School: Coole (roll number 3936)
- Location:
- Coole, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: T. Mac Cormaic
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0719, Page 377
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- Essay on Fairy Forts
There are a couple of fairy forts in my district. It is said that fairy forts were the dwelling houses of the Danes long ago. There is a fairy fort in Ballinmee. It is of a circular shape. There is a small hole in the centre and it is said if you went to see what the interior was like by making a large hole in the centre you would die soon afterwards.
The noise of churning was never heard in the fairy fort. It is said a light is seen there sometimes. Where there is a fort there is always a notner in view. Fairy forts were made by the Danes and when they left them the fairies lived there. Some forts in this district are called Lios or Rath.
If the person who owns the field in which the fort is ploughs or interferes with the fort they will die instantly. There is a fort in Ballinaloe. It is a mound of clay in the shape of a circle and a few trees around it. It is said a man fell asleep in this fort, and when he awoke in the morning there was a fairy who gave him a book and pipes and asked him which he would prefer. He said a book and he became the cleverest scholar in the parish. This story was told to me by my Uncle. Pat Coughlan of Carne Coole Co. Westmeath.
- Collector
- William Murtagh
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Camagh, Co. Westmeath
- Informant
- Pat Coughlan
- Relation
- Relative (other than parent or grandparent)
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Carn, Co. Westmeath
