The local fairs are held in Whitegate, Woodford and Portumna. In addition to the fairs there are markets held one day in the week for farm produce.All classes of stock are for sale on the same day at the local fairs. Some of the towns have what is know as a "fair green" where all the stock are exhibited. The Fair Green of Woodford was originally a walled in field where the owner was charged a sum per head for stock going into the field. The field was bought out in later times by the Towns Committee, who appointed men to collect a sum per head on all animals sold, none on unsold. This sum is called toll. A penny is charged on a bonham and twopence per head on cattle. The towns Committee also arranged for monthly fairs and charged no toll on new fairs. That is the reason no toll is charged at some fairs.When a bargain is being made any person standing by will ask them to split the difference. If the buyer is satisfied he will stick to his rod in the mud and put it on the animal as it is thought lucky to mark them with mud. In order to discern them for the future he will again mark them with paint or a scissors.When a horse s sold the owner has to give the halter free. When a seller is paid for stock, he hands back a coin to the buyer, same is called luckpenny

Boys' National School is now erected.
The old people say that when the potatoes first blackened in the ground the people they belonged to stayed up all night watching them in case they would be stolen. They built little stone huts that the[y] could barely creep into for this purpose. The Seymours are the only people known to build them.
They put down a turf fire in the fields at daylight and roasted the potatoes for themselves when they thought all danger was over of any poor people coming to steal them.
The survivors of the Famine were like walking skeletons, the men gaunt and hoggar'd and the women in their little cabins too weak to stand. So it is no wonder that the word "Famine" bring[s] horror to our minds when we recall all the hardship and misery wrought by it.
The year after the famine the English Government gave a certain amount of relief to each homes known as the "Dole." When the famine was over in Woodford there were only three thatched houses in the town of Woodford.

boards, Burke said he would get to Killaloe before them. When the people heard this they laughed at him and said it was impossible.The boat started and Burke took off his shoes and started. He crossed ditches and rivers and went through towns and villages, running at a terrible rate. The people were going to Mass and stopped as they saw the man running through the towns they thought he was mad. The boat started at one o'clock, and was due to arrive at 3.30. After a terrible run Michael Burke arrived in Killaloe at 3.15 a.m. When the boat arrived, Burke was sitting on the pier and Burke said "Welcome, what delayed you".A man who was a great horse-rider lived a mile outside Woodford. His name was John Mullen. No matter how high a fence was, he always jumped it. He also had a very good horse.Henry McMahon, Woodford. Got from M. McMahon.

a farm, from which a man had been evicted.It was not fair to boycott Fahy, because he only went back to his own farm. His descendants are living there yet, but have built a new house where the Fort stood.The people who were evicted went to live in hills erected by their neighbours, who also gave them money to live on. Most of those huts are gone, or are not in order to lived in. W+Two are yet to be seen outside the village of Woodford and there are people living in them yet.A son of Saunders is living about two miles from the fort and about a mile from the Rossmore Jetty.The old Fort is situated about three miles south of Woodford It is about half a mile from Looscaun Church.Nearly all the people that lived around Looscaun and the Shannon were evicted by Clanrickard, but some of the people paid the rent to him.

(branches included leaves)then add water and boil. This was done to remove natural grease from wool. Black mud got in Woodford Mountains or Clonakeel Bog, dissolve the mud in a tub of water, spill this dissolved mud in colouring pot. This was a slow work took two days and one night constant work. when cooled wool taken to a running stream and workedDry, tease, card and spin.Bog Black general name for Bog-mud.Better black mud in Woodford district than in Clonakeel BogMore leaves in Alder the better.This is Black Dye.

The time of the Evictions a man from Woodford named Stanley and a man from Rossmore named Hickey were in Galway jail for taking part in the Evictions. They were in cells next to each other, and each day Stanley composed a verse of poetry, which he whispered to Hickey through a hole in the wall. Hickey remembers some of the verses yer, here they areIt was in the prime of Harvey time
One morning bright and cool
Those Woodford boys so brave and true
Went out to fight a Duel.To put down damn tyranny
Their Liberties they did stake
With common clouds before their eyes
Clanrichardes neck to brake

The local fair is held in Woodford and is always held in the town. The day before the fair buyers buy cattle at farmers houses and sell them at the Fair. When a bargen is made the people show there agreement by striking hands. When a man is selling a beast it takes a few men to make the bargen. When a man buys a beast he always gets a shilling for luck. When a man sells a beast he gives away the halter. When a beast is sold he is marked with raddle. When a man is bringing home a cow he has two pence to pay which is called tool.

After some time he sold him to a man living near Cappa, a village two and a half miles to the north-east of Woodford. This man could do nothing with him. One day he brought him out for to give him water out of a pond. The horse made for the water and endeavoured to get to the bottom but it was not deep enough. Another day in Summer when they pond was dried up the man brought him to the river Bowe which flows through Scariff and empties itself into the Shannon. The horse made for the water as before and sank to the . From that day to this was never heard of.

In Ballinagar river which flows through Ballinagar which is situated to the north of Woodford Co Galway a large fish lived for about six months.
The fish was of a black colour about four feet long, it had a ferocious face and sort of short paws.

There is a story told about a man that was returning home from Woodford one Xmas Eve night about twelve o'clock. He was a native of Derrygoolan and when he was about a mile from home at a cross roads, a big black dog with eyes as large as tea cups crossed the roads. The man got a fright and started to run as fast as he could but the dog kept close at his heels. When he came to a part of the road where there was a fort, the dog disappeared. He was seen frequently by many other people late at night.

each place. The names of the places where he taught school were Cappicun in the (townland) parish of Ballinakill, Lowertown in the parish of Woodford and Ballygowan, in the parish of Abbey.
There were no National Schools at that time but they were built afterwards.

There are three graveyards in this parish namely Woodford Gurthaganna and Douras. These three graveyards are situated in the parish of Ballinakill and Barony of Leitrim. Some of the familie in this locality are not buried in any of those graveyards. The Hayes and the Cleary families are buried at Clonrush, Whitegate, Co. Clare. The Killeen the Brogan the Torpey and the Sammon families are buried in Mynoe Scariff County Clare. The Goonan the Hickey and the McNamara families are buried in the Holy Island Mountshannon co Clare. There are the remains of seven churches in the Holy Island an there is a round tower also. There is a children's burial ground at the Eastern side of this village in Edward Hickey's field. The local families still use the graveyards in which their ancestors

In olden times people in remote districts went for their life time without wearing boots or shoes. About the years 1636-40 a poast-man did the mail delivery from Loughrea to Woodford without wearing shoes or boots. It was said about that poast-man that he could walk on needles or on glass. Feet-water is supposed by the old people to be unfit for any other use but to throw into the sewerage. Each individual should wash his or her feet occasionally for a great many reasons. The children

Friends advised her to take her to Biddy early a noted witch. Biddy gave her a bottle of medicine and told her to come back to her that day seven years. The girl went home and grew up a fine strong young woman. All the neighbors wondered very much at the remarkable recovery. My grandmother was a great friend of the girl's mother. One evening when returning from Woodford she called in to see her. They spoke about the wonderful change in the daughter's health and remarked what a fine woman she grew to be. Then the mother of the young woman recalled that the following day was the date[?] by Biddy Early for the return visit of the young woman. She however said they would not bother going. They laughed at the thought of the return visit. Next morning both mother and daughter were found dead. There was a question of poison or [?] [?].

In black forty seven the year of the famine there lived in Derrybrine a woman named Mrs. Dooley. She used to go to Woodford to do her marketing. In winter the days were short. One day as she was going through the mountain the night fell quickly and a large fog covered the ground. The poor woman went astray in the fog. She saw a bright light a long way off in the mountain and she went towards it. When she came to it she discovered that it was a small thatched house. She knocked at the door and a little woman let her in and she told her, her story. The woman took pity

followed by the Nolan and French election and was put upon colonel nolans supporters to lunch each "what is meant to vote against the landlord. As each lease came in the increase came and in some cases the rent was doubled. For long years after even though the voter himself was dead his family paid the annual fine because one of its members dared to voted according to his political conviction. This was but one of the causes of the bitter contest between a tenant fighting for their families and homes on the one hand and a tyrannical landlord backed up all the power of a coercion government on the other. When the fall in prices came in 1885 the tenants on the Clanricarde estate were in the same position as the other tenants if not worse. Unable to pay the rent.. they decided to ask for a reduction. The woodford tenants agreed that one of 50% would be no more than fair considering the loses they had to endure through the fall in prices. this they demanded from the agent My. Joyce and

WoodfordWoodford as it is now called (Dus Carrig) was formerly owned by a man named Reilly. It was forcibly taken possession of by the Gores whom we are told originally came from England. They were adventurers who it is said had captured a Spanish vessel at the time of the Armada and so came in this way into possession of great wealth. The later came to Newtwongore and seized Reilly's possessions as stated above, killing Reilly and also a gentleman friend or visitor who was then residing with him named Major Gallagher.They remained in possession of it until about forty years ago when they had squandered the last of their fortune. The last of them died in Bundoran about the date mentioned.They remained in possession for the number of years mentioned above and they were succeeded by another Englishman named Upperton.The Gores occupied Reilly's Castle and the modern residence at present to be seen there was built by one of the later members of the Gore family.The old ruins of the Castle can yet be seen in a dilapidated condition but indicate that it had been a very strong and formidable building.Some of the stone were used for erecting the new building. One of the Gore servants where lifting an eel from the eelbox with a fork happened to allow the eel to escape bearing the fork embedded in him and was later captured at Belleek and was recognised by Gore's name being on the fork.

The road that passes by the school is called the Mail road. It is so called because the mail coach travelled this road before the railway came to Listowel. The road that passes Woodford is called the Cork line. This was the route taken by travellers to Cork. There was a lot of traffic on thos road. Farmers took butter and other farm produce to Cork by this road. The big bridge that spans the River Feale was constructed in the year 1829. There was a ford at this point before the bridge was built. The old Tralee road passed the castle in the Square. There was a ford at this point and the road led across to the island and passed by O'Learys house. Traces of this road are still to be seen.

A great many years ago a labourer from this district was going to Listowel town. The morning was very fine and he was passing by a place called Woodford. He stood to listen to a blackbird singing and he thought the song was "Spend spend and God will send" Having a nice share of money in his pocket he spent it all on "Portor." Finally he took the road home almost penniless and when he was passing the place where he heard the bird in the morning he could not believe his ears when he heard the bird singing again. The song

is an old Crab Tree and only one crab grows there on the same branch every year. Michael Harnett Trieneragh has a field called the "three Cornered" because it is composed of three corners. In Bullain there is a field called "Cnocán na Mbuacaillí" because in the time of the Tans it was counted a great hiding place for all the boys.
Dan Stack of Woodford has a quarry called the "quarry of the killing" because Tim Kelly's