Great to be open again Max

Hey Max ! Great to be open again put on your hungry Puss ·

Down at the Mullichain Cafe Open 11am - 5pm this Saturday and Sunday

The Irish Fight back Gaelic Resurgence

The Mullicháin Cafe is Open for weekends in February 
11am -5pm See you there 
Did you know?
Gaelic Resurgence
The native Irish began to regain some of their former territories in the 14th century this was primarily due to Art MacMurrough Kavanagh(1357-1417), who became King of Leinster in 1377. Art claimed to be a direct descendant of Diarmaid Mac Murrough(Who brought the Normans into Ireland) through some illegitimate son and therefore his right to the kinship of Leinster .No DNA then.!
Art was credited as the man that gave most trouble during the reign of Richard II (from 1377 to 1399) . He married the daughter of Maurice Fitzgerald fourth earl of Kildare; where- upon the English authorities seized the lady’s vast estates, in as much as she had violated the Statute of Kilkenny by marrying a Mere Irishman. In addition to this, his black rent-eighty marks a year-was for some reason stopped, soon after the accession of Richard II. (Black rent, rent paid by the English to the local King for land they occupied)Exasperated by these proceedings, he devastated and burned many districts in the counties of Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, and Kildare; till the Dublin council were at last forced to pay him black rent.
Meantime Ireland had been going from bad to worse; and at last the king Richard 11 resolved to come over himself with an overwhelming- force, hoping thereby to overawe the whole country into submission. He made great preparations for this expedition; and on the 2nd of October, 1394, attended by many of the English nobles, he landed at Waterford with an army of 34,000 men, the largest force ever yet brought to the shores of Ireland.
As soon as Mac Murrough heard of this, far from showing any signs of fear, he swept down on New Ross, then a flourishing English settlement strongly walled, burned the town, and brought away a vast quantity of booty. And when the king and his army marched north from Waterford to Dublin he harassed them on the way after his usual fashion, attacking then; from the woods and bogs killing great numbers.
The Irish chiefs however saw that submission was inevitable. At a place called Ballygorry, near Carlow, Mowbray earl of Nottingham received the submission of a number of the southern chiefs amongst them MacMurrogh, (The most dreaded of all)
In a letter to the duke of York, the English Regent King Richard 11 describes the Irish people as of three classes-Irish savages or enemies; Irish rebels (colonists in rebellion); and English subjects;
But this magnificent and expensive expedition produced no useful result whatever. As for the sub- mission and reconciliation of the Irish chiefs, it was all pure sham. They did not look upon king Richard as their lawful sovereign; and as to the promises, since they had been extorted by force, they did not consider themselves bound to keep them.
Art was poisoned 1417 at New Ross. He was buried at St. Mullins, County Carlow; you can visit his tombstone at the rear of the Abbeys

The Mullicháin Cafe is back Sat and Sunday in February

The Mullicháin Café Reopens this Saturday 2nd for the weekends only for the month of February 11am- 5pm we open fully from the 1st weekend in March

The Fire will be humming The Scones Jumping from the oven and great Coffee waiting for you down on The Quay

The Mystical Ferry St Mullins

Did you know?

The St Mullins Ferry

A ferry crossed the Barrow river at St Mullins down through the centuries from the flour mills to the banks of the river on the Kilkenny side .Todays ordinance survey maps still show the ferry crossing even though the ferry ceased to run after the closure of the Odlums mills in 1967.The rowing boat was moored at the steps just below The Mullicháin Café and the Ferry Man was summoned by a bell that hung from a tree by the traveller.

To put the importance of the ferry in context we have to remember that it was only in the 1960’s that cars became common place so people walked everywhere or used their bicycle .Those living on both sides of the river Ballavarra, Rower, St Mullins were close friends, courted and intermarried.  They came across the river to visit Blanchfield’s pub which was also the local shop and post office and to attend mass and services.

Pattern day was the busiest day of the year at the end of July when the ferry man earned his keep for a few pennies bringing the worshipers and carnival attenders across the river, many not to return for a day or two

The demise of the ferry has led to a split in a community that was one for centuries. There are now proposals by Kilkenny Leader to join the two sides with a foot bridge joining The Great Barrow Blueway to the Rower Greenway, let’s hope it happens soon.

On misty nights the slap of the ferryman’s oars can still be heard as he turns the bow of his boat to the far shore.

Great Baking Down at The Mullicháin Cafe

Odlum’s Logo designed by the Mill workers of St Mullins.
Odlum’s the Millers ran a competition among the workers in their different mills to come up with a logo for their flour. The logo had to incorporate the Owl which was from the family coat of arms The men of St Mullins came up with the logo shown below which is used on the Odlum’s brand to this day.

Great News Carlow County Council requests tenders to create new surface for the Barrow river path

https://www.carlowlive.ie/news/home/355658/council-tenders-contract-to-develop-plan-for-walking-and-cycling-trails-in-carlow.html?fbclid=IwAR0p1PDLBt-zLRPE7PXpKwacvyuRClf6kCHh1UCDrijsUOSDq

St Mullins The Mystical center of Ireland's Ancient East

Yes !Yes ! we found Ireland's Ancient East sigh down by The Bug Hotel well hidden from all visitors to St Mullins