Arrival of the Quakers

The first record of Quakers in County Laois dates from about 1654. Around that year, William Edmundson visited two Quaker families in Rosenallis. The two families appear to have been the Cantrills of Tineil and the Chanders of Ballyhide. In 1659, Edmunson with a group of other Quakers settled in the vicinity of Mountmellick.

Willliam Edmundson is believed to have been the first Quaker in Ireland. He was not a Friend when he first arrived in Ireland. While on a trip to England. William became 'convinced' of the truth of Quakerism by James Naylor. Edmundson had a charismatic personality. He converted people to Quakerism and was totally convinced of the righteousness of the convictions. The following extract from his journal shows the strength of his convictions and the personal courage which he possessed.

The incident in question took place after some raparees burnt down his house in 1690. They took Edmunson and two of his sons out of their house to be killed.

Edmunson gave the following description of the incident.

'The next morning they took us to a wood, and held council upon us; who concluded to hang my two sons, and shoot me, because they said, I was a stout man. I told them, many of them knew me, and my two sons also; and I challenge them all to prove, that either I, or my sons had wronged any of their country- folks one farthing all these times of trouble; but on the contrary, had saved them what I could; sometimes with the hazard of my life among the English soldiers. Several of them made answer, and said, they knew I was an honest man. Then I told them if I died, they were my witnesses I was innocent, and God would revenge my blood. They wondered at my boldness, and indeed my life was to me, for I desired to die, if it were the will of God. Then they hood-winked my sons to hang them, and two firelocks prepared to shoot me, they came to hood-wink me also, but I told them, they need not, for I could look at them in the faces, and I was not afraid to die.'

Fortunately, their lives were saved through the intervention of Lieutenant William Dunne and his troops who brought them to the garrison in Athlone.

William Edmunson was born in Little Musgrove, Westmoreland to John and Grace Edmunson in 1627. At the age of 13, Edmunson became an apprentice carpenter in York. Later he joined the Parliamentary Army and fought in Scotland under Oliver Cromwell. He fought at the Battle of Worcester which was the final battle between Cromwell and the Scottish supporters of Charles II. Subsequently, he was invited by his brother to come over to Ireland where 'presentations and opportunities to get riches,' either by trading or taking land.

Originally, Edmunson intended to settle with his brother John, in Waterford, where his regiment was stationed. However, John had been transferred to Antrim and it was there that William first settled. In 1654, Edmunson and his family moved to Lurgan, Co. Armagh to open a shop. The same year the first regular Quaker meeting in Ireland was set up by Edmunson, with others, in Lurgan. The term 'meeting' is used by Friends, to denote a religious service. The descendants of the Quakers in Lurgan became the most important linen drapers in the town. Their advancement in this area had a major influence on the development of the linen industry in the country.

The Quakers in the 1650s were a radical group and were perceived as a threat to the government. Edmunson was one of the most prominent of the Quakers and this lead to frequent imprisonments. William's imprisonment in Armagh jail was the first of many sentences, which found him in jail in Cavan, Belturbet and Maryborough (Portlaoise). Edmundson decided to take up farming and moved with his family and several other Quaker families to land owned by a Col. Nicholas Kempston in County Cavan. The Quaker community increased in Cavan as a result of the conversion of a number of other settlers, including John Pim and William Neale. They moved to Cavan in the hope of starting a new life free from prosecution. Although Kempston was not a Quaker, he was sympathetic to the community. He promised to build a meeting house and 'do great matters to promote the truth.'

In 1659, Edmunson and his group of Quakers moved from Cavan to Queen's County (Laois). They moved south because they claimed their landlords had failed to honour the 'convenient' made with them. Edmunson moved to Rosenallis, which is located on the edge of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. They came to do battle against the imposition of tithes. Richard Jackson, John Edmunson, John Thompson, William Moon, John Pim with their families were among some of those who left for Queen's County with William. Only the Pim family remains today of these early pioneers, many of whom settled around the village of Rosenallis and Mountmellick. Edmunson obtained land in the townland of Tinneal just outside the village. He donated the site of the Quaker graveyard at Rosenallis. The triumph of the Cromwellian army in Ireland in the early 1650s meant that areas like the slopes of the Slieve Bloom Mountains could now be occupied by English settlers. Not all the Friends moved south, Thomas Edmunson, a brother of William, stayed at Drumgesh where he died in 1673 and was buried at Drumlane, Co. Cavan.

It was long before the Quakers met with opposition in the area. George Clapham, Church of Ireland minister of Rosenallis, seems to have been determined to destroy the Friends. He organised a boycott of the Quakers, which met little success. Edmunson and others sent to prison for refusing to pay tithes. This prompted, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to order the cessation of attacks on Quakers. However, the Quakers failed to convince the authorities in Dublin that the tithes should be dropped. This proved a continuous source of tension between the Quakers and the authorities. The Quakers kept a record of their 'sufferings' which involved paying a fine or going to prison to their refusal to pay tithes.

Although his residence was at Tinneal, Edmunson continued to preach throughout Ireland, England, America and the West Indies. George Fox and Edmunson set up the structure of the Quaker meetings in Ireland in 1668 and 1669. He was also a friend of William Penn, the founder of the Quaker colony, which later became the state of Pennsylvania. During his visit to Ireland in 1669, Penn stayed twice at Edmundsons house in Tinneal.

Edmunson married twice, his first wife was Margaret Stanford who died in 1691. She died from exposure after being stripped by raparees who attacked the Quakers at Rosenallis. In 1698, he remarried this time to Mary Pleadwell. Edmunson was by now in his seventies. Seven children are recorded in his will. These were Samuel, William, Tryll, Mary, Fayle, Susanna Sheldon, Hindrance Seale and Anna Moore. The farm which was to be Edmunson's home for the remaining years of his life was situated on the road between Mountmellick and Rosenallis
.