St Margaret’s Church of Ireland church, Clabby, Co. Fermanagh Photo: © Michael Fisher

Three days after my talk in Ballinode on Private Robert Hamilton, I was passing through Clabby in County Fermanagh, near Fivemiletown. I took the opportunity to call in to see Jean Hamilton at the Rectory, who had been very helpful in finding birth and baptismal records for Robert. Her husband Canon Maurice Armstrong had also helped with the research.

Baptismal Font, St Margaret’s Church of Ireland church, Clabby, Co. Fermanagh Photo: © Michael Fisher

She then invited me into the church, which was re-opened after an extensive renovation in February this year.

I was able to see the baptismal font where Robert Hamilton would have been baptised a few days after his birth, because he was ‘poorly’ according to Canon Armstrong. The font is in its original position. Afterwards Jean gave me directions for reaching the nearby townland of Brockagh, a mountain area of blanket bog very like Sliabh Beagh. Robert was living with John and Jane Keys, probably in a thatched cottage.

Brockagh, Clabby, Co. Fermanagh Photo: © Michael Fisher