History of Slaney Manor, Ferrycarrig, County Wexford.
Slaney Manor was built by the Perceval Family in the late 1820’s. The Perceval’s produced the British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval who was assassinated in the House of Commons in 1812.
Edward Perceval was the Serriff for the County of Wexford during the rebellion of 1798.
A member of the present owners family was James Caulfield the RC Bishop of Ferns during the same Rebellion. Slaney Manor is a pre famine "Time Capsual". The Manor House is where the Landlord lived. The House has four floors, the basement is where then staff performed most of their duties and they slept on the fourth floor which has only sky lights set in the roof, so they could not watch the Landlords family going about the grounds.
The back stairs provided access for staff to move from the basement to the top of the house without invading the 1st and 2nd floors which were used exclusively by the Landlords family and their guests. The staff only entered the 1st and 2nd floors when they were called.
The farmyard is a classical layout housing the coach horses, the coach, the hunting horses, farm machinery, the dairy, the milking parlour, feed barn etc. These buildings have been converted to provide tourist accommodation.
The mud walled cabin is an example of a typical residence of the native Irish, many of whom had lost their own land following the Cromwellion campaign of 1649. Life in an "Irish Mud Walled" or "Sod" cabin taught the people to live like the birds of the air, harvesting wild fruits and edible plants to supplement their basic diet of potatoes. This diet proved to be very healthy and Ireland experienced a population explosion in the 18th and early 19th centuries until the potato crop was destroyed by a fungus. In addition to their mainly vegetable diet the people developed the practice of rearing and fattening a pig.
The system decreed that every building should be subject to rent and if the people built a house for the pig they had to pay additional rent. The people discovered that the pig could be accommodated in the cabin with the family without adverse results. The pig proved to be very clean and did not soil its living space when allowed the freedom to come and go as it wished. The pig was also very alert often warning the family at the approach of strangers.
It is ironic that other people are now discovering that the pig is a clean, intelligent and loyal pet. A fact the Irish have known for centuries. The great tragedy for the Irish was they found it necessary to slaughter their pigs and share the meat with other cabin dwellers. When the Paparazzi visited Ireland to examine how well the Kings subjects were living there they were amazed to find the pig sharing the cabin with the people. They wrote many, many articles about the pig and Irish living together and even coined the phrase " The pig in the parlour", and everyone in the English speaking world soon knew of the Irish people’s ‘preference’ for living with pigs. The Journalists never bothered to explain why it was necessary and the dirty image they gave the Irish seemed to justify anti Irish prejudice.
Life in the mud walled cabin prepared the Irish people for the pioneering conditions they faced in many of the places they scattered to during the famine. An Irish man only needed a spade and an axe to construct an sod cabin. He cut the sods and used them like bricks to build the walls. The roof was made with boughs cut from trees and the thatch consisted of grass, straw or river reeds and often they used shingles. Examples of sod cabins are to be found everywhere the Irish settled. The Irish desired honest work and peace and they made no demands. Theirs was to give rather than receive.
Admiral Earl Beatty
Born at Borodale near Wexford in 1871 and died in London in 1936. The Beatty family lived in Slaney Manor when the Earl was a young lad. In 1884 at the age of 13 he joined the Royal Navy and in 1898 had risen to the rank of Commander. Further promotions followed rapidly. He was appointed Captain in 1900, Rear Admiral in 1910 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1919, at 48 the youngest Admiral since Nelson. He was at the same time created an Earl in recognition of his achievements in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and in the Battle of Scapa Flow during the First World War.
His Grandfather had served under Wellington in the Peninsular War and his father was a well known horseman and master of the Wexford hunt for a long number of years.
More about Admiral Earl Beatty
Myles Keogh
His family originally came from North County Wexford. Myles Keogh was commissioned in the Papal Army in 1860 and was decorated for bravery when the Piedmontese attacked the Papal States. He served with the four Irish companies at the siege of Ancona. He was awarded the Papal Medal "PRO PETRI SEDE".
In 1862 he went to America and joined the Federal Army with the rank of Major. He was involved in the Battle of Gettysburg and was mentioned in dispatches as a daring Cavalry Officer. He was captured at Atlanta Georgia. After the American War he joined the US Cavalry and saw service against numerous Indian Tribes. He joined the newly formed Seventh Cavalry and on 15th May 1876 he was killed along with General Custer and 264 men at the Battle of Big Horn River in 1876. When the Indian Chief Crazy Horse was eventually captured , he was wearing Major Keogh’s Papal Medal.
Robert McClure
The son of a Naval Officer who was killed on active service. Robert McClure was born in Wexford on January 28th 1807. He was placed in the care of General LeMesurier who sent the boy at an early age to Sandhurst. He entered the navy in 1824 and served on Nelsons famous flag ship Victory. It is for Arctic exploration that Mc Clure is best known - he served on a number of expeditions. He commanded a number of ships, the most notable being Romney and Investigator. The Investigator set sail to find the North West Passage and in 1850 discovered the Prince of Wales Straits. After 3 years in the Arctic, where their ship had to be abandoned, the crew returned to England. The crew’s achievement were given great publicity by virtue of the fact that they had travelled by water from West to East round the northern coast of America. The honour of Knighthood was bestowed on the Wexford man and the crew received a reward of £10,000 as a token of appreciation.
In October 1873 McClure suddenly died and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
John Holland
John Holland taught for a while in CBS Enniscorthy and wanted a career at sea but he had poor eyesight. He went to America and eventually got involved in shipbuilding. He was actively with the Fenians there and in the Late 1880’s formed a company and set about building a submarine. The ship passed all tests and the submarine was built and used by Britain and the USA. The original boat is now on display in the public museum in Paterson, New Jersey. Holland was father of the submarine.
John Barry 1744 -1803
He was born at Ballysampson a short distance from Wexford town where his father had a small holding. In 1759 Barry went to sea with an uncle who was master of a local vessel. On this voyage Barry ended up in Philadelphia and went to work for a leading business man, sailing chiefly between the West Indies and Philadelphia. By 1766 Barry had reached the rank of Captain in the Merchant Navy. He was Captain of one of the finest ships to sail from Philadelphia at the time, namely the Black Prince which was owned by the descendants of a Wexford man John Nixon, who read the American Declaration of Independence to the people of Philadelphia. on the 8th July 1776.
John Barry was the first commissioned officer to capture a ship under the authority of the American Congress. Barry was involved in may exploits against the British forces in America and was appointed Commander in Chief of All - American Naval Forces by George Washington effective from June 4th 1794. In 1801 Barry’s health failed and he died at his residence Strawberry Hill in September 1803. He is buried in Saint Mary’s churchyard in that city. Although married twice, he did not have any issue. In September 1956 Sean T Kelly President of Ireland unveiled a memorial in Wexford to the Father of the American Navy. It was presented by the American people.
Francis Danby A.R.A. 1793 - 1861
He was born near Loughard, Killinick. His father died when Danby was very young and the family moved to Dublin. He learned to draw at the R.D.S. school. In 1813 he set out for London with his art teacher and another artist named George Petrie. Petrie will be remembered as the editor of the Dublin Penny Journal and also conducted the Archaeological and History Survey of Ireland with the Ordinance Survey, in the 1840’s.
Danby exhibited in London at the Royal Academy in 1829. He had previously been elected to the Royal Academy in 1825. After problems in London he went to Geneva where he seems to have had mixed fortunes, returning to London twelve years later. He died at Exmouth in 1861. His two sons were also well known artists in their day.
Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy left his home and family in County Wexford during the famine in 1845 and sailed to the U.S.A. His great-grandson J.F.Kennedy was elected President in 1961 and was assassinated on 22 November 1963.
Buffalo Bill
Another Wexford family emigrated to America at the same time and their son William became "Buffalo Bill" they were the Coda’s of Barrack Street, Wexford.
E-mail slaneymanor@tinet.ie