To read more on the Chute history and origins … this link gives an excellent synopsis https://sites.rootsweb.com/~chute/prot.htm
Newspaper Article relating to Francis Chute (father of Anne Chute – she will not be listed in this article as we presume she and her sister Ellen were the result of an affair)
The Tralee Chronicle Friday Evening April 9 1875
A description in The Schools Collection of the local forges in Ballymacelligott with a mention of Thomas Brosnan whose forge which was no longer in use by the 1930s
This is a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s.
To read the original click here https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4706346/4704664/4779866
There are four forges in this parish, but not long ago there were six. The owners of the present forges are : Dick Gorhan, (Springhill, Rathanny) who was a famous athlete, Pat O Connor (Carrignafeela, Rathanny), Joseph Reidy (Ballymacelligott) and John Twomey (Maglass, Gortatlea).
John Twomey’s and Joseph Reidy’s ancestors were smiths, but Pat O Connor & Dick Gorham learned their trades from James Cournane, of Tonreigh. Pat O Connor’s & John Twomey’s forges are situated at Cross Roads and Joe Reidy’s & Dick Gorham’s forges are on the roadside.
The forge I know best is Pat O Connor’s. It has a felt roof which is tarred. The walls are of concrete The door is a large one and moves on rollers. There are two windows – one in the back wall & one in front.
The bellows consist of two flat boards joined together by strips of leather. These boards converge to a hole hear the hearth or fireplace. The lower board is connected by means of a chain with the end of a handle which rests on a horizontal beam By pulling down the handle the lower board of the bellows is raised, and a gush of air is forced through the opening into the hearth in which the fire is placed. This lights the fire.
Besides the bellows which is used for lighting a fire, the smith uses other implements. The principal one of these is the anvil which is a large block of iron having a flat upper surface on which the red iron is beaten. The anvil has a projecting nose – where the iron is twisted, shaped and rounded. On the upper surface of the anvil is a hole into which is placed a chisel-shaped bit of steel called a “cleft” which is used for cutting the red iron.
The smith also uses different kinds of hammers and sledges. The heavy hammers are used for beating iron, and the small hammers are used for driving nails, rivets and bolts.
The smith also has a kind of circular knife which he uses for paring the hoofs of horses, asses, colts &c. He also has a rasp and and a file which he uses for a similar purpose. He uses a punch for making holes in hot iron and a drill for making holes in cold iron. He also has a pincers, a tongs, for removing hot iron from the fire. He keeps horse-shoe nails in a box. In that box he also has the rasp and knife, and hammer.
A Vice is also used in a forge for gripping or holding the iron fast while the smith has to remove bolts rivets, nuts, etc.
The smiths of this parish shoe horses, asses, colts, jennets, mules but no cattle.
At present they make no ploughs, harrows, or any other farm implements, but they repair all farm implements and weld those that are broken. What is called the “shoeing of wheels” is done in the open air. For this purpose a large turf fire is made in the open air – near a river. The band of the wheel is placed on the fire and left there until it is red hot. It is then taken out, cut, and rejoined and placed round the felloes – while still hot. What is poured quickly on it to cool it, & it is hammered in, fitting the wheel tightly. Several wheels may be done in this way. When the operation is over the smith pours water on the fire to quench it.
some people say that “Forge water” is useful as a cure for cattle suffering from “red murrain”
My father never heard that smiths of this locality had any privileges nor did they receive gifts from any source nor did he hear that they had power to banish rats.
Smiths were looked upon as being strong and brawny. Thomas Brosnan of Ballynahinch who owned a forge was a great lock-smith. He used to make locks and keys for the gaol, Tralee – during the British RegimeThe local forges were places for great story tellers and for the latest news. No local Forge has figured in any historical event so far as I know. The only disused forge is that of Mr. Thos Brosnan (of Ballyahinch).
Even though there are at present 4 Blacksmith-shops in the locality – there were more than that in the old time when more articles were made by smiths: Mr. Brosnan of Ballynahinch was a lock-smith (& gabha geal) – making locks and keys for the Gaol, Tralee at one time. He died a few years ago at the age of 85. & he made during his time some beautiful gates & railings for the Chute family of Chute Hall.
Extract from https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4706346/4704640/4779783
Early references (6th Century) to Ballymacelligott caves a 5 minute walk from Ballynahinch.
Saintly associations with caves in Ireland from the early
A cave–church connection is found in yet another twelfth-century text, the Life of St Brendan. Here we are told that Bishop Erc ordered the sixth-century St Brendan to spend a night in solitude in Uaimh Brénainn (‘the cave of Brendan’) at Ballymacelligott, Co. Kerry, as penance for striking a girl who had attempted to climb onto his chariot (Haren and de Pontfarcy 1988, 9). A church was subsequently constructed on or near the site of the cave and was referred to in the Ecclesiastical Taxation of 1302–1306 as Ecclesia de Antro Sancti Brandani (‘the church of the cave of St Brendan’) (Manning 2005, 115). Up to the nineteenth century it was known in the locality as Uaimh Brénainn (Hickson 1883/1884, 302). This now-destroyed limestone cave is also associated with the seventh-century St Moling. Transcribed in 1628–1629 from an older manuscript, The Birth and Life of St Moling recounts that Moling was the son of Fáelán and his wife’s sister, Emnait. The baby was born by night in the extreme cold and deep snow. Feeling ashamed for betraying her sister, Emnait left her infant son Moling to perish and then tried to kill him, but he was protected by angels and a dove. According to the story, mother and child were subsequently rescued by a priest named Collanach who brought them to Uaimh Brénainn where the boy was raised for the first seven years of his life (Stokes 1907, 9–13)
medieval period (AD 400–1169) through to recent times
by Marion Dowd
In the 1824 Tithe Applotments there are three Brosnahans listed as tenant farmers at Ballynahinch. Darby, John and Thomas. Also a Eunice Brosnahan listed in another sheet. SIDENOTE : We have been told that the Brosnahans at Ballynahinch originated from Castleisland. This should be followed up on.
https://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004587404/004587404_00630.pdf
https://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004587404/004587404_00631.pdf
Click to continue reading about the Brosnahan/Brosnan family of Castle St, Tralee