On the road between Mr. Rankin's of the Cloon and Carrigan's via Killea rectory there is a place near said rectory where a black pig used to be seen on certain nights of the year. It appeared quite suddenly apparently from nowhere and ran along the road in front of the persons who saw it.

There are three graveyards in Killea parish.
One in townland of Park still used
one in Killawardy not used
another in Killough (in oak) not used
Killea is more or less round and is raised above the surrounding land. It slopes more or less towards the South East. The remains of an old church are still there. People are buried within the walls. Until quite recently trees, beech, ash, elder, white thorn and fuchsia grew there. The oldest tomb stones are simply plain slabs. The oldest date seems to be 1700.
Killough is unused but still fenced in.
Killawardy has no fence. Mounds are pointed out as being graves. There is no fence. The field in which it is in is called The Church Field.

There are three church-yards in this parish, one in Kilchreest, near Ballynacally, one in Clondegad and one in Killea, in the east of Lisheen.
The oldest and most crowded of the three is Clondegad. In it is an old ruin of a Protestant church. The parson lived near the church in the house now occuppied by Father Greed, the present parish priest.
Killea church-yard is the newest of the three.
There is a burial place of unbaptised children in Coolsupeen, west of John Costelloe's house. It is called the "Killeen".
The church-yards are all of a square shape.
As I have already mentioned there is a ruin of an old church in Clondegad, and also in Kilchreest. People are buried within the ruins.
There is a very old head-stone in Clondegad, and the following words are written on it:-

It sprang up in Thubber, but the tree well was the Blessed well of long ago.St. James's Well is in the parish of Killea in the townland of (-) Its position is clearly marked on Ordnance map No.Visits are not now made to the well. Many years ago visits used be made on Aug. 15th. There were no recognised prayers or rounds.
Pilgrims left some offerings, very often medals, rosaries, pins, rags or buttons.
Some people used drink the water.There is scarcely a trace of the well there now. It appears an animal fell into the well, and before the beast could be relieved it was necessary to dig a pit and the well was partly filled in. Old people used say that the wood of the tree which grew beside the well would not burn.One of the neighbours however cut a number of branches off the tree and burned them.
Kitty Quinn, aged 80 years of Killea says that when the informer who had Boockan hanged went to the well it disappeared from the tree and went up the hill to where it is now.

of Collegehill.
There was an old hospital in Coolcormac about one and a half miles from Killea and to the present day one field is known as the Hospital.

Killea Churchyard - was a Pervert Priest who verted to save his life, to avoid persecution and marry a wife. Paul was one day holding forth to his flock from the pulpit of his Templemore Church now the ruined Church in the old Churchyard in the demesne, when a thunderstorm with very vivid lightening broke over the Church. He stopped his discourse, blessed himself and addressing his Protestant Congregation shouted at them, "Bless yerselves ye divils or ye'll be all damned", a performance which , needless to say, astonished his hearers. The legend as to Paul's death as I used to hear it was also remarkable. The story was

Killea is the name of my townland. It is in the parish of Derry and it is in the barony of Raphoe.
There are nine families in our district. Toland is the most common name. The houses are all slated except one or two. Robert Toland is over seventy years. They don't know Irish. The land is not hilly or boggy.

Local Townlands
Killea [Irish]
This school is built in Killea. Its Irish name is [Irish] or the grey wood. A wood of hazel trees grew here and from it the townland and derw its name.
Derragoon [Irish]
In Irish Derragoon is called [Irish] which means the hollow of the snow. It was called so because snow remained there longer than in any other place owing to the number of deep alts in it.
Glenkeek [Irish]
Glenkeel, which in Irish is [Irish] or the narrow glen got its name from natural characteristics. It is a deep valley between Buagh on mountain and Thorr.
Tulaigonlaggart [Irish]
Tulaigonlaggart or the hill of the priest is named from the priest who lived there in the penal times.
Rakeelin [Irish]
Rakeelin or [Irish] as it was in Irish was covered with holly in former days especially round the fairy fort and from these it derives its name.

Hedge School (2)
There was a well known little hedge school on the bank of a river which is locally known as Pat Roukes river.This hedge school was about half a mile from the Killea road in the townland of Derragoon. Parish of Cloonclare and County of Leitrim. There were two rocks on the bank of the river and there was a roof put over them for the purpose of holding a school there. Every pupil that attended it brought a sod into the school and used it for sitting on. The pupils who went to that school were between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years. The school master's name was Terry Campbell but the people in this district cannot tell what county he came from; all they know is that he came from the north of Ireland. He got very little payment for his work but the parents of the children fed him. Each day he went to a house from which children were going to school and the people fed him and gave him a bed to sleep on for that night. His food consisted of porridge and potatoes. He got porridge for breakfast and supper and he got potatoes

keeping her gaze fixed steadily upon him, for it is said that if you lift your eye off a lepreachan he will disappear. She demanded his purse of gold. The lepreachan seeing no escape told her that the purse was under the tree to which the goat was tied. The woman after deciding that it was too late to look for it that night let the lepreachan go and took the goat home leaving the rope on the tree as a mark. She went home happy that evening as she thought she would be always rich. Next morning she got up at daybreak and went with her husband to get the hold. They brought spdes and shovels to dig for it. When they reached the tree where the gold was to their disappointment they found a wood of hazel trees all alike and even of the same height and size with a rope round each of them similar to the one with which the goat was tied. As they did not know which was the right tree they returned home very sadly. From that day to this, this townland is called Killea or in Irish Coill Liath which means grey wood.

In 1866 the towland of Killea was occupied by close on forty families. Several families lived on the mountain side above where the school now stands. The failure of the potato crop was a great blow to the people but I never heard of any actual deaths from the hunger.
In 1879 a worse state of affairs existed in the district. The potato crop was a complete failure and turf was not saved. Relief work had to be given in the district and the road from Rakeelin to Kiltyclogher was made to afford relief to the poor people. The wages paid was one shilling per day and the workers had to keep themselves.
Indian meal and cloting were provided for very poor people. The money for providing this form of relief was entrusted

Outside Templemore in a place called Killea, a row of new houses were built, in which before a Butler family lived in.
This Butler family was a bad one as Mr. Butler himself was a minister. Those new people who were living in it were terribly tormented as all day and all night laughter was heard in the house.
Some people got frightened and left the houses, and only a woman and her son remained. One evening as the son was coming from his work, he saw his mother lying on the floor in a faint. After some time she revived, and she told him she saw Butler, and he laughing at her. They left the house and no one lived in it since.

nights. It is here that the beautiful Princess Margaret O'Carroll of the Ely is buried.
But the Devil's Bit has stories of later times than these. It was here the Fenians were camped for a week under that old warrior general McSweeney from Killea in readiness for the Fenian Rising.It was also the scene of an immense meeting during the Tithe War at which it was agreed ti pay no more tithe and as a symbol of this a sheaf of corn was buried in the ground. This meeting is annually commemmorated on the third Sunday in July. But in later years the sheaf of corn was no longer buried but huge crowds give themselves up to music, song and dance on "The Rock" itself; locally this Sunday is known as Rock Sunday; and tradition says that it never yet was a fine day and living memory bears truth of this.

The parish of Drom is well served with good roads. The main road connecting Borrisoleigh with Templemore divides the parish almost into two equal divisions. This is a steamrolled road commonly known as "The New Line". It was made about 1850.
Besides this there are other roads, not steamrolled. Some of the names are :- The Backroad, New Road, Creamery Road, Ballinlonty Road, and Rock Road. The Backroad joins the townlands of Kilfithmone and Fishmoyne with the village of Drom. It is the oldest of the roads and has always been the route of funerals to Drom. The New Road connects Curraheen with the Killoskehane - Killea Road. This is an unfrequented road and is travelled only by people living along it. The Creamery road leads from Ballinlonty School to the pound in the village of Drom. The Ballinlonty Road connects

There was once a certain woman who had a family of twelve children living in Killea. Her husband died when the children were young. One night a wicked "magician" changed the woman into a gold sow and the children into twelve gold bonhams and it is said they are in the cave in the Devil's Bit.
On night a number of men went to look for the gold but when they arrived at the bottom of the Devil's Bit a cupboard was seen running down the hill. The men fled in terror. Two other men went into the cave, but as soon as they entered the cave their lamps quenched.

I always heard that Red Hugh marched
along the Killea road.I always heard that Red Hugh marched along the road by the school when he was going form Clonakenny to Holy Cross.

and others, all of the Main Street.
The teachers were John Costello and Miss Stanley National Schools, P. McShane, Classical School, John Shelly N.T., Killea and others mentioned before.
After Arthur Carden ceased to provide organ music in the Old Chapel, a band used play in a loft over the old Sacristy during Mass on Sundays and the Sunday Vesper Services used be rendered by a male and female choir the former surpliced and in the sanctuary, and the latter on benches outside the sanctuary. A harmonium was provided in 1862.
The first mission (given by Vincentians) was held in 1855, the second in 1869, the third in 1884 and others in

Father Andrew Maher
This man was Parish priest of Moyne + Templelinohy up to the year 1766. He fell out with a Quinn family over a pew in the Church of Moyne. The Bishop ordered him to apologize at a conference of clergy, for the public scandal caused, but he refused and became an apostate till he died in 1781, during which time he was officiating as Protestant Minister first in Littleton + finally in Thurles. It is said that when once addressing his congregation during a thunder storm in Thurles, he said in terror "Bless yourselves ye devils" This statement has been contradicted + the words attributed to Paul Higgins - another apostate who was officiating in Kilfitmore Drom, or in Templemore Protestant Church about the year 1700 and who is buried in Killea. In a reply to the contradiction it was proved that it was more likely to be Maher who used the words. Maher is buried in St Mary's Graveyard in Thurles (Higgins was hungry in Templemore when he became an apostate. It is also said that Andrew Maher held heretical views + this more than the pew question was the

of crutches, was, after staying overnight at the well, able to leave her crutches behind her and walk home. Also a child, named Cholessy, from Kilmaley, only four years of age, who was unable to walk, after staying a night at the Well, was able to walk perfectly from that on.
Killerk Blessed Well in Mr. Neylon's land is surrounded by a graveyard where children were buried, before the graveyard was in Kilone, and is overshadowed by a great oak tree. The water in this well has power to cure some sore eyes and there is moss growing on stones around the Well, which if rubbed to sore eyes is supposed to cure them.
Killea Blessed Well is about a mile and a half from Killerk. In this Well is an eel. If people with sore eyes, visited it, did a "round", teemed the well, took up the eel with a silk handkerchief and rubbed it to their eyes it is supposed to cure them.

One old school conducted by Mrs Benn was held in a barn in Rathmoylan. The pupils sat around by the walls on long stools and sand was strewn on the floor to keep it dry. Children came to this school from places situated many miles away from it eg Leperstown. The subjects taught were - reading, arithmetic, history, geography and spelling. They seemed to value spelling very much. The girls were taught plain sewing. This school existed about the years 1863 to 1866.Later on a school was opened in Dunmore conducted by Miss Wood who lived with her mother in a thattched house (where Bells Drapery Shop is situated now.) Her mother's brother was Father Dixon? and their remains are interred in Killea Church grave yard. She taught the three R's, history, geography and spelling which they learned from special spelling books. The pupils wrote first on slates and then with paper, pencil, pens and ink. The fee charged in the school varied according to the different classes e.g. 1d for 1st class, 2d for second class and so on. if the pupils were bold they were put into stocks. These were wooden stands on the floor and the unfortunate child had to put her foot into this. It was then lightened so that the feet could not be moved and the poor victim had to stand thus facing the wall