1. dúchas.ie
  2. The Schools' Collection
  3. Brackey

School: Brackey (roll number 3500)

Location:
Bracky, Co. Donegal
Teacher:
Pádraig S. Mac a' Ghoill
Browse
Mode:
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1041, Page 91

Archival Reference

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1041, Page 91

Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

See copyright details.

Download

Open data

Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

  1. XML School: Brackey
  2. XML Page 91
  3. XML (no title)

Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.

On this page

  1. (no title) (continued)

    “One evening in the days of the O Boyles in Maghera a disabled ship was seen off Slieve-a-Tooey.”

    Share Share Post
    (continued from previous page)
    Barr which means destruction to any ship that attempts it. The disabled boat was soon breaking to pieces, and the crew jumped overboard and swam in the direction of Maghera. The first sailor to reach the shore was cruelly put to death by the O'Boyle's. On seeing this the other members of the crew turned out into the deep, and were all drowned. This was what the O'Boyle's expected to happen. There would be no one left to claim the wreckage.
    The body of the murdered sailor was buried where he fell. But that night a high tide arose which covered the fields along the shore. The covering put on the body was washed away, and the following morning the corpse was exposed to view. The corpse was taken further inland and again buried but as before the tide came in and washed it out of its grave. This state of affairs continued for nine days and nine nights. At last a holy friar was sent for and the situation explained to him. He prayed long and fervently over the murdered body, and then laid it in its grave where it has lain ever since.
    He told the O'Boyle's that they had drawn the wrath of God on their own heads, and that a day would come, and that sooner than they thought, when there would not be one of the name in the townland of Maghera.
    The last of the O'Boyles died about eight years ago. Since then there has not been one of the name
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    History Edit
    Topics
    1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
        1. the great famine (~4,013)
    2. place-space-environment
      1. local lore, place-lore (~10,595)
    Languages
    Irish
    English
    Collector
    Pádraic Mac A' Ghoill
    Gender
    Male
    Occupation
    Múinteoir
    Informant
    Paddy Cunningham
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    70
    Occupation
    Scológ
    Address
    Mínte Seisce, Co. Donegal