School: Balrath (roll number 9770)
- Location:
- Balrath, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: Bean Uí Oirghiall
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0738, Page 017
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- In olden times the school district was a very important place as there are the remains of at least a dozen big forts near. People say here that it was the Irish that first started to build ditches round their houses to keep their livestock safe from the Danes. The richer the people were the bigger the ditches they would build. The chieftain sometimes built two walls round their castles but the poorer people only built a little wall which was knocked down long ago.
Frank Taaffe, Mullinoran, told me this story. There is a big fort in Taaffe's field called the "Rathins". One night Joe Brien and Frank Taaffe were quacking a bullock near the fort. About mid-night they heard music and dancing within and saw coloured lights. They had two(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Gretta Sargent
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Farrow, Co. Westmeath
