top of page
Search

Dennis Caulfield

  • Writer: Seamus Laverty
    Seamus Laverty
  • Mar 29, 2024
  • 14 min read

Updated: Feb 11

CAULFIELD-DEN-01



Gravesite of Dennis Caulfield in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Newry, County Down Photograph Taken by Author Seamus Laverty



Family

Dennis Caulfield was born in 1768, the son of John Caulfield (1735/6-1814) and Rose Caulfield (nee O’Hanlon) (1747/48-1818).¹ Dennis’s father John was a local Merchant of the town of Newry from whom Dennis likely acquired his business acumen. Little is known about Caulfield’s mother Rose, but it is quite possible that she was a relative of the O’Hanlon Sept who lived in the South Armagh Hill’s communities, maybe even the famous Hugh O’Hanlon (1721-1807) who moved the O’Hanlon family to Mill Street in Newry. Hugh took a prominent part in, the Dublin Catholic Committee, local catholic politics, the Irish Volunteer movement, and in 1787 he helped to establish the Newry Bank.² The Caulfield and O’Hanlon families certainly met each other in the political sphere. John Caulfield and Hugh O’Hanlon both appeared at a local catholic meeting in Newry in January of 1792 supportive of the General Committee of the Roman Catholics of Ireland.³ Dennis had at least three sisters, Mary (1767/68-1852?) mother of Dennis Maguire the first Chairman of Newry Town Commission, Catherine (d1854) and Rose (d1815) the Mother of the town’s first Catholic MP since the reign of King James II.⁴


Import/Export Merchant

Little is known about Dennis’ early life. One of the earliest records I can find linked to him is for 24th October 1793 when Dennis and his father John took the then Qualification Oath to the British Monarchy; which shows he was part of the rising Catholic Middle Classes who sought accommodation with the British State.⁵ Dennis is purported to have early in life embarked in commercial pursuits, and from 1790 to 1818 he was one of the first merchants in Ireland.⁶ The extent of Dennis’ connections and the trade he brought to Newry helped materially to raise the town in commercial importance. Some such connections as can be deciphered from a brief examination of the Belfast Commercial chronicle include Master Robert Jacques of the ‘Marquis of Huntley’, Master Andrea Hultin of the ‘Grian’, Captain Finlay of the ’Friends’, Captain Rees of the Hope, Master John Vaughan of the ‘Charles’, Captain Lund of the ‘Johanna Catherina’, Master James Millikin of the ‘Mary’ and Master John Reilly and Captain Lusk of the ‘Newry’.⁷ The ships sailed from such diverse locations as Petersburgh in Russia, Riga and Gothenburg in Sweden, Quebec in Canada, Wick in Scotland, Alicante in Spain and Cork in Ireland.⁸


Dennis imported goods from all over the world that would be used in many industries. In the construction sector, there was iron from Russia and Sweden, Redwood Planks from Russia and Norway and Timber from Sweden and Poland. For the Clothing and Bleaching industry, he imported hemp from Russia and Italy, and Smalts and bleachers starch from the Netherlands. In the confectionary sector, there was Port wine from Portugal, Red wine from Spain, Geneva from the Netherlands, Whiskey from Cork, Teas from Congou in China, Herrings from Caithness in Scotland and Sugar from India and Jamaica. Other items include Glasgow Fire coal, Prestonpans Vitriol and East Kent hops.⁹ To cope with the amount of goods sold he had various stores located in Canal Quay, Merchants Quay and Water Street.¹⁰ Dennis was also involved in exporting local Linens to London with the help of Master John Reilly and his ship the ’Newry’, and helping those who wanted to emigrate from Ireland to New York in America with the aid of John Vaughan and his ship the ’Charles‘ and Bartlett Holmes and his ship the ‘Standard‘.¹¹


Distillery

Two distilleries in the town, one on Dublin Road and the other on Monaghan Street were also owned by Dennis. The Monaghan Street site next to the Armagh Down Bar was probably in operation as a distillery since the early 1780s.¹² Monaghan Street distillery was originally in the Chapman name but after becoming bankrupt in 1802 he sold it at which time it probably came under the Caulfield name.¹³ Dennis was an astute businessman. The earliest record of Dennis having a distillery that I can find relates to February 1805 and even then, we find him selling Bullocks on his premises.¹⁴ In December 1805 I can find the first proper advertisements relating to the sale of Whiskey on the site and even then we find Dennis supplementing his income, charging 1 guinea for feeding Cattle in stalls presumably on the same site.¹⁵ In 1806 he was advertising a place for a miller on his site,¹⁶ presumably this must have helped the business to a great extent, advertisements for the distillery in 1808 could be found without any additional reference to cattle feeding.¹⁷ Robert Hamilton appears to have been an acting partner in the firm around this time.¹⁸


In 1809 the level of private distilling was becoming a problem for Dennis and other local distillers. In January 1809 Mr Taylor and a Mr Morewood local excise officers assisted by a party of the Limerick Militia proceeded on information to detect a private distillery within less than 2 miles of Newry. They found upwards of 600 gallons of pot-ale which they destroyed and the still and copper from the utensils used as well as parcel of malt was lodged in the King's stores. This must have greatly concerned Dennis and others in the whiskey trade, as local spirit Merchants and Dealers offered a reward of £20 for information leading to the detection and seizure of each still and promises were given to keep informers names secret.¹⁹ Dennis Caulfield and his father John’s wealth can be seen from the fact that each offered £100 to the pot for this endeavour. In January 1810 he was again using the distillery premises for the storage and sale of other goods, in this case, Glasgow coals.²⁰ The distillery was probably not doing as well as before. In 1811 his father John was looking for two respectable apprentices for the grocery and spirit business.²¹ By March 1812 Dennis put an advertisement in the paper looking to sell or let his distillery business from May time of that year. The advertisement gives us an idea of what the premises were like. ”...it has an abundant supply of overhead water for the worm-tub, coppers, cooler &c, and that piped home into the houses; besides very extensive grain and malt stores, and nearly two acres of ground, enclosed with stone walls 14 feet high, as well as a range of Bullock sheds.²² In 1816 if not earlier the Newry Distillery was licensed in the name of Robert Thompson, but was trading under the firm of Dennis Caulfield. Mathew Darcey and Richard Falls two other distillers appear to have been working alongside Thompson possibly from this time or again earlier. They may very well have taken up Caulfield’s offer in the above advertisement of 1812.²³ In June 1817 he appears to have stopped distilling on the premises, an advertisement in the local press explains in greater detail.²⁴ 8000 barrels of the above grain [Barley, Wheat and Oats] are now offered for sale, (having got permission from the Government to discontinue distillation, on his representing to them the state of the country for want of provisions); and he hourly expects the arrival of a large quantity of oatmeal, all of which he will sell on the most reasonable terms, and in small quantities, for the convenience of the poor of the country. After the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815 the United Kingdom suffered a major depression in trade and Dennis may have wanted to help those less fortunate than himself. The premises must have been used again for distilling purposes up until about 1841.²⁵ After Caulfield’s death his nephew Dennis Maguire inherited the property, but it was used by Thompson and others during this time though still trading in the name of Dennis Caulfield & Co.²⁶


Politics

What is known about Dennis's political opinions can be discerned from a few documents. We know that in 1798 he was imprisoned around the time of the rebellion.²⁷ This may very well have been due to an ill-founded suspicion based on his O’Hanlon family connection through his mother. One notable Patrick O’Hanlon had been a member of the Society of United Irishmen and was intimately acquainted with such Radicals as Theobald Wolfe Tone, William Todd Jones, Charles Hamilton Teeling and the Rev. William Steel Dickinson. In 1792, Patrick kept the Crown tavern in Hill Street, where many local united men attended.²⁸ A letter between John Goddard of Newry & Lord Downshire in September of 1796 (now stored in PRONI) describes how Goddard and Counsellor Pollock had received information from local clergymen regarding four men who were singing a disloyal song inside O’Hanlon’s parlour. Two of those described had connections with Dennis Caulfield, Small, supposedly an apprentice of his, and Maguire was a clerk. This Maguire may very well have been a brother-in-law, both of Dennis‘ sisters having married men of this name from Enniskillen.²⁹ Unfortunately, we don’t have any evidence to state what his political views were at this time; certainly many merchants in the area were Republican in sentiment, but had become disorganised and disheartened and did not rise in 1978 because of the arrests and seizures of arms and treatment dealt out to republicans in the town.³⁰ He may have been one of those who looked for a quiet life after the failure of the rebellion or maybe his opinions were more in line with his father's. In 1797 John Caulfield alongside many other prominent persons signed a request for a town meeting to be held at Ballybought Bridge, ‘to take their sense, touching the best measures to be pursued in this alarming crisis, towards uniting and strengthening the country, and giving effectual security to persons and property.³¹ John was more likely to be a moderate reformer in aspiration, looking towards accommodation with the state and opposed to the use of revolutionary violence. Nonetheless, Dennis was confined for a long time to a Dungeon and the friends of the Honourable Francis Needham used all their interests to obtain his release. A release that was further postponed by the inaction of Mr Corry who kept the release papers in his pocket for 8 to 10 days. These events inevitably had an impact on his future political conduct. ³²


The next time we see Caulfield in a political context is in 1800 when he signed the County Armagh resolutions in favour of discussing the Irish Act of Union. Unfortunately, there is little documentary information as to whether he truly supported this measure or whether it was a necessary stipulation of his release to be seen supporting it.³³ In 1806 a defamation case was brought against him by John Pollock Esq., Trevor Corry Esq. And others. Dennis Caulfield was accused of uttering defamatory remarks in a loud voice and riotous manner during the General Quarter Sessions against Trevor Corry Esquire who was then sitting on the bench. One must wonder what remarks he may have made and whether or not they were about his imprisonment in 1798. The case was tried in Downpatrick and Caulfield was eventually acquitted of all charges by an empanelled jury.³⁴ In the Newry Election of November 1806 like most Catholics in the area he supported Lt. Gen Francis Needham in his contest against Isaac Corry. Most local Catholics were disgruntled by the failure of the Irish Act of Union to be accompanied by Catholic emancipation and Dennis‘ support for Needham against Corry was probably even more personal.³⁵


In 1812 Dennis’ continued support for Needham against John Philpot Curran was more problematic. Many Catholics were particularly supportive of the anti-unionist sentiment in

Curran’s speeches and against Needham who had not been felt to have been supportive of Catholic aspirations. This put him at odds with other Catholics in the area and on the Catholic board. Curran attacked Caulfield in his speech to the Newry electors, ”this motion was seconded, I blush to think of it, I burn at being obliged to state it, by a Merchant of Newry, himself a Catholic, himself the uniform witness, as he together with his Catholic brethren, had been the uniform victims of the principles of a gentleman whom he thought proper to support. Never shall I forget the figure which the unhappy man made, hesitating, stammering, making a poor endeavour to look angry as if anger could cast any veil over conscious guilt, or conscious shame, or conscious fear; and to what extent must he have felt all those sensations, if he looked forward, not merely to the sentiment of indignation and contempt which he was exciting in the minds of those that he betrayed, but the internal horror that he must feel when thrust forward to the bar of his conscience, and the dreadful sentence of expiatory torture which that indignant conscience must pronounce upon him? However, he was bold enough to second the motion; and I think the General is altogether indebted to the virtue of this independent Catholic, and of two other equally virtuous Catholics of Newry, for his final success, if success it can be called.”³⁶


Caulfield unhappy with the way he had been portrayed, published a letter in the Dublin Correspondent defending himself and giving us a better inclination as to his political views. “Actively engaged in commercial pursuits, I am little fitted, and still less inclined, to an appeal of the present nature; and nothing should have induced me to it, by that secret regard for reputation, which the meanest amongst us cannot avoid feeling, and my detestation of the system recently acted upon in this Borough, and still carrying on: which, working by the dread of popular odium, seeks, under the specious name of patriotism, to subvert our best feelings and affections....are my obligations, as a Roman Catholic paramount to ever other duty? or, when put into competition with them, is every other feeling to be abrogated? Am I to forego private friendship? Am I to forget favours conferred?³⁷ Am I to forfeit my word, solemnly and publicly pledged? Caulfield defended himself by saying that he became acquainted with and became a firm friend of General Needham, that whatever prejudices Needham had daily lost their force, and that Curran’s intentions of standing as a candidate had not become known until much rather late in the day and that the likelihood of his success in the borough was rather limited. He also averred that when he was called upon by Needham to help canvas he asked Needham of his sentiments towards the Catholic question and that he received a decidedly friendly reply.³⁸ In that same year Dennis was robbed of £2000 when the Newry Fly Coach he had taken to Dublin had been stopped by 14 armed men, at the turnpike gate of Dunleer.³⁹ 


Dennis’ ideas did not always concur with Needham’s. In February 1816 alongside many other Newry notables he signed a memorial address in opposition to the dismissal of the pro-catholic Newry Magistrate Patrick O’Hanlon Esquire, while Needham in his only known speech as MP, that June justified this very dismissal.⁴⁰ In November Dennis again found himself in opposition to popular opinion in the town.  Alongside the Seneschal of Newry William N. Thompson Esq. and the Rev. Charles Campbell, he was appointed as part of a Deputation to send an address to Lord Castlereagh, presumably for his role as a statesman and diplomat at the Congress of Vienna.⁴¹ A separate meeting was held afterwards by those disgruntled at how the initial meeting and the address had been passed, and it was even moved, ’that no address whatever is, or had been voted by the inhabitants of Newry to the Right Hon. Viscount Castlereagh. ‘⁴² Dennis would pass away just over two years later on the 18th of December 1819 followed by his wife Rose on the 29th of December the following year.⁴³  

 

 Footnotes


 ¹ Old Families of Newry & District: from gravestone inscriptions, wills and biographical notes / edited by R.J.S. Clarke. (1998, Ulster Historical Foundation), p143, hereafter Old Families


² Dirty Town - Proud People, NEWRY, A History of Church Street & Surrounding Areas, p88; Hereafter Dirty Town - Proud People


³ Dublin Evening Post - Thursday, 26 Jan 1792, Page 2


⁴ The Newry Reporter, Saturday, 13th October 1917, (Mary Maguire nee Caulfield) see also, http://www.newrymemoirs.com/stories_pages/localauthority1854_1.html; Belfast News-Letter - Wednesday 02 August 1854, p3 (Catherine Maguire nee Caulfield); Old Families, p137 (Rose Brady nee Caulfield)


⁵ Catholic Qualification & Convert Rolls - https://census.nationalarchives.ie

Surname Search Caulfield accessed 4th Oct 2019





Vitriol in the Industrial Revolution, Archibald Clow and Nan L. Clow The Economic History Review, Vol. 15, No. 1/2 (1945), pp. 44-55 Sulphuric acid



















²⁷ The Life and Speeches of Daniel O'Connell, M.P. Edited by his Son, John O’Connell, M.P., Kilkenny City, (Dublin, 1846 Vol. 1), pp232-234; At a meeting of the Catholic Board on Saturday 7th November 1812, a good deal of anger was manifested to those who under any pretence whatsoever, had supported a no-popery retainer of a partisan at the elections. p234 refers to him as a delegate of the Catholic board; Hereafter "Speeches of Daniel O'Connell."


²⁸ Dirty Town - Proud People, p88


²⁹ PRONI D607/D/149, John Goddard, Newry, to Lord Downshire about 2 September 1796


³⁰ Tony Canavan, Frontier Town, An Illustrated History of Newry (New Updated Edition), pp103-105; Hereafter "Frontier Town."




³³ Freemans Journal, Sat, Jan 11, 1800, p3



Frontier Town, pp105-107



³⁷ PRONI - T2627/3/2/243,

Letter from General Francis Needham, Waresley Park, to Sir Arthur Wellesley, 7 February 1808, ‘….I have now to lay before you a letter from Mr Dennis Caulfield, the very warmest friend I have, a very opulent man in the town of Newry, who as it appears by his letter enclosed, or accompanying this, feels it an imputation against his character, as well as against his purse, for a crime committed against the public by another person, for which the law may have its revenge. The letter will explain the matter better than I can. I shall only add I feel myself most materially interested in favour of Mr Caulfield, and if you are so good as to write a line to the Revenue Board it will be terminated in his favour: and should it not I must be of the same mind with the people of Newry that I have not the interest of Government. I therefore shall feel myself extremely obliged, as there is no time to be lost, if you will lose no time in writing to the Board.' PRONI - D562/11403, 9 March 1810 A letter from Dennis Caulfield at Newry to Francis Needham in London asking him to use his influence to see that before the new spirit duties are imposed holders of spirits will be allowed time to dispose of their existing stocks.'


³⁸ Dennis Caulfield’ Letter in Dublin Correspondent published in







⁴³ Old Families, p143

 

 

 

 

Comments

bottom of page