1802-1862, active in Miramichi and Bathurst, New Brunswick

The reasons for believing the scribe Josephés Rhaoid to be Joseph Read of New Brunswick are outlined in the footnotes.

*‘Carpeting’ detail from Joseph Read’s illuminated manuscript.*
*Ferriter 30. Image used with generous permission of the University College Dublin Library.*

Josephés Rhaoid (Joseph Read), born around 1802 in Tarmon, Co. Clare, faced educational restrictions under the discriminatory British Penal Laws against Irish Catholics. Denied formal education, many Irish Catholics were forced to attend “hedge schools,” secret and illegal gatherings where youth were provided with primary education. Joseph displayed early intellectual promise by producing a traditionally illuminated manuscript in 1815 likely during his studies at such a school. It appears his manuscript’s text was based on “Parrthas An Anma.” This text was first produced in 1645 by Antoin Gearnon, an Irish Franciscan Friar, who studied and wrote in Belgium, which had one of the first Gaelic printing presses. Irish texts, such as Parrthas An Anma and bardic poetry, were used for centuries afterwards in hedge schools to educate the Catholic Irish in basic Irish literacy, history and devotion, along with subjects such as mathematics. By the mid 1820’s, hedge schools provided the education basics for upwards of 400,000 Catholic Irish.

Rhaoid emigrated to the town of Miramichi, New Brunswick, in either 1816 or 1822. Among his few meager possessions was his cherished illuminated manuscript, showing the deep value of this document to him.

*Ferriter 30 (detail) , image used with generous permission of University College Dublin Library*
*“Miramichi is in New Brunswick Canada agus is áit fhiadháin í” (and it is a wild place) [added by a later hand]*

Joseph had only just settled in Miramichi when a devastating and massive forest fire ripped through the valley in 1825. In three hours, the Great Fire of Miramichi razed the valley’s main settlement, Newcastle, leaving only 12 buildings standing, while residents survived by dowsing themselves in the river against the searing flames. While over 20% of New Brunswick’s forests burned, Joseph and (at least) the table of contents of his invaluable manuscript were miraculously spared. It is possible that the other pages were lost to the fire at this time.

Many survivors resettled north in Bathurst, New Brunswick. There, Joseph emerged as a prominent figure, contributing significantly to the community by planning for a courthouse in 1828 and overseeing the construction of vital “Great Roads” to neighbouring settlements. Around 1835, Joseph married Mary Eliza White, and they raised a family of seven children. Actively engaged in political life, Joseph served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for 14 years, Deputy Treasurer for the Port of Bathurst, and a Justice of the Peace. Joseph Read's distinguished life came to an end on November 19, 1862, when he passed away at his home in Bathurst, built by him in 1840. His contributions left a lasting legacy on Bathurst, and his home was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places until it was recently demolished.

*Joseph Read’s house, formerly at 210 King Avenue, Bathurst*

Rhaoid's illuminated manuscript travelled on a remarkable journey. Given to the Archbishop of Halifax, Dr. Thomas Connolly (1814-1876), himself from Cork, the precious manuscript was gifted again in 1870 to William Desmond O’Brien, a prominent Halifax businessman. O’Brien’s widow eventually moved to New York, where the manuscript was given to Pádraig Feirtéar, of Corca Dhuibhne, a prominent collector and scribe. On his death in 1924, the manuscript was bequeathed by Feirtéar to University College Dublin, where it still resides, in recognition of Irish being made a mandatory subject of study.

Josephés Rhaoid’s life, his valued manuscript's survival through emigration and fire, and its global journey back to Ireland underscore the profound value of the Irish language as a cherished and defining part of Irish identity in Ireland and in the global diaspora, to be preserved and celebrated even in the face of adversity and migration.

For citation, please use: Ó Dubhghaill, Dónall. 2024. “Josephés Rhaoid.” Na Gaeil san Áit Ró-Fhuar. Gaeltacht an Oileáin Úir: www.gaeilge.ca

Little information about this manuscript has survived. Luckily, the notes inscribed in the cover pastedowns hold some important clues. In them, we learn the scribe’s name is Joseph Read, that the manuscript was “Transcribed by me, J. Rd. from an ancient Christian doctrine in the year of our lord God one thousand eight hundred & fifteen.” We also see a note in his hand stating “Tarmon, January 1st 1816” and that he “Arrived at Miramichi on Sunday June 25th [].” (One other note in his hand states “Thirty-one Days” and could be the length of the journey, but this is speculation. This page is not imaged here as this is the only text it contains.)
Sunday the 25th of June fell on the years 1816 and 1822, and it seems he could have arrived on that date in either year. This would place Joseph in Miramichi by 1824, just before the great fire. Archival documents housed in New Brunswick reveal a Joseph Read in Miramichi, applying for a land grant in 1824. The following year, after the fire, he requested a land grant in Bathurst, 80 km North, where many survivors had moved.
Due to Read’s work as supervisor of the Great Roads, MLA, and Justice of the Peace, many examples of his adult cursive writing exist, and there are some striking similarities with his younger hand.
The 1861 census lists Joseph as 58 years old, marking his birth around 1802. Joseph’s death announcement from 1862 states that “He was a native of the western part of Co. Clare, Ireland and emigrated to this Province over 40 years ago” which neatly fits with his arrival in New Brunswick in either 1816 or 1822. However, Co. Clare conflicts with William O’Brien’s added note from 1870 stating that the Tarmon mentioned could be Tarmenbarry (Co. Roscommon). O’Brien’s suggestion may be disregarded as unverified by him, Read having been deceased by this time. Tarmon (not Tarmenberry) is a townland in southwest Co. Clare, further adding to the belief that Joseph Read of Bathurst was indeed the scribe of this manuscript.
Only two other Joseph Reads have survived in the archival record from New Brunswick. One was living briefly in Saint John in the 1840s before entering the poorhouse, and the other announced this man’s death and was his yunger nephew of the same name. Neither of these accord with what information we know of the scribe Joseph Read from his surviving manuscript notes.
It is entirely possibly that another Joseph Read was the scribe, maybe the father of this Joseph Read, or perhaps someone who died in the Great Fire. However, the population of the Miramichi valley in 1825 was only around 1000 people and no other surviving land claims from 1816-1824 exist in that name (and all subsequent claims from 1824-1862 are connected to this Joseph Read).
The document was passed to the Archbishop of Halifax at some point, and this suggests that Read remained in the area. The Catholic Read’s prominence in public affairs may also suggest how this document came to the archibishop.