This parish comprises the district of Killodiernan, Monsea Dromineer and Knigh. It is situated in Lower Ormond. The parish of Killodiernan contains 3,476 acres. In 1837 its population was 1,348.
Monsea parish is situated chiefly in Lower Ordmond, part of it is in Arra. Monsea in Irish is Mong Saoi which means a soft, uneven surface. The old church in Monsea is about 400 years old. It is built in the reign of Henry VIII.
Dromineer.
The name is derived from Druim Inbhir, which means a ridge at the mouth of the river. The old church of this parish was built a very long time ago. It was probably built by the head of the McGrath clan in the 11th century or 900 years ago. It was built of very large blocks of granite and slate stones got on the margin of Lough Derg.
The castle of Dromineer is not old. It belonged to John Cantwell. It was not built by the O'Kennedys. Near Dromineer castle is a small ruined church which must have belonged to the Cantwells. The Cantwells were Anglo-Normans.
Knigh
The Irish word for Knigh is 'cnó' which means 'nuts'. The church of Knigh belonged to the Cannons regular

Killard is in the parish of Kilodiernan and Monsea in the Barony of Lower Ormond. There are four families living in it. There are thirteen people living in it. There are five houses in it. Four are slated and one is thatched. One of the houses is unoccupied. This house belongs to Mr. Flynn.
In this townland there are the ruins of four old houses. One was occupied until a few years ago by Mr. Gleason who is still living in Nenagh. Tom Cooney and John Whealey are suppposed to have owned the other houses. None of the descendants are living around the place.
Drumminascart is in the parish of Kilodiernan and Monsea and in the barony of Lower Ormond. There are only two families on nine people living in it. There were two new houses built on it a couple of years ago by the Land Commision.

There are five graveyards in this parish. These are situated in Kilodiernan, Knigh, Monsea, Dromineer and in Cloughprior.
All the churchyards are still in use. Cloughprior churchyard is round in shape.
There are ruins of churches in Kilodiernan, Knigh, Dromineer and Cloughprior. There is a Protestant Church in Monsea.
There are crosses and tombs in all these graveyards and dates and names on them. These crosses are made of wood and stone. Some people are buried within the ruins of the churches.
Unbaptised children were buried in the same churchyard as the people in Monsea, Dromineer, Cloughprior and in Knigh.
Collected by:-
May McLoughney
Lahorna
NenaghObtained from,
Mr J. Heffernan,
Lahorna,
Nenagh.
Age 50 years.

In the parish of Monsea five miles from Ardcroney is a townland called Hogan's Pass. It would appear that the famous Galloper encamped here for some day's during the WIlliamite wars.

The forts I know best are :- the Cahair of Killard, Kennedys, Fitzgeralds, Gleesons, Tierney's and Hogan's forts.
They are all in the parish of Kilodiernan-Monsea. The cahair, Kennedy's fort and Fitzgerald's fort are in view of one another. These are circular in shape. They are fenced in with bushes and trees. Tierney's fort is bare. The tree's have been up-rooted. Hogan's fort is situated on a hill. This is said to have been built by the Danes. From the fort boats coming off Lough Derg can be seen.
There is a Danish fort on the Coracheen Islands, which was built precisely for the purpose of watching the advancement of boats on the Shannon. This is fenced by

The name of the townlands in my district are Sedgemoore, Lahorna, Ballinwear and Grange. They are in the parish of Monsea and Kilodiernan. They are in the Barony of Lower Ormond. There are two families in the townland of Sedgemore, thirteen in Lahorna, three in Ballinwear and six in Grange.There are twelve people in Sedgemore, sixty six in Lahorna, forteen in Ballinwear and twenty three in Grange.
The houses are thatched and slated. On the 15th of August two men were sent by their master to cut corn in Lahorna. If they did not go out that day for him they would be dismissed from their jobs. While they were there a priest went across the field to Leac Pass church near Arderoney. He asked them why they were not going to Mass. They said their master would not let them. He said they were to go to Mass and not mind the corn. They went to Mass and when they came back the place where the corn was growing was a big

When Cromwell was in Ireland, he did no harm to my district. It is said that he came as far as Dolla. When he was climbing up a hill in Dolla, a certain fiddler helped him up the hill. When they reached the top of the hill, Cromwell told the fiddler that he would give him all the lands he could see from the hill. After this the fiddler became a rich man.
There were many chiefs and heroes in former days. The local chief of my district was "Galloping Hogan". He was a "raparee" and he lived in Johnstown. The ruins of his house are said to be still there. It was "Galloping Hogan" who led Sarsfield to Ballyneety to meet William's train. There is a place one side of Monsea. It is called "Hogan's Pass". "Galloping Hogan" was supposed to

Kilmore graveyard has a high black wooden cross at the entrance gate. In one corner there is a brown iron house.In Dolla graveyard there is an old ruin of a church. People are buried in the ruin. At the entrance to the graveyard, is a ditch of rocks with steps up to it. The hearse can never go into the graveyard with the coffin. The coffin has to be carried over the stile. At the other side is a gate, leading to a large lake owned by Lord Dunally. A field has to be crossed to get to the graveyard. Dolla is three miles from Nenagh. It is on the road between Nenagh and the Silvermines. It is near the guards Barracks. Monsea is about five miles from Nenagh. It is square. In the graveyard is a Protestant Church. Catholics and Protestants are buried there. It is very rocky.

In Monsea graveyard there are ruins of an old Church. Tradition says it was a thatched church that Cromwells army burned it but that the Cross flew off and was lost in a nearby well.
In those ruins there is a cut stone on a level with the present ground at the left hand side & in a line with the Altar as it probably stood. There is an aperture in the stone & tradition says that in the days of Canonical Penance persons heard Mass by kneeling outside the Church & looking through the stone.
In this graveyard the Coffin when being carried around is usually left down three times (it is said that it was done in olden times to throw off the wolves)

secretly buried all the Sacred vessel's, jewel's and treasures of this monastery in the field where it stood now known as Broder. It seem's the building was razed to the ground the monk's never returned and the treasure has never been recovered. Who these attacker's were is not known wheather Danes or Cromwellians. Furthermore the road which forms the southern boundary of the field was not then there as the ancient road ran further south forming an almost direct line from what is now known as the four road's of Richmond to the churchyard of Monsea. It is also said that a battle was fought in this field and the one ajoining known as the fourteen acres. But when and between whom is not stated. Dealing with the Gason estate in it were buried pikes in '98 and again in Fenian day's. Their exact location is not known but they are in a field known as the "well park" so many yard's from a white thorn tree which grew in this field at the back of Hogan's house at Coolaholiga. The '98 pikes were manufactured by a smith by the name of Bomberry who lived and worked in a forge opposite Slattery's house at Ballycommon the site of which is now occupied as a storehouse by the Slattery family.

About forty[?] year's ago there lived in Ballycommon in the parish of Monsea near Nenagh an old man of seventy year's of age named Gleeson. Night after night he used to entertain his neighbour's by telling stories as varied as they were numerous about history, faries and personage's. Amongst other things he insisted that long ago there was what he called a town in Ballanny and described its exact position. He said that a plague was responsible for driving the people out and once while "something" was going on there the Danes made an attack and were beaten after a three day's fight at where Ballyartella bridge now crosses the river beside Mr Hanly's mill.
Fr Gleeson states in his history of Ely OCarroll that the ancient aonach was at Raththurles. The name Ballyanny which mean's The Place of the Fair suggests otherwise and local tradition even as expressed vaguely by this old man seems to fix it there also. History records at one of these aonachs a three days fight took place in which the Danes were beaten. The scene of this battle is sometimes fixed at Nenagh and sometimes at Roscrea but here the exact spot is located by this old man and assuming that Ballyanny was the ancient aonach teite its accuracy cannot be doubted because

In the parish of Monsea-Kilodiernan (parish) there is a place known as Cormac's cross. It is between Prospect Cross and Cloughprior Churchyard.
Once upon a time a man named Cormac lived in Carney. He went to Dublin to attend a Feis which was going on there. As there was no other mode of conveyance in those days, he journeyed on horseback.
When the Feis was over Cormac returned home. On his way home he was encountered by a beggar looking for alms. He refused this poor man, and rode on. But to his dismay, he was not gone far when he met a poor woman, who asked him for help. This woman he also turned away.
So Cormac went on till he came to the town of Nenagh. He drew up before an inn. He dismounted from his horse. He went into the inn. He asked for a stable for his horse. He got this too. He slept in the hotel that night. Having eaten his breakfast, on the following morning, Cormac mounted his horse again and set out on this homeward journey. He was only about two miles from the town when he met a

The word Cloughprior means the residence-house of the prior. The district known as Cloughprior formed the northern half of the united parishes of Monsea & Cloughprior. The old people call it Cloughpriory or Cloughprairy. The abbey once belonged to the Monastery of Terryglass. In 1141 Terryglass was destroyed. Then Cloughprior became the property of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, who had been established in Lorrha in 1130 A.D. and who took over the churches which had belonged to Terryglass monastery. After some time it passed into the possession of the monks of Tyone Abbey, which was established in 1200 A.D.
In 1552, in the reign of Ed. VI, the property of Tyone Abbey was confiscated. It was granted to Oliver Grace. Its appurtenances were granted forever to him at the yearly rent of £38 : 15s: 10d. One of those appurtances was 160 acres in Cloughprior. For over a hundred years Cloughprior belonged to the Grace family. One of the family was the Colonel Richard Grace who was killed in action, fighting on the Jacobite side at Athlone in 1690.
After the Cromwellian plantation Cloughprior Abbey was unroofed by the Protestants and the lands going with the abbey were granted to the Waller family, who resided about 300 hundred yards from the place where it is. Only one Catholic was buried inside the Abbey since. That man was Thomas

Once there lived in Monsea a young girl named Peggy Brown. She was very poor for some time, but her aunt died, and left poor Peggy her money.
When Peggy got the money she got very proud. She would not spend a penny because she wanted to be the richest person in the world. She loved to be thinking of her money. She put the money in a bag and hid it up the chimney.
When she sat at the fire she used look up the chimney and say after a while "I will be the richest woman in the world because every penny I get I will put it up with the rest of the money" Peggy would not eat half enough because she would be spending too much money on food. After a while Peggy got sick. She could do no work as she had to stay in bed. Then she got a maid. When the maid came Peggy called her into her room. She told her not to look up the chimney. But the maid saw the bag. She thought for a minute.

There is a treasure supposed to be buried under the foundation of a house in Ashley Park, in the parish of Monsea-Kilodiernan.
It was supposed to be placed there by the man who owned the house, about two hundred years ago. This man's name was Patsy Murphy. His house was situated in the middle of a dark lonesome wood. The wood was often inhabited by robbers who used to go on robbing expeditions to the local farm-yards. In order to save his money, Patsy buried it under the floor of his house.
The treasure is supposed to consist of about £200 in gold and silver. It is said that it is one hundred feet down in the ground. An attempt has been made to unearth this treasure but with no result. A man who lived about a mile from Patsy's house had a dream one night. He saw the gold and silver down in a big hole under Patsy's house. The next morning he got up early. He went to a fair in Nenagh, where he met a neighbour of his. He told him about the dream he had the night before. This neighbour proposed that both of them would go that night to look for the treasure. They agreed to go.

Local Placenames
There are several unusual names given to woods, fields, rivers and lakes in the townland of Johnstown in the parish of Kilodiernan - Monsea, in the Barony of Lower Ormond and in County Tipperary.
On the former Headach farm knock- n - cahair, rabbit park, church field, church meadow, (fodrach..), wilderness, lime-kiln park, knock- na - Suire, Ryan's field and (...?).
In the church field the Protestant church of Kilodiernan is situated. The ruins of the noted abbey of Kilodiernan are to be seen in the church meadow. The wilderness is a large field over-run by ferns and bushes.
In the lime- Kiln park is an old lime- kiln not in use now. At the bottom of Knock- na Suire is a river The top of the field is hilly. The river was once called the Suir and it is from the

There are five graveyards, in this parish, one in Cloughprior, Monsea, Kilodiernan, Dromineer, and Knigh.
None of the graveyards are round in shape - they are oblong.
In the middle of the Cloughprior graveyard there is a mound. It is in the part where the protestants are buried. This mound up to a few years ago was growing nothing but weeds. Mr. Waller got it tilled, and sowed daffodils there.
There are some very old tomb stones in Cloughprior some dating back to 1,847, 1,786, and 1,736. In 1736 a man named James Hogan of Ashley Park who was evicted in the Penal times by a man named White was buried in Cloughprior. The tomb-stone bears the inscription; Sacred to the memory of James Hogan formely of Ashley Park who died

Long ago there used be hurling matches played in Lahorna and Knigh. That time there used twenty one men hurl at each side and in later years seventeen men.
There was a hurling in Mr. Ryan's field in Lahorna about forty eight years ago. The hurling was between Knigh and Lahorna. That time they used hurl from ditch to ditch.
Whoever would loose the ball in the ditch first got a goal. The Lahorna team won. Many of those team won fame afterwards. There was a team made up of the parish of Ardcroney, Kilruane and Monsea. These were called the "De Wetts". Many of the Lahorna team were picked to join them.
There was another hurling between Lorra and Lahorna. This hurling was won by the Lahorna team also. The way this hurling was played was the two teams met half way between Lorra and Lahorna and hurl the ball back to their own townland.

(b.) In the faction-fighting days there was an old enmity between the parishes of Kilbarron and Terryglass. The factionists meeting at a fair in Borrisokane fought up and down the street for hours - the Terryglass men being headed by Meara Gearailt. Finally Kilbarron routed their opponents, driving them out of the town on to the Terryglass road. Meara got knocked and rolled in the muddy street, so that his own followers did not know him.
A man named Doheny, from Monsea, Nenagh (who appeared to be fighting on the Kilbarron side) coming up to Meara who was covered with mud called out:
"Do you know Meara Gearailt, the man whose teeth I knocked out".
"I do" replied Gearailt "for here he is".
They then lay to it with heavy blackthorns, and Meara had his full revenge.
Brigid Parkinson, Slevoyre, Borrisokane. Other particulars already given.
These faction fights appear to have ceased about 60 years ago. Even at the Kylegoona Races faction-fighting was gradually dying out.

I live in the townland of Johnstown in the parish of Kilodiernan-Monsea,, and in the Barony of Lower Ormond. In the townland of Johnstown are about ten families. There are about fifty people in the townland. There are two families of Egans in Johnstown.
The majority of the houses are slated. The townland takes its name from John Headsch[?], a former landlord.
None of the inhabitants of this district are very old. The oldest person in Johnstown is about sixty-five.
There were about fifteen houses in Johnstown formerly. There are the ruins of five or six houses in the townland. Among those ruins is the house where Galloping Hogan lived.
Some of the land is rocky and hilly. Some of it is very good and in some parts the land is boggy. In Johnstown are about twelve woods, two lakes and the estate extend to Lough Derg.