Haughton’s Plaque

An individual who tried in difficult circumstances, to keep the peace in Ferns in 1798 during the rebellion with the British, was Joseph Haughton. Haughton was a Quaker who operated a merchant’s premises in the centre of the village. He refused to sell rope to a Yeoman, knowing that the rope was being purchased in order to hang rebels.

However, as troubles increased in Ferns, he managed to keep the peace with all the antagonists. He provided humanitarian assistance to both sides at great personal risk, when savagery and rampant sectarianism was the norm and humanitarian actions were in short supply. He is commemorated by a plaque on the wall of his former premises, now Centra supermarket. The Quakers had a most honourable record through the 1798.