School: Clonmellon (B.) (roll number 9500)
- Location:
- Clonmellon, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: P. Ó Droighneáin
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0725, Page 030
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- XML School: Clonmellon (B.)
- XML Page 030
- XML “Stories of Locality - Drewstown”
- XML “Stories of Locality - Story”
- XML “Stories of Locality - St Ciarán”
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- At Drewstown (near Fordstown) there is a Druidical Altar which consists of three upright stones with a fourth on top facing East. The Druids used to offer sacrifice on this altar but before doing so used to give notice by lighting a fire on an adjacent hill Crooknakinne (= Cnoc na Teineadh)
* * *
An old woman, Mrs Doran, told me the following story about fifty years ago:-"St Ciaran who was a noted stone-cutter was coming with a bundle of stones from Laurence's Stone (?) between Fordstown and Athboy (the stones weighing 15 tons) and when he came to Drewstown Hill he saw the bog before him, and said: "I'll leave the stones here until the frost comes and then I can cross to Kieran (near Kells) - There is a lake in Cloran visible from "Hill Bo" * which is full of fish but none of them can be caught in daylight. The story goes that the fish were so abundant that people used spend Sunday fishing and often missed Mass. A priest in Clonmellon is supposed to have commented on the serious matter of losing Mass and the story goes that three men would be drowned if they continued the practice of losing Mass. Two men have already been drowned. You would not get a man to fish in that lake since. There are night lines set by which fish are caught but none are caught by day. (Old Nanny Plunkett, grandmother of the present Plunketts, said she saw forty horsemen leave the lake and go up on the hill on a moonlight night, go through some manoeuvres and return to the Lake)
- The Churchyard of Ciaran is a square and tis said there used to be found crosses - on in the centre of each side. There are(continues on next page)
- Informant
- James Farrelly
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 72
- Occupation
- Teacher
- Address
- Clonmellon, Co. Westmeath