In Ballin-scoola, a townland in the parish of Herbertstown and in the barony of Small County there is a rock in the lands of William Slattery. The rock is called Carraig an Phíobhra ( Rock of the Piper ). There is a story told about it.It is said that a man comes out of a rock and sits on it. He plays his bagpipes there for about two hours every night. Several people heard his music and they said it was the finest music they ever heard.

At one time there was a hedge-school at Herbertstown. It was on the top of the cross where Miss. J. Deegan's house is now, formerly Harty's. The teacher's name was Seamus Gleeson, he was also a poet.
It was he who composed the Praises of "Rock-barton." One day he was back in Grange and the soldiers captured him as they thought he was a Fenian, and carried him

Once upon a time a famer near Herbertstown who has a couple of farms. He gave one to his brother. His brother has a lot of money hidden in a hole in the ground. His coach driver killed him and buried him at the back of the house. After a time nobody could stay in the house only for one night because they found it was haunted. The farmer saidhe would give ten pounds to any person that would stay in the house for a week. A man decided

Once upon a time a man had two farms in this parish (Herbertstown). There was a dwelling house on each farm, one being a tatched house and the other a slated house. There was a big flag outside the door of the tatched house. There was a poor man going the road one day and the farmer employed him for a couple of days to root up the flag. When they had the flag lifted they got a crock of gold under it. The farmer said: Give me that until some wet day and we will have time to count it. Ht put it aside and when the wet day came the poor man came and none of them could think of where they put the gold so every time he is working in that place he thinks he will get it.

There was a man cutting hay one summer's day in a meadow near the village of Herbertstown. He was cutting the hay on the border of a moat. In the evening the servant girl brought out a jug of tea and a couple of cuts of bread to the man. The tea was too hot and he left it beside the moat to cool. When he thought it was cold enough he went to the jug to drink it. The jug was in the same place but the tea was gone and the bread was also gone. When the man say that his tea and bread were gone he said. "That it may do good to whoever took it". He heard a voice answering him and the voice said "Thank you".

There was a farmer living in Herbertstown one time, and one evening as he was driving in the cows to be milked it happened that they passed by a moat that was in the field. As the man was passing the moat he heard a child crying and a voice spoke and said: "Stop crying now, the cows are passing and they might drop a sup of milk". When the farmer heard this he drove the best cow he had up on the moat and she was milked. Every night after that the cow used to be driven up on the moat and milked, and no one used to be seen milking her.

Potatoes are grown on every farm, and on ever cottier's plot in Herbertstown. The amount of land given by the farmers to potatoes is about one or two acres, and by the cottiers about a half-an acre.
Potatoes are usually set in the end of February or the beginning of March. There isn't anything done to the ground before the drills are made. The

On the way from Herbertstown to Ardcath there is the remains of a rampart in a field - the property of the McIvor family Heathtown. At the back of this rampart there is a road called the Blood Hill on the Black Hall. A battle was fought on a height on this road during the 17th century. The Irish forces were defeated - there fell in this battle a man named Kavanagh - a descendant of Art McMurrough Kavanagh.
In a field along the Black Hall road there was found a number of skeletons, presumably the remains of those who fell in the Battle.

and they went all rotten.
The road from Dillons cross to the Curragh was only a boreen. Then after a while the men used to get sixpence a day for making the Two-Mile-House road and when they came to Brophy's of Herbertstown to take away a hill they found a corpse and they left (it) the corpse back and passed on.

10. The Fitzgerald’s.The Fitzgerald family lived in Billiard castle which was situated in Cahercorney near Herbertstown. The last of the Firzgeralds was mayor of Limerick in 1786. During the Penal Days, they were priesthunters like many other big Protestant families. Once they captured a priest said to be from Knockainey. He was condemned by them to be hanged and was imprisoned in the castle. When he saw the gallows being erected he started to laugh. They asked him why he was laughing. He said that their brother was dead and was in hell. At that moment a messenger came on horseback to tell them that their brother was dead. The priest was asked to prove that he was in hell. The priest then brought back his soul from death. The mans soul then told him that he was in hell. The priest was at once pardoned and let off.

The day of the sports in Herbertstown in the year 1800, brought many to the field. Thomas Long aged thirty six who lived in Meanus, had come to perform his great high jumps. After as cheer from the crowd, he performed the jump which astonished the onlookers. The height being six feet five inches. Long died in the year 1836.A stone weight was thrown 200 feet four and a half in. by James Ryan, who was a native of Ballingarry and his opponent was Thomas Wilson. Wilson in 1886 and James Ryan exiled to Australia where he died in the year 1884 after winning many valuable prizes.A man named John Hayes who dwelled in Tullybracky won fame for racing. At the age of 29 he prepared to have a race with a man named John McGrath who resided in Kilmallock in the year 1814. John Hayes won the race which took him 25 mn. to run from Bruff to Holycross a distance of 3 miles. Both of the exiled to America and both of them died two years after.

Long ago when Fitzgerald was living in his castle he had a gallows erected on the top of Herbertstown Hill. He had a daughter and he told her that whatever she would ask of him he would give it to her.
One day a priest was passing by and the daughter asked her cruel father to bring the priest and hang him. He did so and put him into a room. He was about to hang him when he noticed that the priest was laughing. Fitzgerald asked him why he was laughing and the priest said that he saw Fitzgerald's brother passing by with the devil. The brother lived about forty miles away, so Fitzgerald sent a messenger on horse back, the messenger was just leaving when he met another messenger from the brother's house with a message that the brother of Fitzgerald was dead.
Fitzgerald got a fright and he let the priest go.

BallynamonaBallynamona was a parish in olden times. It is supposed to be the name Moorland, a name unknown in this locality. The church and castle stood in 1827 but both are now in ruins, especially the castle. There is a stone circle not far to the east of the church. It is to the east of the road leading from Herbertstown to Hospital.The castle of Knockmoyne stood in the parish of Ballinamona. It is described "as a broken castle built square on the top of a little mound called Knockmunihy or Cloghmunihy. It is in

One day there were two men working in this parish Herbertstown. There was a woman living near the place where they were working and she was very much given to pisheógues. The men said that they would go into her for their dinner. They had their own bread, tea and sugar but they had no milk.
They went in and she said that she would give them milk very soon. One of the men who was seated at a table turned round and he saw the woman milking a white cow in the corner near the fire. This was such an unusual thing to see that the men got afraid and they went away.
The woman got sick and she went to bed and died in a couple of days after.

There did several coopers live in the parish of Herbertstown long ago. Con Moroney lived where the old store now is and he had two journey men namely: Phil Corboy and Jim Quin. The only things he used to make were firkins. Jer Hogan lived in Rutagh and kept two journey men. He used to make firkin's only. John Connors lived in Kilcullane and used to make butter firkins. He had no journey-men. John Houlihan lived in Cahercorney and used to make firkins and when the creamery opened he used to make boxes for butter. Frank Nagle and his sons lived in Rathjordan and used to make firkins for butter. Phil Lavery lived in Rutagh and used to make firkins, barrels, and tubs. There was another cooper living where the curate's house is and his name was Donovan. He used to make firkins. When the creamery was opened the cooping trade was done away with. The only cooper that kept on was Mr. Moynihan of Rathjordan. He used to make firkins, tubs and kielers and used to mend some.

There were people living in a mud house in the parish of Herbertstown one time and they said that the house was haunted and that dead people used to appear to them every night. They built a new house and they went to live in it.
There was a man living near them and he wanted a piece of a rafter, so he went to the mud house and cut a rafter and brought it home. He began to cut it and on hearing a croaking noise, he looked and saw a frog sitting on the end of it. He tried to hunt him but he went up on the other end of the rafter. He left the rafter aside for the night and there was music heard in the house all night. Next day he carried the rafter back to the mud house and the frog remained on the end of it all the time.

There was a man in Herbertstown one time and he had a big crop of wheat. He employed a man named Lane to mind the wheat every night as the good people used to be hurling in it. Lane went to the wheat garden and lay down by the side of the ditch and at midnight a man came with several bundles of hurlies and left them beside Lane. Lane took one of the hurlies and kept it. Then a crowd of little men came and all of them took a hurley each. When all the hurlies were gone one of them said "Some one have my hurley". "I have it" said Lane, "and if you are a better man than me you can take it". The fairy did not accept the challenge so Lane kept the hurley and the side he hurled with beat the other side and he was left the hurley.
There was a gentleman one time and he heard of Lane a great courageous man. He came to the conclusion of consulting Lane about staying in a house that he could not occupy himself owing to a ghost appearing in it. He made a bargain with Lane for £40 for the night, a bottle of whiskey, a long clay pipe, tobacco and matches. Lane had the hurley that he got from the good people in the wheat garden and he carried it to the haunted house with him where there was a fine fire and a table beside it. He had a paper and he was reading it. At twelve o'clock

In Kilcullane, in the parish of Herbertstown between Mr. O'Rourke's farmhouse and Mr. Kennedy's fence is a well very deep but narrow. It is under a stone fence at the side of the road. It is not very noticeable and there is nothing to protect things from falling into it. People tell this story about it:
One time, a piper lived on the hill of Mohane. He was invited to a wedding in Knockderk. It was very late when he was returning home. He was crossing the fence, but his foot slipped and he fell into the well.