Youghal parish to commemorate heroic priest of 1880s

THIS weekend, Youghal parish is commemorating the centenary of the death of Monsignor Daniel Dean Keller, a parish priest and local hero who found himself at the centre of a radical uprising of East Cork tenants against their landlord in the 1880s.

Keller was born in 1839 into a tenant farming family in Inniscarra, and was ordained in 1862 to the Diocese of Cloyne, teaching in St Colman’s Cathedral in Fermoy, and administrating in St Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh before being appointed as parish priest of Youghal.

Given the title of monsignor after his death, Msgr Keller was a key figure in a tenant uprising in Youghal during the second phase of the Land War in the late 1880s, against landlord Charles Talbot-Ponsonby. Tenants of the Ponsonby estate were the first in the country to adopt the Plan of Campaign, the brainchild of Mallow MP William O’Brien.

The plan involved tenants demanding rent reductions and refusing to pay rent until agreed to by landlords, instead giving their rent to a nominated trustee in a fund to support any evicted tenants.

Although never proven, it was believed that Msgr Keller was the trustee for the tenant fund when Ponsonby tenants implemented the plan in November 1886, demanding a 35% reduction in rents.

When Keller refused to admit to being trustee or give any information about the whereabouts of the fund, he was imprisoned for contempt of court for over two months.

While the Youghal tenants’ attempt to reduce rent was eventually scuppered when the neighbouring Smith-Barry family and other British landlords stepped in to support the Ponsonby estate, Msgr Keller continued to be revered as a hero and agrarian radical who stood by his parishioners, and remained as parish priest in Youghal for 37 years, until his death on November 8, 1922.

Commemoration

All are welcome to attend the weekend of commemoration for Msgr Keller in Youghal on November 5 and 6.

The Youghal Celebrates History group have organised an exhibition relating to Msgr Keller at the Mall House in Youghal from 4pm to 6pm on Saturday November 5, followed by a memorial lecture from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

An introduction and welcome will be provided by current parish priest Canon William Bermingham, followed by talks by Kieran Groeger and John Kelly of Youghal Celebrates History, and a keynote address by historian Felix M Larkin, followed by a reception.

On Sunday, November 6, an anniversary mass for Msgr Keller will be held at 12pm in St Mary’s Parish Church, which was Keller’s church.

Celebrated William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne, with members of the Cathedral Chapter, the mass will be followed by a laying of the wreath at Msgr Keller’s grave outside the church.