Latest Folklore

There is a Rath in Gurtnalee, which is in this Parish, and years ago Mr. Shortt the owner of it wanted to cut down the trees in it. The people of the district advised him not to cut them down, but in spite of their advise he did it. A few days after he yoked his horse to draw the timber out of it, and it dropped dead. Then he yoked his donkey to draw it out, and it dropped dead also.
After that he never had a day’s luck, all his cattle died, and he met with a lot of sickness. After some time he made up his mind to leave the district, and he was not very long left it when he died.

From folklore collected from local people by schoolchildren in the 1930s, and now digitised at Duchas.ie.
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0829, Page 169.

Judging by the Google Earth photo, this rath still exists and no-one’s been cutting any trees out of it lately.

The Chase of Slieve Cullinn. In which it is related how Finn’s hair was changed in one day from the colour of gold to silvery grey.

Culand, the smith of the Dedannans, who lived at Slieve Cullinn, had two beautiful daughters, Milucra and Aina. They both loved Finn, and each sought him for her husband.

As they walked together one evening near Allen, they fell to talking of many things; and their conversation turning at last on their future husbands, Aina said she would never marry a man with grey hair.

When Milucra heard this, she resolved with herself that if she could not get Finn she would plan so he should not marry her sister Aina. So she departed immediately, and, turning her steps northwards, she summoned the Dedannans to meet her at Slieve Cullinn. Having brought them all together, she caused them to make a lake near the top of the mountain, and she breathed a druidical virtue on its waters, that all who bathed in it should become grey...

The little lake for which this legendary origin is assigned lies near the top of Slieve Gullion. There were several wells in Ireland which, according to the belief of old times, had the property of turning the hair grey. Giraldus Cambrensis tells us of such a well in Munster; and he states that he once saw a man who had washed a part of his head in this well, and that the part washed was white, while the rest was black!
It is to be observed that the peasantry of the district retain to this day a lingering belief in the power of the lake of Slieve Gullion to turn the hair grey.

From Old Celtic Romances by P W Joyce (1920)... where you can read the rest of the story.

The Reverend Lett’s informants of 1898 seem to think the effects will be worse:

We found that the natives of Dorsey hold to a belief in certain magical effects produced by the water of Lough Calliagh Beri. They would not tell us what would happen to anyone rash enough to bathe in it, but vaguely hinted that it would be something dreadful.

The locality lies to the west of, and yet quite close to the wild and picturesque neighbourhood of Forkill, just on the west verge of the steep and rocky hills that stand out like sentinels before the great round mass of Slieve Gullion, which, 1893 feet in height, towers up grandly above them all, at a distance of only four miles.

[…] Traces of the “walls” are found from 10 to 11 [on the diagram]. At 11 there is a small bit of one of the ramparts still left. It is to be observed that from 9 to 11 the line of the “walls” curves gently to the south. From 11 the “walls are distinctly marked along the edge of a very deep bog where large quantities of turf are now each year, as they no doubt have for centuries been, prepared for fuel.

In this bog the old 6-inch Ordnance Survey Map once more sets out a short line of “piles”. And the natives tell of their having found oak “stakes” or “stabs” here with “collars” of oak fitted to them, and that “this was the way out to the country, and away through Ireland.” On the 6-inch Ordnance Survey Map, dated 1836; at this spot is a bit of “piles” set out into the bog at right angles to the line of the “walls.”
[…] On the descent of the “walls” towards 1, at the “Five roads,” the fosses are deep and well preserved, and the whole is studded with very old “fairy thorns.”

The inhabitants of the district hold that this part of the fortifications is the peculiar haunt of fairies; they assured us that “it would be unlucky to cut down one of the thorns or so much as even a branch, and when the bridge below was being fixed three years ago Brian K—would not let one branch be touched, and his son Owen would not lend his saw to cut a bit of one that was in the men’s way. Nobody would take a chip off them thorns, and look how gay they be, and mind you, every one of them is hundreds and hundreds of years old.

“One night I sat up to watch the turf in the bog that was a stealing, and I saw and heard – but I would not do it again for all the turf that ever were. I sat among the bushes beyont there, and I will not tell why I wouldn’t do it again. One evening we saw a funeral coming along the road from Dundalk, and it went up the rampart above there among the thorns, and they laid the corpse down and dug a grave, and put it in. The police got to hear of it, and they come and searched and searched the place everywhere but not a trace of anything did they see or find. And why should they, for sure it was not earthly.

“A girl who was herding the cows, and was at her sewing as she did so, saw a boy, her cousin, come along towards a gap in the fence near her. She bent her head a moment while hiding her sewing in her dress, and when she looked up, the boy was gone, and though she ran everywhere and called his name he was not there.”

We asked a boy who happened to be herding cattle near the bog, had he heard or ever seen a fairy. “I’ve heard of them, but I never saw one myself.” “Would you like to be out at dark on the old rampart?” we inquired. “I would not like to be there by myself,” was his reply.

Within the dun, on the highest point of this hill at 13, is a “Standing stone,” 5 feet high, having in it several deep and curious marks like the impressions of a huge finger, which were pointed out to us as “Caliagh Beri’s finger-marks.” The stone is locally known as “the White Stone of Caliagh Beri,” by whom the local tradition relates it to have been thrown into its present position from her lake on the top of Slieve Gullion.

From the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1898: The Dun at Dorsey, Co. Armagh by Rev. Henry William Lett.

According to this page the stone used to be whitewashed each year.

This is such a strange name, so I felt compelled to see where it comes from. The OED says ‘claper’ would be the Anglo-Norman version of the French ‘clapier’, which means rabbit hole. So a ‘clapper’ was a rabbit burrow, or maybe a place for deliberately keeping rabbits. The OED says for keeping ‘tame rabbits’ though I think they probably were often ‘tasty rabbits’. But not tasty for our prehistoric ancestors though, apparently rabbits only got established in the 13th century.

In the townland of Killameen between Miss Mary Ann O’Rourke’s house and Mr Charles O’Rourke’s house is situated a fairy fort. Many people saw those fairies there, but one particular person, Kate Smyth of Killameen, Carrigallen, was accompanied by them almost everywhere she went.
She said that after six o’clock every evening, she could hear the music of them everywhere around her. If she happened to be out late at night she was escorted home by a band of fairies who talked to her and questioned her.
She often claimed to have heard music and dance in her barn after six o’clock every evening but never before six.
People passing by this fort at night often heard the music, and often stood to listen to it.

From The School’s Collection of the National Folklore Collection of Ireland. This story was written down by a schoolgirl from Gortachoosh in the 1930s.

Travelling upon the South Walian uplands can inspire... stimulate introspective analysis of what it really means to live in 21st Century Britain... or provide context for a pre-existing world view. Guess it is a personal journey which is nigh on impossible to relate to others with the necessary emphasis without sounding trite. Photography has been my chosen medium to make the attempt, for better or worse. However I wanted to share the Mam C’s short verse, something which, in my opinion, transcends the perhaps not so ‘all seeing’ view of the optical lens:

PLACE

For My Brother

The souls of the shoes
That have slipped here before
The cut of the water
Through hill side and more
The March of the winds
Up the blind alleys veil
The history that’s shouting
“Do you understand now?”
Straight, solitary but never alone
The heaviest of platforms
That hide the blue bone
A continuum in the Crows
Defiant merry go round
Please understand this
It’s our common ground.

According to local legend, the ghost of a ‘Grey Lady’ once haunted the well. The lady, dressed in grey, is said to have beckoned a man collecting water from the well. As he approached she asked the man to ‘hold me tight by both hands’. The man obliged but his grip loosened. As he let go a stabbing pain caught him in the side, the Grey Lady complained his grip wasn’t tight enough and now she would remain a ghost for another hundred years. She vanished and has never been seen again ... or has she?

From the info board on site.

In Chris Barber’s “Mysterious Wales” (1982 David & Charles) he says that the well was famous for healing rheumatism and similar ailments.

It was reported that one child, who went there as a cripple, was able to throw away his crutches after a fortnight’s bathing and run about the green meadow on the riverside.

The Piper of Dickmount-Law

There is a legend, centuries old, that relates the tale of the ‘Piper of Dickmount-Law’.

The story starts with the piper and his wife travelling home, along the nearby coast, severely drunk after attending a wedding.

On the way, they stumbled into a deep coastal cave, known as the Forbidden Cave, which was believed to be occupied by demons, and which no-one dared enter.

Next morning, the piper was heard beneath Dickmount-Law, two kilometres from the coast, sounding his drone, while his wife sang a melancholy song.

Soon afterwards, the piper’s dog was seen to emerge from the cave in a state of distress. The piper continued to play incessantly for several days and nights thereafter, but neither he nor his wife was ever seen again.

There is a lengthy and amusing poem dedicated to this event, which can be read on Google Books.

There is a very similar tale told regarding the Piper’s Cave, Uamh an Oir (Cave of Gold) at Harlosh on the Isle of Skye.

“Then there is the story of a young Orphir man who spent a whole year among the fairies in the Hillock of Howe, near Stromness, and of how he danced there all that time with a jar of whisky on his shoulder. When he was finally pulled out, he complained he had not been allowed to finish his jig. It was only when he saw the uppers of his boots dangling about his ankles that he realised he had danced the soles completely off”

Source: A peculiar people and other Orkney tales by Leask (1931)

Local legend has it that the menhir stands on the spot where five ancient parish boundaries met, and takes its name from a gallows tree which once stood next to the stone.

Well, Coflein cynically has it that this is a “probable cattle rubbing stone.” And who can deny that cows may have rubbed their bums on it over the years (photo here). But this article from Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1875 suggests it’s more than just a cow convenience:

The Maen Hir in Glyllivon Park.

Sir, -- The Hon. Frederick Wynn, who has lately joined our Association, asked me to go over to Glynllivon in order to examine some markings upon the Maen Hir within the Park walls, traditionally said to mark the grave of “Gwydion ab Don”. Accordingly I went there on Tuesday, Sept. 7th. The markings were soon disposed of, being attributable simply to the weathering of soft places in the stone.

Mr. Wynn then proposed digging at the foot of the stone with a view to ascertain if any interment had taken place there, and asked me where the excavation had better be made. The stone, which is 9 feet high above ground, has its sides facing east and west. The east side is nearly flat, and so I fixed upon that side.

A trench about 2 feet deep was opened, and at a distance of 3 feet from the stone and 2 feet 6 inches below the surface of the ground the workmen came upon a layer of calcined bones mixed with charred wood. On closer examination we found pieces of the urn that had once enclosed the remains. It had been apparently broken by the weight of the soil ages ago. We carefully sifted the earth around, as well as the contents of the urn, but found no article either for use or ornament. Portions of the rim and the bottom of the urn being preserved, we were enabled to judge that it must have stood about 8 inches high, with a diameter at the mouth of 7 inches, and across the bottom 4 1/2 inches. It has not been turned on the lathe, and is without ornamentation. Mr. Wynn subsequently dug on the west side of the stone, but found nothing. [...]

Gwydion ab Don stars in the Mabinogion – he’s a bit more magical a figure than someone you’d expect to find buried under a real stone (for example, a Welsh name for the Milky Way is ‘Caer Wydion’, the castle of Gwydion).

It is known as “Bedd Morris”, which Morris or Morus was a notorious robber who lived among the rocks on the summit of the hill commanding the pass; and which is the old, and was once the only, road to Newport.

This man had a little dog trained to fetch the arrows shot at unfortunate way-farers. The nuisance of this murderous individual was so great that at last the population rose in arms against him, attacked him in his mountain-cave, dragged him down to the place where the stone now stands, and there killed and buried him.

From Archaeologia Cambrensis v6, 1875, in an article called ‘On Pillar-Stones in Wales’ by E.L. Barnwell.

Nenagh Guardian – 22-08-1936

About a mile to the east of Ardcroney in a district called Lough Fada (Loch Fada), which according to tradition, was visited by St. Patrick. The place was, as the name indicates, at one time covered with water, but it is now quite dry. The bed of the river, which drained the lake into the Shannon, can still be traced. Faint with hunger, the saint was one day, according to legend, passing the lake in which three men were engaged fishing. Though hard at work for hours they had caught no fish till a few minutes before St. Patrick’s arrival. Explaining his plight to the fishermen, he asked them for some fish to relieve his hunger but they refused. He thereupon changed them into stones. Three large pillars of stone, each about six feet high and four feet wide, are still pointed out as confirming the truth of the legend.
Druid’s Altar
As is the case in most legends, there is probably a stratum of truth in the story. According to Dr. Healy, the saint visited Rathurles, about three miles distant, on his journey northward from Cashel. From Rathurles he proceeded to Terryglass, and Ardcroney would be in a direct line between these two places; near Loch Fada are the remains of a large fort which is still called “The Doon” (An Dun), where a king or chieftain resided in olden times. It was St. Patrick’s policy to convert the ruler of the district first, and having done so in Ardcroney, he would probably proceeded to Loch Fada to view the Druid’s altar – for such undoubtedly were the three large stones. According to tradition, a number of smaller pillar stones formed a circular enclosure round the altar but these were removed by the planters for building purposes. It is also stated that the smaller stones were covered with rude inscriptions on the edges. These were probably the Ogham characters as used by the Irish till St. Patrick’s time.”

I’ve been puzzling over the old maps. The grid reference given is where the stone’s marked even now. I was excited to find this photo on Geograph – doesn’t it match the description well? But perhaps that’s what rocks look like round there – I think it’s not quite on the spot where the grid reference is. So that’s confusing. We need an on-the-spot reporter.

Though I’m not sure it’s worth the risk of finding out if the rumours are true. Or maybe it is. Might be untrue, and if it is true, you’ve got a 50:50 chance.

In a stony place, called Yr Arddu, Black Ham, pretty high in Cwm brwynog farm, on the ascent of Snowdon hill, there is a very large loose stone, called Maen du yr Arddu, i.e. The black Stone of Arddu; upon the top of which there is another lesser stone, seemingly as if it had been raised there by hands.

It is said, that if two persons were to sleep a night on the top of this stone, in the morning one would find himself endued with the gift of poetry, and the other would become insane.

And accordingly it is affirmed, that in a frolic two men, one called Huwcyn Sion y Canu, and the other Huw Belissa, agreed to sleep on the top of it one summer night: in the morning one found himself inspired with the celestial muse, and the other was quite bereaved of his senses.

It seems that both of these were of the lower order of minstrels, and very probably both of them drunk when they slept there: one, it should seem (having the appellation y Canu, Singer or Songster added to his name, and being addicted to singing) found his spirits in the morning in an exhilerated state, and the other not quite recovered from his intoxication. Imagination might have co-operated, so as to make him who was cheerful to fancy that he was really inspired, and to give the other an idea that he was really mad.

Or: how to kill a romantic idea stone cold dead with the application of reason.

From Observations in the Snowdon Mountains by William Williams (1802).

An early telling of the tale. No mention of the hole. But you can apparently use the stones to judge the size of the giant.

... there is a wide difference between [sepulchral] heaps, and those on the highest summits of these hills; the latter are formed of large building stones, the former chiefly of small stones, such as can be carried by hand;

which I think is sufficient proof that they were intended for different purposes; one in memory of the dead deposited under them, the other the ruins of temporary buildings, which sheltered persons on the watch, who were to give the country signals, by lighting fire at the approach of an enemy, in time of war.

And besides, those on the summits are commonly known by some name, such as Carnedd Llewelyn, Carnedd Ddafydd, Carnedd y Filiast, &c. the others seldom any names given them, unless they are named from fabulous events; such as that on Bwlch y Ddeufaen, which is called Barclodiad y Gawres, literally, The Giantess’s Apron full. The tale is thus:

A huge Giant, in company with his wife, travelling towards the island of Mona, with an intention of settling amongst the first inhabitants that had removed there; and having been informed that there was but a narrow channel which divided it from the continent, took up two large stones, one under each arm, to carry with him as a preparatory for making a bridge over this channel; and his lady had her apron filled with small stones for the same purpose: but meeting a man on this spot with a large parcel of old shoes on his shoulders, the Giant asked him, How far it was to Mona?

The man replied, that it was so far, that he had worn out those shoes in travelling from Mona to that place. The Giant on hearing this dropt down the stones, one on each side of him, where they now stand upright, about a hundred yards or more distant from each other; the space between them was occupied by this Goliah’s [sic] body. His mistress at the same time opened her apron, and dropt down the contents of it, which formed this heap.

This and such like tales, though modelled and modernized perhaps from age to age, according to the genius and the language of the times, were, I am of opinion, originally intended as hyperboles, to magnify the prowess and magnanimity of renowned persons; from which we may conclude, that these heaps, especially those that have pillars near them, are very ancient, even prior to the Christian era.

From Observations in the Snowdon Mountains by William Williams (1802).

Is this too confusing or what? Not only are there two Carn Breas, they are both near wells connected with St Uny / St Eunius.

At the foot of Carn Brea Hill, and not far from the Church of Redruth, is a well dedicated to St. Eunius. A stone cross formerly stood near to it.

Now it is a rugged little well, with no regular building. A moor-stone covers it, and round it is a sort of curb of rough granite, with an iron bar running along. At the back is a newer stone, bearing the date 1842.

There used to be ascribed to the water the virtue that whoever was baptised in it would never be ignominiously hanged; but now no recollection of this exists, nor reverence for its sanctity. The water is much used, because it is considered better than “pumpen” water.

Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall by M and L Quiller-Couch (1894). The church of St Euny is easy to pick out from an old map, but not the well. But there are the interesting sounding watery features of “Giant’s Well” and “House of Water” on the hill.

This is an Iron Age Round above the River Neet near Stratton. Centuries after it was built, the eponymous Civil War battle was fought here. The Earl of Stamford (Parliamentarian) got there first with his troops and set up on the hill, allegedly using the round as an emplacement for their guns. But despite having twice as many soldiers as the Royalists, they lost dismally.

Apparently Rough Tor and Brown Willy are “conspicuous though distant objects” from this point.

Nenagh Guardian – 30-04-1910

Another piece here titled – The history of Nenagh – Instructive Lecture By Eminent Nenagh Clergyman

The most interesting piece in it to me is “In the beginning of the 2nd century of the Christian Era the province of Munster extended to the parish of Laun Eala or Lynally, in the King’s County, in the barony of Ballycowan, about a mile south-east of Tullamore, in the O’Molloy’s country. It was then called Aenach Cholman. About that time the Ard Righ of Ireland, Turthal Teachtmar, took possession of that part of the King’s County. The Munster Aenach was then transferred to Ormond. This event occurred in the year 130, A.D. This, therefore is the first date in the history of Nenagh. In the year 1930 you can celebrate the 18th centenary of your history as a town and place of note in Munster. Nenagh was a place of much interest in this country when London was a small village. The Aenach of this town had two names – Aenach Thete (pronounced Thebe), which means the Fair of the Flight, and, a’so, the name Aenach Urmumhain (The Fair of Ormond.) It is not recorded why the Aenach was called Thete, and I can only conjecture that this name may have arisen from the fact that the Munster Aenach was removed from its original situation in King’s County, and brought to Ireland in North Tipperary.”

Nenagh Guardian – 21-04-1917

This is titled “History of Nenagh” and contains the following “The circumstances which led up to this battle are the following: At this time two remarkable kings lived in Ireland: Malachy King of Meath and Ard Righ of Ireland and Brian Boru, King of Munster. Brian was at this time coming into prominence because of his ability and his success against the Danes. In the election of the Ard-Righ or High King of Ireland, the most powerful provincial King was sometimes chosen. A jealously existed between Malachy and Brian, who afterwards succeeded in dethroning Malachy and becoming Ard-Righ. The career of Brian was as follows: “He first became King of Thomond, North Munster; he next became provincial King of all Munster his third step upwards was to claim sovereignty over the Southern half of Ireland. Leath-Moghs, according to an ancient division of the country as described above. This claim of Brian excited the jealousy of Malachy; if Brian ruled Leinster and Munster, he might become too strong for Malachy. It would seem therefore, that it was a struggle between the West of Ireland under Malachy, against Munster, which eventuated in the Battle of Nenagh. In that age it was custom to inaugurate the Kings of Munster under a great oak-tree, at a place called Magh Adhair, now Moyre, near Tulla, in the County Clare. This tree Malachy cut down and had it taken up by the roots, using the timber of the oak to roof his palace. Brian determined to avenge the insult offered to his family in the cutting down of the coronation-tree. He led an army in the boats up the Shannon, entered Meath, and burned the royal rath of Dunna Sgiath. The timber of Brian’s oak was in the roof of this rath, and Brian had the satisfaction of burning the timber which Malachy had the trouble of cutting down. This act of Brian was the immediate cause of the Battle of Nenagh. Malachy was absent in Connaught at the time, he re-crossed the Shannon, marched South, and burned Aenach Thete. After this victory Malachy attacked the Danes near Dublin, and carried away the collar of gold of Tomar, a Scandinavian Chief, celebrated by Moore in the Melodies. It is satisfactory to recall that three years after the Battle of Nenagh Brian and Malachy were united, to the great joy of the Irish. Their combined forces attacked the Danes of Dublin in the year 998 A.D and plundered a great part of their weath, previous to the battle of Clontarf. Brian was acknowledged by Malachy as King of Leath Mogha, Southern Ireland and Suzerain of Leinster. O’Halloran gives the Leinster tribute to Brian as 300 gold-handled swords, 300 cows and brass yokes, 300 steeds and 300 purple cloaks. In the Battle of Nenagh perished Domhnall, on of Sorcan, and uncle of Brian and six hundred men fell with him. Domhnall was Lord of Muskerry and Ui Forga or Ormond. The Second Burning of Nenagh. Sixty years after Nenagh had been burned by Malachy it was burned a second time by Diarmuid, King of Leinster, in the year 1056. This event is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, 1056AD. Diarmuid the son of Maolnambo, marched on a predatory excursion into Munster and burned Dun Mac na n-Inguir (Dungar) near Roscrea, Aenach Thetey and Dun Furicadrain. The same event is recorded in the Annals of Innisfallen in the year 1959. Diarmuid Mac Maolnambo, marched with a ravaging army into Munster and burnt Dun Iongar, Aenach Thete and Dun Fuaradrain. Turlough O’Brien was with him on that occasion. (Dungar, which Torlough burnt, is situate in the O’Carroll country and probably the other Dun, mentioned in the record, was the name of another royal residence of the O’Carroll’s).

Nenagh Guardian – 31-12-1932

An unusual piece titled “The Fairies of Munster” -“Did you ever hear of a place called Nenagh?” he asked “Yes” said I “I have heard of it” Well “said he “I was born and reared within a few miles of that town” “It is a fine town, I suppose” said I “Well, it is and it isn’t” he replied. “It is a great place for fairs, to be sure. In fact, the original name of the town was Aonach, which meant a fair. “At one time there used to be a great fair at a place called Tyone, a mile or so outside the town, every 1st August. In fact that date was known locally as the “1st of Tyone”. It was not far from a rath, known as Rathurles, and the fairies from there gave so much trouble at the fairs that they had to change the fair to the town.” “Not into the town surely” said I, “there must be a fair green in such an important town”. “There is not; then” said he “The cattle are in the very streets and right up against shop windows” I suppose the idea is “said I “that the shopkeepers want to keep the trade at their doors”. “By no means” said my friend “but they are afraid if they hold the fair outside the town the fairies might interfere with it, for they are averse to the smoke and dirt of a town. They love the fresh air, and that is the reason there is no fair green in Naenagh”. “Well now” said he “it was in this district I was in the fairies and next time we meet I will tell you about my experiences during the seven happy years I spent amongst them” – it is signed off as “Old Boy”.

Nenagh Guardian – 24-04-1943

Old Nenagh Place Names – it looks to be by D.F.G who I assume is Dr Dermot F. Gleeson – the most interesting bit relating to Rathurles is as follows “There remains the place name of the 1673 Deed “Lisnenagh”. In 1703 it is “Lissnemogh” but I think this is clearly a mistranscription. It is of much interest in the form “Lisnenagh” because taking its area (30 acres only), and its place in the Deeds in immediate conjunction with Rapplagh, I think there can be no doubt that here we have an old and most valuable and suggestive alias for the great triple ring fort of Rathurles – forerunner of Nenagh and original home and “strong wattled rath” of the old “Kings of Ormond”. I would regard it as a most valuable contribution to local history if anything can be added to this either from record or tradition. Does anyone remember Rathurles being called “Liss Nenagh”? Per contra is there a “Lissnemogh” near Rapplagh or any other fort to which the name could apply? One must remember that Rapplagh in 1700 stretched over and included South Hill and probably included Shean across the road. Here (at Shean) are two forts with two more near the road. Does anyone know the field names of any of them? This form “Lisnenagh” in an original script of 1673, is quite new to me and very strongly suggests Rathurles for a number of reasons. Ballygaggery of the 1703 Deed is not mentioned in 1673 but appears in a variety of records though missing from the 1849 O. Sheet. It is given as containing only 33 acres in 1703 but in the Civil Surveys appears in the Upper Ormond part of Kilruane Parish as a more extensive townland of 108 Irish acres and, since all the Civil Survey acreages are an underestimate by at least one fifth, it must have been once quite an extensive piece of ground. Its bound (per the Civil Survey) are “On the S.W. with a muddy lough in this parish called Lough Duff, on the north by the parish of Ballygibbon and Killownye (now Killowney”) “on ye east and south by the lands of Rathurles in this parish”. This puts it between Rapplah and Liscarode and perhaps the name is remembered there. The name appears to mean the “townland of the cracks or fissures”. Where the “Commons of Nenagh” containing 400 acres in Lower Ormond barony may have been is none too clear. I suggest that they lay to the north west of the present “Commonage” down to and probably across the Limerick road. There is no field name for this area on the 1840 O. Sheet, and of course the Limerick road was not there in 1703. The 1673 Deed finally contains the curious name “Allmodein” which does not appear in 1703. Of this in the form given, I can make nothing but no doubt a little patience would solve the problem. It may be a mistranscription though it appears in this form in the original and it is hard to suggest an alternative spelling.”

Nenagh Guardian – 14-02-1953

There some debate going on at this stage about making a coat of arms for Nenagh. Dr Dermot F Gleeson had this to say regarding Rathurles “Nenagh, of course, as a centre of population is not older than the castle – its predecessor is undoubtedly the huge triple rath at Rathurles (with a 15th century church built inside ring). The stone gate piers are still there and date to at least 2,000 BC. This is one of the most remarkable earth forts in all Ireland, though I fear few Nenagh people ever visit there. I have shown it to many of our leading archaeologist who are all of the opinion that its was the central rath and place of inauguration of the Muscraige of Muscraige Thire (now Ormond) long before the Dal Cais came and indeed back to B.C.”

Nenagh Guardian – 11-04-1953

There is a piece about lecture given by Dr Dermot F Gleeson on “Who were the first inhabitants of the town”.
Dr Gleeson is described as a native of the town and “as they all knew from the reading of newspapers and magazines, was an authority on the subject”.
A few interesting quotes from it “At Rathurles they would find two things in addition to the earth-forts. They would find places marked with stones, and they were remarkable stones and must be a few tons in weight. There were in fact gate piers at the entrance into the fort, and they could see they were prepared to hang a gate. It was a huge triple-ringed earth-fort and it stood in the middle of the Knockalton, Sheane, Rathfalla and Rathmartin district. That was the centre of population before Nenagh was heard of. The fort at Rathurles was a magnificent one and was one of the finest earth-forts in the whole country. He (Dr. Gleeson had shown it to Dr. Leask, to Professor O’Riordan, and to Dr. John Ryan, and they all agreed there was nothing like it in the country except the one near Armagh.” He goes on to say “The stones were Megalothic and went back to Middle Stone Age, 2,000 years before Christ. As late as the fourteenth century they were mentioned in the Ormond Deeds, and in the disputes between the O’Kennedy’s and the Butlers. In the middle of the fort there was a big church, 15th century. What was the church doing there in the middle of the earth-fort? Rathurles was a place of such significance the O’Kennedy’s put the church in the ring to mark what a place of distinction it was in olden times.”

Nenagh Guardian – 30-06-1962

Historical Places of Interest – “Rathurles – 3 ring with “Remarkable Stones” which are the gate piers of the ancient entrance judged by Dr. H. G. Leask to be “almost megalithic”.

Nenagh Guardian – 06-05-1967

Origins of Nenagh from the Ancient Aenach by Rev. John A Gleeson. The most interesting part in terms of Rathurles is as follows “O’Donovan says that this parish is called in Irish Aenach Urmhumhan (pronounced Uroon), which means the Fair of Ormond. He adds “We are not able to ascertain the period at which this name was first given, but we have reason to believe that it is of extreme antiquity this name is given in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 994 A.D. In Gough the following reference is made to Nenagh: It is probable that this place called Aenach Thite (Thehe) by the Four Masters, and Aenach Teide in the Annals of Innisfallen, is Nenagh. There is no direct evidence of their identity, but it may be inferred from the manner in which Aenach Thete is mentioned in connection with Urmumhan, that, in all likelihood, it lay in the same territory; and we know of no other aenach in the same territory except Nenagh, which is still called by the people Aenach Urmhumhan” It seems strange that Gough did not know that Roscrea was situated in ancient Ormond, which formerly included the whole of North Tipperary, and the two baronies in King’s County which lie between Roscrea and Birr. One of those names may have belonged to the Roscrea Aenach and the other to the Aenach at Nenagh. Aenach Thete means the Fair of the Flight and Aenach Teide means the Fair of the Rope. This name Thete belongs to the Aenach at Nenagh; an explanation of the name may be found, perhaps , in the early history of the fair. The first establishment of the Aenach at Nenagh is thus described in Miss Green’s “The Making of Ireland and its Undoing”: Previous to the year 130 AD the province of Munster extended to the parish of Lann Eala or Lynally in the barony of Ballycowan, King’s County, about a mile south-east from Tullamore. It was in this parish that the Munster Aenagh was held before the year 130. It was called Aenach Cholmain. In the year 130 the Ard Righ, Tuathal Teachtmhar, took possession of that part of the King’s County. The Munster Aenach was then transferred to Nenagh in the baronies of Upper and Lower Ormond. It was called Aenach Teite and in later times Aenach Urmhumhan. Nenagh as an Aenach, therefore, began its course in the year 130, close on eitghteen centuries from our time (1915). It was probably a place of note before 130. The original Aenach was situated in Fercal in the O’Molloy country. In after times it became a tribal Aenach under the presidency of the O’Molloy. The change of situation from Fercal to Ormond may probably have given this fair the name of Aenach Thite, the Fair of the Flight. The town of Nenagh, being situated on the border line of the two Ormonds, in a level plain, and convenient to the great highway of ancient times, the Shannon; situated also on one of the five great roads which led from Tara in ancient Meath to the south, was specially suited as a place for the Munster Aenach.”

Nenagh Guardian – 16-04-1977

There was a reprint of “Nenagh and its Neighbourhood” by EH Sheehan and a review was done of it in the Nenagh Guardian by George Cunningham.
A bit of background on Dr Ned Sheehan “born in Summerhill in 1882; although he left Nenagh at an early age, for school in the first place and then for the Royal Army Medical Corps in the World War, he never lost his affection for his town and countryside and returned always during holiday time. Of the book Dermot Gleeson wrote in 1952 “It attracted a great deal of attention amongst the professional historians because nothing like it had ever been done before. He describes Nenagh street by street, traces its inhabitants house by house, goes into the country about and tell the story of each of the ‘great houses’ built in Georgian times, and sets down all the Nenaghmen of the past 200 years who gained fame either amongst their fellows or in the world at large” Mr Cunningham goes on to the review “The amount of research, most of it a primary nature, necessary to compile a publication of this type is almost a life’s work. This must be added to intimate knowledge and a feel for the locality, not forgetting the footslogging to ruins, graveyards and other places of historic and scenic interest. That is was a labour of love is evident and Dr Sheehan is lucky that the same dedication is inherent in those who edited this edition.” Skipping on he says “But to get back to the book under review. Dr Sheehan’s work will never become an academic historical source for the area and this for two main reasons. Although the book teems with primary research not sources (other than general ones as Registry of Deeds etc) are given. This is really a pity; future historians will have to try to research the same ground once more; and secondly Dr Sheehan may have had access to estate and family papers, the whereabouts of which today are unknown.”

Nenagh Guardian – 24-05-1980

A conference was held in Nenagh by the “Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement” it goes on to say they visited Rathurles and had this to say “The triple bank enclosure at Rathurles, although it is one of the most imposing in the country, is only one of five such forts in the Nenagh neighbourhood; others are situated south of the town, Without excavation it is not possible to date the monument, so it is purely conjectural to describe it as a prehistoric ritual centre, a habitation site of the Iron Age peoples, a prestigious inauguration place of the Celts or the assembly place for the great Fair of Ormond – the Aonach of Urmhumhan. The stone piers remain the enigma that they always were, although many reasons – both weird and practical – were put forward for their locations. The O’Kennedy private chapel in the ring-fort enclosure is unique. This dates to the late 15th century, has battered walls, some window decoration and little other dating evidence. Rathurles is one of Ireland’s prime sites. We are lucky that it is owned by a family who appreciate its importance.”

Nenagh Guardian – 07-09-1985

What’s in a placename?
“Magheranenagh similarly at first sight suggests the plain of the fair, machaire (a derivative of magh) and aonaigh. But the ear queries this. The local pronunciation is Moher/mugher, and the Irish mother is defined as a ruined fort, or a cluster of trees or bushes – a typical growth on such a disused dwelling place. the ordnance sheet shows two such sites of settlement in the townland; one is visible from Ashley Park filling station, looking right or east with one’s back to Nenagh. If the conclusion is the fort of the fair, it seems to lend credence to a hypothesis recently put forward that this may have been the location of Aenagh/Aonach Urmhumhan, the great fair of Ormond, given the intensive settlement pattern in the Ardcroney area revealed by archaeologists in co-operation with local people in 1977. Incidentally, the speculation by Rev. John Gleeson that Rathurles (rath durlas, the strong fort) was the original site of Anonach Urmhumhan is no more than a guess and not a provable fact as some writers appear to believe. Lisatunny, closer to An Aonach (Nenagh itself) and not much less impressive than the great triple rings of Rathurles, has as good a case to be considered. Just as the rath, a fort and durlas, a strong fort give a double emplasis to the size and strength of one site, so do lios, a fort and sonnach, a rampart, do likewise for the other. In Joyce’s words, the names Lissatunna and Lissatunny in Clare, Galway, Tipperary and Westmeath ‘indicate that at each of these places there was a lis or fort defended by a circumvallation of unusual magnitude (Vol. II p.220). One would require a line through a reputable national historian to the ancient Irish manuscripts of evidence that a fair – a hosting for trade and sport at least – was inevitably held near a king’s residence, before being convinced of the possibilities of either Rathurles or Lissatunny. To the contrary, F.J. Byrne states the site was ‘normally an ancient tribal cemetery’ – perhaps swinging the argument back to Maheranenagh. Either line of thought ignores the most obvious possibility; that the great fair of Ormond was held at the spot which bears its name, the site of the present town. It is close and central to a circle of settlement sites including those mentioned to the south and south-west. It is beside the strongest source of water around, the Nenagh river. To support the theory one has to argue that signs of such a gathering would have been built over by the medieval town and religious houses.”

Interestingly the official translation of Maheranenagh is the “plain of the fair” – logainm.ie/en/46161?s=magheranenagh

A rather fanciful etymology of Fettercairn is given by the late Rev. Robert Foote, in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland, as follows: “Fetter signifies a pass, and there are two large cairns at the top of the mountain and many small ones lower down, near to which, according to tradition, a great battle was fought, from which it is probable that the district got its name.” The tradition referred to by Mr Foote has not reached our day, and we have no record remaining of any particular battle. It may have been one of Wallace’s encounters with the English before his overthrow of them at Dunnottar, or that of Bruce’s victory of the Comyn at the foot of Glenesk, to be afterwards noted in connection with Newdosk.

On the whole, Mr Foote’s derivation is unscientific, because there can be no manner of doubt that the present name Fettercairn is a corruption of the older name Fether, or Fotherkerne; and here, as in many other instances throughout Scotland that can be cited, the local pronunciation follows the older name.

From ‘The History of Fettercairn: a parish in the county of Kincardine‘ by A C Cameron (1899). He also says “The oldest form of the name as written by Wyntoun, Prior of Lochleven, the rhyming chronicler who gives us the story of Fenella and the murder of Kenneth III., is “Fethyrkern.” This term is descriptive of the hillocks and prominent heights lying between the village and Fenella’s castle of Greencairn.” I.e the usual confusion and carping, but it doesn’t really matter.

In my district there are strange stories told. There is a very high hill situated south-west of the school. There are three moats or mounds on one side of the hill.

It is supposed that when the Milesians came to Ireland they made battle with the Tuata De Danawn there. When they were defeated they turned themselves by magical power into fairies. They then went and lived under those ‘mounds’.

Some of the inhabitants tell that they have seen some of the fairies on different parts of the hill. Some of the old people tell that they themselves have seen strange happenings on this hill. It is said there was seen a number of armed men on horseback and behind them there was playing some kind of musical instrument. It is said that this is seen when it is just between light and dark every evening when the sun is setting over the hill.

The field in which the highest moat is situated is called the “Round Table” and the moat itself is called the “One Moat”. The moat itself got this name perhaps being in a field to itself, the others a piece away.

There can be obtained a great view of the places around from this “moat”. On one side is Dublin City and the Dublin Mountains, Dalkey Islands [S??], Ireland’s Eye and Howth Head. Then down the other side lie the Mawne Mountains, and Tara can be seen also. It is a lovely thing to see the view on a calm Summer’s day. The little pleasure boats shining under the sun and sailing on the [b??] of the blue water.

It is said that anyone that meddles or makes with these moats will always have ill luck and misfortune. This teaches us a lesson and in many cases the stories of olden times tell us also.
“Do you wonder where the fairies are,
The folks declared have vanished?
They’re very near yet very far,
But neither dead or vanished.”

Some folklore recorded by 13 year old Bridie Harford from Walshestown, in the 1930s.
It’s part of the Schools’ Collection of the National Folklore Collection of Ireland – which is now being digitised and put on the internet!*

The ‘moats’ are actually barrows, and part of a barrow cemetery, according to the information on the Irish National Monuments Service website.

*this being an exciting thing to a folklore nerd

From the Llanrhystud Heritage Trail leaflet:

From here you will see Castel Bach and Castel Mawr (sic), the sites of two Iron Age hillforts facing each other. Local legend suggests that there was once a terrible battle between them and the gully dividing them is know as Pantglas (Pantgalanas) the dell of slaughter. However there was once a medieval castle overlooking the village to the northeast known as Caer Penrhos. The castle was thought to have been built by Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd between 1147 – 1149. There was much turbulence at the time and records show much bloodshed which might be associated with the legend.

‘A lofty hill over which the boundary between this parish from that of Auchindoir. It derives its name from the following incident, when the of Lord Arthur Forbes commonly called ‘Black Arthur’ was being carried over this hill for internment in Kearn Church Yard. The bearers rested on this hill during a snow storm. There is no cairn as the name would imply on or about the hill.‘

Parish Records.

(They rested the coffin near where the trig point is nowadays. The cairn is some 70 meters to the south east.)

Tarberry corner, where four roads meet, and where for many generations those who laid violent hands upon themselves were buried, is a famous haunt for ghosts. Some years ago a man returning from Petersfield in the dusk, saw an apparition here which made him quake. He groaned, fell on his knees, “said his prayers sharp,” and when he came to the end of the Lord’s Prayer, to his horror the spectre advanced to meet him. It was a jackass!

On the summit of Tarberry are ”Pharisees‘” (fairies’) rings, the simple folk say; and the “Pharisees” dance there on Midsummer’s night. These blundering superstitions are veritable specimens of old Sussex folk-lore.

From The History of Harting by the Rev. H.D. Gordon (1877). The crossroads seems to be just at the north foot of the hill.

There is (or was), in Lady Kirk, at Burwick, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, a large stone which, according to the Rev. G. Low, tradition says St Magnus used as a boat to ferry him over the Pentland Firth, and for its service laid it up in the church, where it is still preserved.

[...] John Bellenden, archdeacon of Moray [in 1529], states the legend to this effect:-- South Ronaldsay is an island inhabited by robust men; it has a church near the sea-shore, where there is a very hard stone called ‘a grey whin,’ six feet long and four broad, in which the print of two naked feet is fixed, which no workman could have made. Old men narrate that a certain Gallus, being expelled the country, went on board of some ship to find an asylum elsewhere, when suddenly a storm arose by which they were exposed to great danger, and at last were shipwrecked; he at length jumped on to the back of a whale, and vowed, humbly praying to God, that if he was carried safely to shore, he would in memory, &c., build a church to the Virgin Mary. The prayer being heard, he was carried safely to the shore by the assistance of the whale. The whale having become changed into a stone of its own colour, he placed it in that church where it still remains. (Barry’s Orkney Islands, p. 443.)

From F.W.L.Thomas’s article on Dunadd in PSAS, Dec 1878.

Near the summit of Carmylie hill is a large burrow or tumulus, which was believed at one time by the natives to be a favourite haunt of the fairies, where, with much splendour, they held their nightly revels. It still bears the name of “Fairy-folk hillock”.

From Highland Superstitions by Alexander MacGregor (1901).
Canmore think the barrow was at NO 5445 4348, but that it’s sadly gone now. It was named as “The Fairy or Fair-folk Hillock” in the New Statistical Account of 1845. Several rings of bronze wire were found there in 1835.