Pogrányi pigeons – relics of the Kuruc era

From 1703 to 1708, the armies of Ferenc Rákóczi II ruled the castle of Nitra, after their expulsion the city fell into the hands of the Labanci. The Kurucs of Érsekújvár often raided it, and clashes were the order of the day. One of the best-known clashes here was the Battle of Nitra Pereszlény on August 28, 1708, when, due to the betrayal of László Ocskay, the Labanci of János Pálfy defeated the Kurucs (Ocskay was later beheaded). The fictional biography of the Kurucs fleeing the scene of the battle was written by a later descendant of one of the main characters, József Ozorai, under the title “Kuruc ősök” (Kuruc Ancestors) in 1929. This is the most extensive book dealing with the Kuruc stories of the Uplands (685 pages in total) and a large part of it takes place in Pográny. The main character of the book, Imre Barkó, a minor nobleman from Pográny, hid the kurucs on his estate in Pográny for a while. Here he had several love affairs with local girls, “the doves of Pográny” (the sequence of events is known in Pográny as the story of the “doves of Pográny”). In the novel-like adaptation, we have no way of separating the real events from the embellishments of the imagination. Imre Barkó’s real name may have been Imre Tarkó (Ozorai slightly changed the names), and his descendants with the same name (Imre Tarkó Jr.) still lived in the Pográny mansion around 1800 (the original part of the mansion that stands today was built by Mihály Tarkó around 1680, and some believe that it is where the kurucs are hidden). However, it can also be proven in writing that a certain György Tarkó from Pográny was a kuruc, and he married Klára Vörös. However, he was persecuted because he was a Kuruc, so he had to flee Pográny. Imre Tarkó Jr. was the son of Mátyás Tarkó, the prosecutor of the bishop of Nitra and a representative of Csanád county. His second wife, Imréné Tarkó Orsolya Gyulai Gál, died in 1814, her tombstone was the second oldest monument in the cemetery a few years ago, but it was removed due to recklessness. The mansion was inherited by Klára Gyulai Gál, and then it passed into the hands of other families. Even today, the sprawling tree behind the mansion (later called the “notary’s house”) is called the Rákóczi lime tree, although it may be younger than the Kuruc. The book “Kuruc ancestors” was republished in 2004 in connection with the 930th anniversary of the first written mention of the village of Pográny. There were several other Kuruc battles in the area, e.g. On October 2, 1710, a battle took place near Cabaj and Csápor, when the Kurucs, who also touched Pográny during their march, defeated the Labanc army of a thousand men.