultimately flows into the Mississippi, plenty of parking, and a big tent for the presentations. Of course, there is much more! Pull out on the shot, and you will see, at roughly equidistant plases east and west, the Green Frog Bar, and St. Patrick's Church. We live in balance here.

Ferriters of Long Ago

We all have pretty clear ideas or notions as to what our ancestors were up to during the past 150 years or so. This is true for those who stayed in Ireland as well as the immigrant families. Family stories, oral traditions, old papers and photographs all serve to support this knowledge and history, within our respective lines. But what about those who lived long ago?

What was life like for the Ferriter family during the long years spent at home on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry? This is a picture much less clearly painted for most of us.

There are periods wherein documentary data for the Ferriter Family is very sketchy. One such interval of time is the 15th Century, or that period extending from 1400 – 1500. We do know something about life in Ireland at large during the period cited, even life as far “beyond the Pale” as that enjoyed by the Ferriter Family, living at the edge of the territories controlled by the Geraldine Earls of Desmond, and their lesser House, that of the Knight of Kerry. The sources of this data include Irish writings of the period, documentary records as kept by the Anglo-Irish within the Pale, contemporary accounts of travelers, and songs and poetry that have survived.

Traditional and Anglicized Irish Feasting, c1500

From this information, a sketch may be drawn of what the lifestyles and occupations of Ferriter families in far West Kerry were most likely like. Together with the known attributes of life and activities during these times, we can do a certain amount of forensic reconstruction, by assessing what the local economy consisted of, who trading partners might have been, and what the family’s relationships with both the indigenous Irish and the Geraldines probably were.

While the very early Ferriters have been cited as filling the niche of “knights of the shire” within the Norman feudal system put in place by the DeMarais family, and their FitzGerald successors, the notion of “knight” as it pertained to West Kerry in 1400 must be clarified. The Ferriters were never “knighted” in the modern sense, or even in the English sense…they were “knights” in that they held title to lands in response to certain services and rents owed to their “liege lord”, or next individual up on the feudal hierarchy. They had considerable legal authority over those who dwelt upon their land, and no doubt regarded themselves as the property owners.

The men of the family did not ride armored horses, dress in armor themselves, joust, or do other “knightly” things. They would however, be required to serve as soldiers under the colors of the FitzGerald family. The lead man of the family, An Fearitearach, (pronounced An Ferr – tear - och), or “The Ferriter” doubtless regarded himself as a knight, since he provided scutage, or knights service in military fashion, when called upon. He probably owned chain mail, and maintained an armory with swords and pikes sufficient to arm the men that followed him or his designee off to serve alongside other FitzGerald tributaries.

The Ferriters had come to the land as soldiers and adventurers. The land assigned or granted to them by the local authority was not prime agricultural land. In the 15th century, (prior to the introduction of the potato), this land would have been sparsely populated, in general only supporting the population that could be fed from the small farms and the sea. Then, as today, Ferriter lands embraced steeply sloping grasslands, rockbound shorelines, stony mountains, and marshland, along with several coves suitable for anchoring and beaching boats. These lands included several individual townlands, each with a concentration of families, many of which were descended from the original Gaelic stock, with lines of descent far pre-dating the Norman incursion.

With the land offering little beyond subsistence farming and pasturage, there should be little doubt that the family’s interest would turn seaward. The rights to the immediate offshore fisheries were doubtless part of their fiefdom, as were the Blasket Islands, from an early period.

As early as the century preceding that under discussion, The Ferriter had caused to be erected stone forts and fighting positions of various sorts. Like their close neighbors, the FitzGerald Kerry family (the Knight of Kerry), the Ferriters built a fortification on the remains of an earlier fortification. Such building on earlier fortified sites was common practice amongst the Normans, as the sites already fortified were often the most strategic, and the earlier fort would be a handy source for building materials.

Whereas the FitzGeralds built a bit inland, upon the remains of a ring fort attributed to the O’Falvey family, the Ferriters built on the site of a Gaelic promontory fort, right at the edge of the sea. The location of this structure speaks to the focus of the Ferriter Family upon the ocean.

1825


So what did these Ferriter men and women do on any given day? First, understand that by the mid 1400s, Ferriters had resided upon this land for a couple of hundred years. An estimate as to how many family members there were at that time can be made by examining the growth of the Ferriter name between 1650 and 1850, as these dates bracket a similar duration of time, and embrace the growth of the family in numbers from single individuals. Extending from the barest handful of souls in 1650, the Ferriter Family grew to something like 100 people by the time that the famine came. Discounting the introduction of the potato, which allowed displaced tenants farther west to eke out a living on the poor ground near Ferriter’s Town, nutrition and sanitation were in fact probably better from 1250 -1450 as opposed to 1650 – 1850. On this basis, some confidence can be applied to an estimate of on the order of 100 Ferriters in the home area in 1450.

The FitzGeralds, in their several houses, were frequent practitioners of small-scale warfare. This sort of skirmishing with adjacent lords and chieftains persisted throughout the 1400s. As The Ferriter had an obligation to provide men, both mounted and foot, and weapons, as a part of his entitlement to land, participation of Ferriter men in these many conflicts is again a certainty. That this cost the family in terms of men killed and wounded can also be assumed, but through the 1400s, the losses would have been light. Not so in the next century, but that is a different tale altogether.



Attack on a Tower House, c1450


The Knight of Kerry, a FitzGerald who held one of the three hereditary knighthoods in Desmond, made his principal residence at Castle Rahinane, on the slope above Ventry, from 1250 through to Cromwellian times in the mid 1600s. Rahinane is a short distance (less than 7 miles), from Ballyoughtra, the townland within Dunurlin where Castle Ferriter stood, and closer yet to the site where The Ferriter’s principal residence likely stood.




Castle Rahinane

While The Ferriter would not have been on equal social footing with the titled Knight, they both paid allegiance to the Earl of Desmond. One can make probably safe assumptions that The Ferriter was close to the Knight, and that the families socialized. The lesser lines of both families no doubt intermarried from early times, as they still do today, binding the families yet closer together.

While many of the men may have had as principal employment soldiering for either FitzGerald Kerry or FitzGerald Desmond, and others may have been given tasks about the farm, many should have been available for nautical work. Nautical work probably included inshore fishing, trips to the Blaskets and beyond for deeper water fishery, light cargo transport from the cove to the deeper harbors of Smerwick or Dingle, as well as light coastwise shipping, perhaps up the bay to Tralee, and around the Shannon mouth and upstream to Limerick. Cargos would have included livestock, fish, local crafts, perhaps wax and honey in season, salt, and passengers.

What sort of craft would have been used in these activities? The sea going boats of recent history provide strong clues. First, the traditional curragh, constructed with lightweight ribs and stiffened via application of a stretched outer covering of leather. These vessels remain in use in West Kerry, and elsewhere along the western coast of Ireland. The fabled voyage of the missionary Saint Breandan is said to have involved such a boat – stout enough to transit the Atlantic, and make landfall in the New World, hundreds of years before Columbus.


Up from the curragh, we have the famed Galway Bay “hooker” a lateen rigged open hulled workboat that also remained in service until recent times, famous for her black sails.



The probability that Ferriters deployed similar vessels in pursuit of the sea’s bounty, and as wage earners in the transport of goods and people is very high.

The fore mentioned seaside fort probably served a base for nautical activities, amongst other things. Castle Ferriter would have been great place to secure valuable items like cleats, hawsers, sails, oars, nets and lines. In addition to being a storehouse, the structure, with it’s massively thick walls, and apertures for weapons would have been an outstanding defensive position. In addition to all of these fine qualities, the tower also would have been an excellent signal tower or light house, which may help explain why “Castle Sybil” and “Castle Ferriter” (different names for the same place) remained on so many maps of Ireland for so long.

1605

Trade with Spain, and to a lesser extent France and England was also a feature of West Kerry life during the 1400s. This activity required larger vessels than the hooker, but probably not much different in shape or design. That ships left Dingle for these far away places is known. That Ferriters sailed upon these ships, perhaps as crew, perhaps as captains cannot be established in fact, but can be supposed with confidence.

One might surmise that the lucrative pastimes of piracy and shipwrecking might have been partaken of from time to time. It is most certainly true that the coast of Southwestern Ireland with its wild shores and secret coves had a terrible reputation for both of these up to modern times. I may write more on that later, but not here, not now.

That Ferriter’s Town, and all the rest of Dunurlin spread across the land in small clusters of stone houses, with the occasional larger farmhouse, and with a substantial fortified messuage, or manor castle near the church at Dunurlin can be easily visualized. Stone houses, stone walls, stone mountains and stone sea cliffs – these were the physical boundaries that embraced the early Ferriters in Kerry. War, trade, and fishing were most likely the principal occupations of the Ferriter men. Their society would have swirled about these activities, with women, family, and the church near the center of this swirl.

Ancient Stone Hut, Ballyferriter

Life was no doubt difficult at times. For individual family units, loss of a breadwinner to the sea or to battle would place them in a position of dependency upon the extended family. One might imagine a paternal system wherein some provision was made to assist those most needy – the widows, orphaned children, and the deserving aged.
Lesser lines of the Ferriters would expect little or no inheritance, and be challenged to provide for their families.

As the Norman order, which seems to have been fairly strictly patrilineal and patrimonial began breaking down in the 14th century; Norman outposts beyond the Pale began adopting Gaelic notions of family, ownership, and law. Quite likely by the 1400s in Ferriter’s Town, some sort of shared ownership and community effort to the common good was in play, and that the extended family looked out for their own.

2009

This is supposition, but knowing those of use who bear the name yet today, I would think nothing less. We might be confident that Ferriters were then, much as as Ferriters are now, willing to work hard, set high goals, and to ensure that no family member is abandoned or forgotten.

1759


NOTE: References and citations for source material utilized in this essay are available from the writer.