As you pass through Bundoran, this is where the cholera plague of 1832 first broke out. It was summer. The disease was supposed to have been carried here by a smack from Liverpool, which had called to take in salmon. From Bundoran it spread through Ballyshannon and the neighbourhood. Ballyshannon lost 93 people, with 152 recoveries. The mortality was small compared with many neighbouring towns, but the panic that prevailed gave a serious check to the trade of the town. By 1835 the exports were 10,704 quarters of oats, valued at 11,130, and imports amounted to 9,524.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Ballyshannon Its History & Antiquities (1879), Joseph McGarrity Collection at Villanova University Digital Archives, Internet Archive BallyshannonItsHistoryAntiquitiesOpt, Chapter 39 · source

Bundoran draws summer crowds from inland homes. They come to see the Atlantic sun go down, to breathe the salted air, to sport among the waves. They gather shells on the sandy beach and tempt the gloomy caves. They watch the flowing and ebbing tide, the boats, the crabs, the fish. Young men and maids meet and smile, and form a tender wish. The sick and old come in search of health. The poet Allingham called the place Coolmore and bade it farewell. "For all things have their turn," he wrote, "and I must quit my native shore and the winding banks of Erne."

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Highways and byways in Donegal and Antrim; (1903), Gwynn, Stephen Lucius, 1864-1950, Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 27 · source

As you come through Bundoran, you are passing a sheltered part of Donegal Bay with very fine views inland and along the coast. To the south and east the Sligo Mountains are piled up, and on either hand there are heather-topped cliffs, sandy shores, and numerous interesting rocks and caves. Among them is the Fairy Bridge, which is by no means the least striking of the several similar natural arches met with on the Donegal coast. Right out in front, the Atlantic extends to the very coast line of America. Near by, young and old alike can disport themselves on the magnificent strand, and for this and other reasons it is an ideal holiday resort for families. The paddler will find pools in plenty, and the expert swimmer will find depths where a plunge can be made in forty feet of water. The hotel of the Great Northern Railway Ireland Company stands in its own grounds and is a prominent feature on the shore. It is lighted by electricity, well furnished and equipped. The drawing-room, private sitting-rooms, and lounge command fascinating views, and the bedrooms are lofty and furnished after the most approved methods. The smoking rooms and billiard rooms are luxuriously arranged. No expense or trouble has been spared in making the establishment an ideal touring hotel. The wine cellar is beyond reproach, and the dinners emanate from an A1 chef. The fine suite of sea and fresh-water baths is worthy of special note.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Picturesque Donegal: its mountains, rivers, and lakes. Being the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Company's illustrated guide to the sporting and touring grounds of the north of Ireland (1908), Shrubsole, Edgar S, Internet Archive picturesquedoneg00shru, Chapter 69 · source

As you pass through Bundoran, you are in a town that was promoted as a holiday resort with remarkable variety. The Atlantic breezes here are warmed by the Gulf Stream, while inland winds bring mountain air, and a guidebook of the time claimed it would be hard to beat as a health resort. It offered golf on fine links, lawn-tennis, croquet, boating, bathing, and walks ranging from rugged mountain passes to the golden strand.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Picturesque Donegal: its mountains, rivers, and lakes. Being the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Company's illustrated guide to the sporting and touring grounds of the north of Ireland (1908), Shrubsole, Edgar S, Internet Archive picturesquedoneg00shru, Chapter 69 · source

As you come through Bundoran in Donegal, the Great Northern Railway Company's hotel stands on the shore in its own grounds. It is lighted by electricity and well furnished, with a drawing-room, private sitting-rooms, and a lounge that command views of the sea. The bedrooms are lofty, the smoking and billiard rooms luxuriously arranged. The wine cellar is described as "beyond reproach," and the dinners come from what the guide calls an A1 chef. There are sea and fresh-water baths, and a well-fitted store for visitors' cycles. Accommodation is available for motor cars, with petrol and lubricating oil on hand. The guide calls the whole establishment an ideal touring hotel, with no expense spared. There is also the Central Hotel, Sweeny's, conducted by Mr T O'Gorman, as another option in the town.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Picturesque Donegal: its mountains, rivers, and lakes. Being the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Company's illustrated guide to the sporting and touring grounds of the north of Ireland (1908), Shrubsole, Edgar S, Internet Archive picturesquedoneg00shru, Chapter 69 · source

Magheracar passage tomb is an undifferentiated passage tomb, standing toward the eastern side of a kerbed mound at the edge of a sea cliff. The mound was originally round in outline, measuring 20 metres in diameter from east to west. The approximate northern half of the mound has been lost to the sea. The kerb turns inward in front of the entrance to the tomb, and there is a gap between the kerb and the front of the tomb. The entrance faces south-east and is 4.5 metres long and about 1 metre wide. Wood-Martin, writing in 1887 and 1888, recorded that bones, ashes and a cinerary urn had been found at the site

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), DG106-011---- · source

This is Duncarbry, a castle of the McClancys in Leitrim. It stood on a prominent rise, guarding the Drowse River to the east and the gap between Lough Melvin and Donegal Bay. It was probably a tower house and bawn. Cahir Mac Flannchadha, heir to William McClancy and the chieftainship of Dartry, died at the castle in 1538. A gable with an arched doorway survived into the 19th century. Now it is a rectangular grass-covered platform defined by a collapsed wall around the perimeter. The remains of a rectangular structure form a mound at the north-east angle, probably the tower house itself. No wall-facing or architectural features are visible.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), LE001-032---- · source

Somewhere around here stood an Augustinian house at Lisgoole, one of the places where the monks of Lough Derg may have gone when they were driven from their island. The monks had endured hostile visits before, and they knew what might come. They hid the heavier valuable articles in the ground, keeping back only what they could carry without drawing the attention of the soldiers. After a night of sorrow and suspense, the morning of their expulsion came. A company of cavalry from Donegal was seen crossing the mountains, advancing quickly towards the lake. They ordered the venerable abbot and his community of forty monks to leave. A detachment of soldiers escorted the monks as far as Portcreevy Bay, to make sure they departed and to keep them from seeing the destruction of their consecrated home. The afflicted monks took their last farewell of Lough Derg. They may have made their way to Devenish, Lisgoole, and Clones, where houses of their order stood, and where guest-houses or hospices had for centuries been largely occupied by Lough Derg pilgrims. The pilgrimage, which the government of that time called an abuse of pilgrimage, still continued to flourish, and on the 13th of September of the same year the Lords Justices issued more stringent orders to have it completely destroyed.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from St. Patrick's Purgatory, Lough Derg : its history, traditions, legends, antiquities, topography and scenic surroundings with some account of its more notable pilgrims and a detailed description of the authorised devotions performed at its venerable shrine (1895), O'Connor, Daniel, 1843-1919, Internet Archive stpatrickspurgat00ocon, Chapter 90 · source

Bunduff holy well stands at the bottom of a gentle south-facing slope, with a small stream about 30 metres to the west. An oval cairn carries a small rectangular drystone well on its west side, and the well is still venerated. A modern shrine stands there too.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), LE001-003---- · source

Somewhere around here was the birthplace of Father Owen O'Connor, whose grave lies in Drumcliff. He belonged to a family that traced its descent back to the O'Connors, who were for centuries Lords of Carbury and Sligo. After his ordination he served as curate in Magherow and then in Killglass, where he became so ill he had to return to Castlegal. He died in 1850, aged 31.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 21 · source

Creevykeel court tomb is a national monument, number 338, in state care. Details of its structure were recorded in Seán Ó Nualláin's survey of the megalithic tombs of County Sligo, published in 1989.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL003-032---- · source

Up ahead is Mullaghmore, a seaside place that Lord Palmerston tried to turn into a watering place for the wealthy. He built a terrace of fine houses renting at 10 or 20 pounds a month, but made no provision at all for humbler people to stay. The author of the history of Sligo thought it was hardly fair, since the rich already had so many of the good things of Ireland, to give them what amounted to a monopoly of the finest sea bathing on the western coast. He notes though that Palmerston acted from what he believed was the interest of his tenants, judging by his letters from Cliffoney and his conduct on his Sligo estates. The later owner, the Honourable Evelyn Ashley, lived here much of the year, and when the author asked the inhabitants what they thought of him, they all spoke with admiration and gratitude for his neighbourly kindness.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 13 · source

Somewhere around here, on 27 August 1979, Lord Mountbatten was killed by a bomb on his boat off the coast of Mullaghmore. He was a retired British statesman and cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, spending his annual summer trip at Classiebawn Castle on the Mullaghmore Peninsula. Thomas McMahon, a volunteer for the Provisional IRA, had planted a device containing fifty pounds of gelignite on Mountbatten's cabin cruiser, Shadow V, on the night of 26 August. McMahon and his accomplice, Francis McGirl, drove away and were arrested during a routine stop eighty miles from Mullaghmore because McGirl could not prove his identity or ownership of the car. The bomb went off less than two hours later, killing Mountbatten, his grandson Nicholas, Nicholas's grandmother Doreen, and Paul Maxwell, a boy who was crewing the boat. Three other passengers were severely injured. Five hours after the bomb went off, the IRA ambushed a British Army patrol with two roadside bombs, killing eighteen soldiers. The attacks were condemned by world leaders and by the media in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Forensic tests found traces of nitroglycerine and ammonium nitrate on the clothing of both men, and flakes of green and white paint matching Shadow V on McMahon's boots and jacket, along with sand from Mullaghmore in his boots' treads. McMahon was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1979; McGirl was acquitted. The bombing led the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to change the UK's strategy towards Northern Ireland, giving the intelligence services a more active role. Donations to NORAID, the American organisation that raised funds for the IRA, declined, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation set up a specialist unit to combat weapons smuggling to Ireland.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), en.wikipedia.org: Assassination of Lord Mountbatten · source

As you come through Mullaghmore in Sligo, you are near a harbour that Lord Palmerston built entirely at his own expense. It runs 800 feet long and 300 feet wide, with 14 feet of depth at spring tide. A massive quay runs all the way round it, and a solid jetty projects several hundred feet out into the sea to shield vessels from the west wind as they enter in a storm. There is an excellent anchorage in front, where ships could ride secure while waiting for the tide to rise enough to come in. The book says it would reflect credit on the government of the country if executed by advances from the public treasury, yet Palmerston did it alone.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 12 · source

Coming up near Mullaghmore in Sligo, where the sandhills running from Streedagh were once in motion, and the devastation was nearly as great as anywhere. The drift was finally checked here. Lord Palmerston introduced the planting of bent grass, which effectually prevented the movement of the sand. He also sowed seeds of the Pinus maritima, and fine plantations now grow on the very verge of the ocean. His example was followed by the other proprietors. The surface gradually coated over and is now valuable for feeding sheep and young stock, and for the rearing of rabbits. Were the sward again broken up, a recurrence of the same calamity would inevitably follow. One other instance of the efficacy of planting bent may be cited. In the neighbourhood of Raughly on the south-west shore, about a mile of shingle formed a barrier against the Atlantic waves. It was gradually driven back at the rate of a foot each year. On one very stormy night the ocean broke through, and the tide ran inland amongst the sandhills for a considerable distance, scattering the shingle rampart right and left. The remedy tried was planting bent along the beach.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 140 · source

Cliffony is a town along this road. Lord Palmerston took an early interest in the place. After examining his estate he wrote that his first objects were to put the parish church in repair and make it fit for service, and to establish schools. He gave no thought to the Catholic priests, as if they counted for nothing in matters concerning their own flocks. He got two schools running, but found himself in conflict with the local priest, who forbade the people to send their children. Palmerston wrote that he was, in his words, "at war with my priest." He believed that if he were resident he would beat him in a moment, and he hoped to do so even though an absentee landlord. So the contest went on, the landlord pressing from a distance, the priest holding his ground among the people, and the schools standing in the middle of it.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 13 · source

Cliffony in County Sligo. In 1826, Lord Palmerston set about reclaiming bogland on his estate here, working with the engineer Mr. Nimmo. They studied the conditions on the spot and brought first-rate skill and capital to the work. They first considered building an iron railroad six miles long, to carry shelly sand from the beach to the bog and bring peat back to the shore. They thought better of it and built macadamized roads instead. Their method was to drain the ground slightly, beginning in April. Then they dug up the surface, piled it in heaps, and burned it. They levelled the ground, formed it into ridges, and planted it with potatoes or sowed it with turnips and rape, throwing the ashes on as manure and adding a top-dressing of sea sand and clay. By October 1826, the first year of the works, 30 acres of what Lord Palmerston called the worst bog and most troublesome to cultivate were producing potatoes, turnips, and rape. In the previous March, he wrote, the land was wet unwalkable bog. Proceeding at 60 acres a year, he was soon able to enlarge the small holdings of his tenants.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 12 · source

As you pass through the town of Cliffony in Sligo, you're travelling through a place where Lord Palmerston set out his thinking on landlord and tenant in a letter of September 1808. He described the middlemen who took a tract of ground, kept a portion for themselves without paying rent, and let the rest to sub-tenants, making them pay both the landlord's rent and an extra sum the middlemen pocketed as what he called a profit rent. He called those people bloodsuckers and resolved to get rid of them by degrees, following the wishes of his tenants and the advice of Arthur Young, who urged landlords to let their estates only to the occupying tenantry. Where other landlords in his position would have thrown the four or five acre cotters out on the road, Palmerston felt it a duty to leave them where they were and better their condition. He freed them from the middleman, enlarged their holdings as his bogs were reclaimed, and provided them with remunerative employment in the meantime. He also tackled the blowing sand that threatened the land along the shore, planting bent grass round the exposed tracts, a method used on the Continent. It worked, and other landlords whose coastal lands suffered the same problem followed his example, so that thousands of acres between his property and Sligo were saved from inundation and restored to tillage and pasturage.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 11 · source

A holy well at Moneygold, in County Sligo. It sits at the base of a north-facing hill slope, in the south-west corner of a field, with a ruined cottage fifteen metres to the north. The well is a natural spring held in a roughly D-shaped cavity, about one and a half metres across and one metre deep, faced with stone. A curving drystone wall marks the east and south sides. The north wall is built from one or possibly two large slabs set on edge. The well is enclosed on all sides by the grass-covered slope of a penitential cairn. On top of that cairn, a few metres south-east of the well, there is a bullaun stone. A church and graveyard stand about one hundred metres to the east-north-east. According to local tradition, water from the well was especially valued as a cure for sick cattle.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL005-004001- · source

You're coming through Grange now. Back in the 1580s, two of the O'Harts from this town were hanged at a Sessions held in Sligo, under the presidency of George Bingham. His brother Sir Richard Bingham carried out the hanging, along with several others. The Bingham regime was crushing local families across County Sligo, and the O'Harts of Grange were among those who paid with their lives.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 153 · source

You are coming through Grange, a town on the old thoroughfare between Donegal and Sligo. In 1604 an inquisition recorded that Hugh O'Hart built a new castle and seven cottages here, in O'Connor Sligo's country. The survey of 1633 spoke of "an old castle built upon it," and there is nothing to show the place ever had any other castle except the one Hugh O'Hart built. The town had belonged to the abbey of Boyle down to the dissolution of the monasteries, but long before that the O'Harts had got into possession as assigns of the O'Connors. It took its name from them: Grange Muinter Hart. It throve under the O'Harts, and at the census of 1659 it was the most populous spot in the district except Bradcullen. Later, Thomas Soden obtained the place. He was the Titulado of the district under the Commonwealth, and he kept so firm a grip that the Restoration did not loosen his hold. He transmitted the town and the island of Dernish, which means oak island, to his descendants. They remained prominent in the county, some as magistrates, some as high sheriffs, and one, Thomas Soden, as provost of Sligo for several years. The O'Harts, who now call themselves the Harts, were still numerous in and near the area, no longer lords of the district but shopkeepers and farmers.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 27 · source

Coming up near Grange in Sligo. Several places of this name in the county all belonged to Boyle abbey. The name's meaning is discussed in the source, and O'Donovan and others made mistakes about these Granges.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 339 · source

Ardnaglass Lower children's burial ground sits at a ringfort in the townland of Ardnaglass, near Grange, County Sligo. According to local information, unbaptised babies were buried in the space between the east side of the rath and its concentric outer bank. That space measures 7 metres north to south and 15 metres east to west. A field wall crossing the rath bounds it on the north. A low ruined wall runs between the rath and the outer bank on the south. Short lengths of ruined wall subdivide the ground. The area is grass-covered, with low moss-covered stones protruding at random. No formal grave plots can be discerned. A single upright stone stands at the east edge. Three slabs, which may once have stood upright, lie prostrate at the base of a sycamore tree growing on the south wall line. Burials may also have taken place inside the rath, but there is no direct evidence. The burial ground is named Cill Rouderaun in accounts preserved in the National Folklore Schools Collection. One account says it is an old graveyard about a quarter of a mile from the village of Grange, on the south side of the road leading from Grange to Ballintrillick. People say unbaptised children were buried there long ago, but it had not been used as a burial place within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. About 200 yards north of the burial ground is a holy well called Tobar Pádruig. Another account says the graveyard was used only for unbaptised children, about eighty years before it was written down. There is a large fairy fort in the field, and the children's graves are said to be in and around the fort. There was a flax mill in the field, and every morning the workmen saw the tracks of little feet in the mill. They thought these were made by the children buried in the fort.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL005-040001- · source

Coming up through Milltown now. The Milltown Protestant school here was at the centre of a story from 1811, when Rev. John Yeates had just become Vicar of Drumcliff. He was remembered as a straightforward, high-principled man. He went out with Sir Robert Gore Booth's agent, Mr. Dodwell, and a bailiff named Barber, among Sir Robert's tenants, asking them to send their children to the school. One tenant, James O'Hara, told them a child of his would never darken the door of that school-house. Yeates commended him for his spirit and said he was the honestest man they had come across that day. Rev. Mr. Crawford later succeeded Yeates, and died in 1871, buried in Drumcliff.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 23 · source

As the road carries you through Drumcliff parish, it passes near the ground where the Battle of Cooldruman was fought in 561. King Diarmaid had ruled against Columbkille in a dispute over a copied manuscript. Columbkille threatened the King with the hostility of the northern Hy Neills, then left the royal presence, secretly according to one account, openly on horseback according to another. Before he could be stopped he reached his kindred, the Cinel Owen and Cinel Connell, and called on them to rise and to avenge him for two wrongs. Diarmaid had violated his right of sanctuary in the case of the Connaught prince, and pronounced an outrageous judgment in the dispute between him and Finian. At his word the clanna Neill of the North flew to arms. Including a Connaught contingent, a force of 2,300 men — horse, foot, and charioteers — took position at Cooldruman and awaited the royal army, already approaching. The field was well chosen, with the river of Drumcliff in front, Benbulben on one flank, the sea on the other. They stood on high ground and could bear down irresistibly on the enemy struggling up the hill. The two saints, Columbkille and Finian of Moville, accompanied their respective friends. On the morning of the battle they won a great victory, leaving 8,000 of the royal army dead.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 5 · source

A graveyard at Drumcliff, consecrated about 1800, broadly triangular on plan. The graveyard has a variety of cut stone grave markers and mausoleums dating from about 1800 to 2004. A carved limestone high cross stands to the north-west, dating from about 1050. Saint Columba's Church of Ireland, built 1809, is sited to the north-east. There is a rubble limestone boundary wall with concrete coping added about 1950, and a gateway to the south with dressed limestone gate piers, pyramidal corbelled caps, and mild steel gates from about 1995. A rubble stone interpretation building was built about 1995 on the north side. The graveyard was immortalised by W. B. Yeats in his famous epitaph. The eleventh-century high cross is of archaeological interest, and the graveyard forms a picturesque composition with the early-nineteenth-century church behind it and views of Ben Bulben to the north.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (CC-BY 4.0), NIAH 32305002 · source

As you pass through Rathcormack, the church here holds the remains of Father Pat Moraghan, who died in 1879. He had resigned his parish of Aughrim in 1871 on account of ill health and withdrawn to the home of his brother, Father Andrew, who cared for him tenderly for the eight years he still lived. Father Andrew raised a cut-stone monument over his remains and installed a stained-glass window on the Gospel side of the high altar as a memorial.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 22 · source

Coming through Rathcormack in Sligo, you pass the church built in 1833 by Father O'Callaghan, on the site of an old place of worship. Father O'Gara greatly improved the building, and Father Moraghan added a sacristy, widened the sanctuary, seated the whole ground floor, and erected a beautiful altar of marble and Caen stone. Father Moraghan himself is buried here. He resigned his parish of Aughrim in 1871 on account of ill health and withdrew to the home of his brother, Father Andrew, who cared for him tenderly for the eight years he still lived. Father Andrew celebrated his obsequies and raised a cut stone monument over his remains.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 22 · source

Associated with St. Columcille, the holy well at Kintogher stands in flat, damp pasture. It is a natural spring enclosed by a rectangular surround of concrete and stones, about 1 metre by 0.7 metres, with a depth of 0.2 metres. A stream flows north from the well for a few metres before turning west. A concrete pump house stands to the south. The well sits in the south-east corner of a square fenced enclosure about 8 metres across, with a wooden gate on the west side. Willow scrub and brambles ring the enclosure thickly. An ash tree and a hawthorn bush grow close to the well at the south-west. A burnt mound lies immediately to the south-west. According to local information, the well is visited annually on the saint's feast day, June 9.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL008-202002- · source

Ballyweelin, in Sligo, is a burial ground in a subrectangular walled field, about 40 metres north to south and 30 metres east to west, bordering the southern shoreline of the Rosses Point peninsula. A modern road runs along the north side of the field. The place was used as a cillín. It does not appear on any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. A plaque erected in 1997 on the north wall, placed by the Rosses Point Heritage Association, reads: 'The cillín at this place was a burial ground for unbaptised infants, Famine and cholera victims and unidentified sailors who died in the vicinity.' Curran, writing in 2021, records that it was traditionally known as 'Cillath' or 'Cill an Áit', and was used for the burial of unbaptised babies as late as the 1930s. Dense overgrowth now engulfs the field. No graves are visible, and the exact extent of the burial ground is uncertain. The monument was notified to the National Monuments Service by Tamlyn McHugh.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL008-212---- · source

The road takes you near Rosses Point. On Perch Rock, between the point and Oyster Island, stands a stone pillar with a metal figure of a sailor on top, called the Metal Man, erected in 1822. The Commissioners for improving the Town and Harbour of Sligo sought plans for a pillar not less than ten feet over high water mark. The Metal Man was already lying on the new quay, waiting to be fixed. Fenders on the north side were to protect vessels. A legend says the Metal Man leaves his pedestal at certain times of year and goes ashore to the Rosses.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 112 · source

Up ahead is Rosses Point in Sligo, where a church was built in the 1850s to serve the growing number of Protestant visitors who came for the bathing season. Before that, worship was held in a borrowed farmhouse room, and visiting clergymen conducted services wherever congregations could be gathered. As the numbers increased year by year, the irregularity of these arrangements was keenly felt, and with the consent of the rector of Drumcliff a parochial district was severed from the mother parish under the Peel Act. The first stone was laid on the 14th of August 1854, with over £500 spent on the building and its fittings and £1395 provided for endowment. The architect was William Dean Butler and the builder Henry Caldwell. The church opened for summer services in 1858, with Drumcliff clergy officiating on Sunday afternoons and running a school for the children of coastguards and other residents. In 1867 the aging rector could no longer keep up the summer service and brought in the Reverend Frederick Flood, who took full charge of the parish in August 1869.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 113 · source

Coming through Rosses Point in Sligo, you're passing a place the ancients knew as Ros Ceide. In the thirteenth century a terrible battle was fought here between Godfrey O'Donnell of Tirconnell and Maurice Fitzgerald, the founder of Sligo Abbey. The passage I have calls it simply a terrible battle. These were two of the most powerful men in the northwest, and their meeting at this spot on the coast was violent enough to be remembered for centuries. The same record notes that this was a favourite resort of sea-bathers. To the southward from the hilltop where this view is set lie Oyster and Coney Islands. Away to the north is the lonely island of Innishmurray, which the book says was the first part of Ireland to witness the descent of the Danish hordes. The plain the book calls Machaire Eabha stretches out to the sea, studded with historic sites. The principal of these is Cuildreimne, where what the book calls the bloody battle of the book was fought, resulting in the exile of Columbkille. Benbulbin rises to the northeast, and the book says that mountain witnessed for centuries the clashing blades of the contending tribes of Connacht and Tirconnell. This place belongs to that same landscape of conflict, where O'Donnell and Fitzgerald met in the thirteenth century.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from KILGANNON’ S ALMANAC FOR NORTH CONNAUGHT 1906 Vol. 2 Parishes And Townlands Of County Sligo (1906), Tadgh Kilgannon of Sligo, Internet Archive kilgannon-s-almanac-for-north-connaught-1906-vol.-2-parishes-and-townlands-of-county-sligo, Chapter 40 · source

Rosses Point has changed greatly from older times. Within the past decade its only hotel was a thatched cabin at the Sligo end of the village. The parochial district of Rosses Point owes its formation mainly to the efforts of the late Mrs. E. J. Cooper of Markree Castle. She noticed the need for a place of worship for the many Protestant visitors who came to the seaside during the summer months.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 113 · source

Coming up near Rosses Point, a coastal spot in County Sligo. In 1890, this was where the big ships came, large steamers of over 3000 tons discharging their cargoes at the Point, five miles from Sligo town itself. The grain trade had shifted from sailing vessels of about 800 tons to these steadily larger steamers over the preceding twenty years, and 43,000 tons of maize were imported direct in that single year. Sligo's merchants were at a considerable disadvantage, having to unload their larger cargoes here, five miles from the town, and incurring heavy lighterage expenses as a result.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 116 · source

Somewhere around here, in the Further Rosses near Sligo, is a place long noted for fairy activity. There is a little point of rocks where, if anyone falls asleep, there is danger of their waking silly, the fairies having carried off their souls.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888), ed. W. B. Yeats, Project Gutenberg #33887, Chapter 62 · source

As you pass through Rosses Point in Sligo, you are near a headland called Dead Man's Point. The name comes from a foreign seaman who died of the plague at the commencement of the century. The reach between Oyster Island and Rosses Point gives anchorage in about twenty feet of water, though the tide is strong and the holding ground not good. In former times a quay projected from Oyster Island, and later posts along the shore were substituted, to which any vessel remaining over a tide was required to moor. Those posts have since given way to mooring chains, to which vessels of over 3000 tons can make fast.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 112 · source

As you pass through Rosses Point in Sligo, there's a reason the harbour here never became a real fishing station. The boatmen were mostly farmers and pilots, and they did not fish much unless the herrings or mackerel came close to the shore. So the fishing carried on here was slight, a sideline for men whose main work lay in the fields or guiding ships. The serious trawling happened elsewhere in Sligo Bay, out of Raughly, where one year alone saw 40,000 cod, 25,000 mackerel, and 20,000 herrings brought in. Even one of the loudest opponents of trawling ended up owning a successful boat there. Mullaghmore had the larger boats, though its harbour was counted a failure, good only for keeping the local fishery from dying out entirely. The oyster beds along the Sligo coast were poor and did not repay the money and care spent on them, though mussels were shipped to England in considerable numbers.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 128 · source

Somewhere close to Ballincar, a family tragedy shocked all of Sligo in 1848. A Catholic woman named McTernan had married a Protestant gentleman named Armstrong, reportedly under an agreement that she could raise the children in her own faith. He raised no objection until after their third child was born, when he insisted the little ones be educated as Protestants. The pressure threw his wife's mind off its balance. She went out one morning to the sea-side, bringing the three children with her, and what happened there left the whole county stunned.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 265 · source

This is the burial ground at Lisnalurg, in the townland of Shannon Eighter, County Sligo. In 1969, human bones were discovered during the widening of the Sligo to Bundoran road. A member of the National Museum of Ireland came to inspect and found that an old road, marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1838, was being removed to make way for the new one. The old road ran north to south, and part of its surface had been cut away. Bones were visible in the face of that cutting, lying just beneath the old road surface and resting on undisturbed boulder clay. They extended for about 20 metres along the cutting and reached 60 centimetres below the road surface. They protruded haphazardly, as if earlier burials had been disturbed by later ones. The skeletons were apparently unprotected, and no orientation could be judged. No finds were recorded. A local woman living nearby told the inspector she remembered a tradition that the parts of the gardens of Lisnalurg House nearest the road were never dug, "because of the bones." If that tradition holds, the cemetery might extend at least 8 metres inward from the cutting face. About 12 metres beyond the apparent edge of the cemetery, a large saucer-shaped deposit of burnt clay, stones, and charcoal flecks was visible at roughly the same level. Its visible portion measured 4 metres across, its bottom 60 centimetres below the road surface. It consisted of layers of burnt stones, patches of charcoal, and layers of ash, and was either a hearth or an ash pit. No artifacts were found there either. There is no visible surface trace of this burial ground today.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL014-016001- · source

Sligo town is coming up. In 1595, George Bingham was butchered in the castle here by Lieutenant Ulick Burke, who was second in command at Sligo. Burke hated the Binghams for their treatment of himself and the wholesale massacre of his relations. He organised a conspiracy, brought over enough of the garrison, and fell on Bingham in the castle. He and his associates despatched him and put to the sword, or removed from the castle, all who took his part. What led to this began earlier that year. Hugh Roe O'Donnell invaded Connaught twice within a few weeks and carried off great preys of cattle in spite of Sir Richard Bingham's efforts to prevent him. The Binghams felt the indignity deeply. George Bingham equipped two ships in Sligo harbour and sailed along the coast of Carbury, round Teelin Head, into Lough Swilly. He disembarked and ravaged the Carmelite monastery of Rathmullen, carrying away sacred vessels, altar ornaments, priests' vestments, and every article of value. He passed to Tory Island and rifled the chief church there, dedicated to Saint Columba, patron saint of the O'Donnells. Having outraged O'Donnell's religion and territory, they returned well pleased. But their triumph was short. There is nothing to show O'Donnell was privy to Burke's plot, though he derived the greatest benefit from it, for Burke had no sooner become master of the place.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 153 · source

As you come through Sligo, this is the coast where three ships of the Spanish Armada were wrecked in 1588. A count reckoned eleven hundred corpses at one time. According to a return signed by Geoffry Fenton, the three ships contained 1,500 men. The greater number of those who escaped the sea by swimming were either executed by the authorities or knocked on the head by ungrateful and unnatural natives, as happened to luckless Spaniards in other places. These coasts have always been a favourite resort of the whale, owing probably to their roughness and wildness. Sir Thomas Molyneux, in his Discourse concerning the Danish Mounts, Forts, and Towers in Ireland, mentions the capture not far from Ballyshannon of a whale seventy-one feet long, which yielded a large quantity of true spermaceti. In 1740 another whale was killed about the same spot, measuring fifty feet in length and forty-four in girth, yielding five and a half hogsheads of oil. In 1779 Messrs. Beranger and Bigari, during their tour in Connaught, saw one of these monsters in the offing. And an article in the Irish Monthly of November 1883 records that the writer saw, that year, in these waters, a whale.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 25 · source

Founded on March 17th, 1840, the Protestant Orphan Society held its first meeting in the school-room in John Street, Sligo. The Rules of the Dublin Orphan Society were adopted at that meeting, and a Report was read showing that 35 orphans had been admitted, with grants for maintenance ranging from 30s. to £5. The Society laboured on for several years with very limited financial resources, until it was adopted universally by the county, and gradually became one of its leading and most important institutions. For a lengthened period it depended entirely on card collections, sermons, offertories, and annual subscriptions. Then, some 25 years since, it was largely aided by a basket-sale of work, provided by Miss Mary Cooper of Cooper's Hill, and members of her family and friends. This developed into a bazaar, managed by the late Mrs. L'Estrange of Kevinsfort, and Mrs. Cooper of Markree. It still flourishes under a ladies' committee, and provides fully half the annual income of the Society, the sale in 1889 realizing upwards of £300.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 80 · source

As you pass through Sligo, you are near the old abbey where a death in 1731 kept the county talking for years. William Ormsby, the son of a gentleman of station, fell in love with Catherine Conaghan, a Catholic girl of humble parentage. He married her privately, according to the rites of the Catholic Church. After some time a child was born to them, and he regretted what he had done. He set about dissolving the marriage, but before he had made any progress, his wife was found dead at the foot of the tower in the abbey. Some said she had thrown herself down from the tower. But the corpse presented all the appearance of a struggle, says Mr. Burke, and a coroner's jury found a verdict of wilful murder against William Ormsby. The authorities went in search of him, but searched long in vain. He had disappeared from the neighbourhood and kept out of the way. The tragedy engrossed the thoughts of everybody. They talked of the incomparable beauty of the deceased, which had attracted and fixed the affections of one so much above her in station. They talked of her virtues, which by common consent were as rare as her beauty. And they talked of the unnatural scene of the occurrence, consecrated by the continual ministrations of religion, and guarded, as it were, by the thousands of good men who were awaiting there their resurrection. Ormsby was later tried at Sligo in 1731 and acquitted.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 260 · source

Sligo town holds a grim story from the old gaol on Albert Street. A man named Sweeny was hanged there, though many believed him innocent. He faced it with great firmness, his only regret being that he could not receive Extreme Unction, which was given only to the dangerously ill. When the rope was adjusted and the black cap pulled down, the rope snapped under the sudden strain. Sweeny fell on his feet and took great injuries. His first words on recovering were, "Thank God, my life is my own." The Sub-Sheriff, Mr. Abraham Fenton, replied at once, "Not so, if a rope can be found in Sligo strong enough to hang you." He was as good as his word and soon procured a stronger rope. Sweeny, now grievously ill in body, received the one thing his heart was set on, Extreme Unction, after which he met his fate a second time.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 264 · source

Somewhere about Castledargan, there is a story from the old days of proselytizing, when it was the fashion for individuals as well as societies to make converts, sometimes more for fashion than faith, and not always caring much whether the convert was real or a sham. Captain Ormsby of Castledargan, uncle to the late John Ormsby of the same place, was more of a wag than a zealot. He had a confidential man of all work named Simon, who went occasionally to chapel but was not what you would call earnest in religion. On this promising subject the Captain tried his missionary hand, saying to him one day, "Simon, you have been long enough with these beggarly Papists, and you must now join our respectable and rich religion, or quit for ever my service." Simon, who had little of the martyr about him, answered, "Very well, Captain, but to qualify me for my new company you must get me a suit or two of nice clothes." The Captain gave the clothes, and Simon appeared a Sunday or two in church with the quality. Ormsby knew well it was all make-believe. When Simon fell seriously ill, he called for the Catholic priest, and Ormsby remarked that the conversion had been a sham all along.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 244 · source

Sligo town saw a special commission open at the close of 1806. Two secret societies had been working to curtail the fees people paid to the Catholic clergy for marriages, baptisms, and other rites of their Church. This movement might have succeeded had it confined itself to legal measures. But those who sought to "fix a fair rent" on the clergy went to such extremities that they placed themselves within the meshes of the law. These men, called Threshers, would visit the house of any person who had, as they considered it, paid too much to the priest. They dragged the delinquent from his bed, "carding" him. Their disguise was simple in the extreme: they blackened their faces and wore a white shirt over their clothes. The special commission was opened to try some of these agitators.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 163 · source

Somewhere around here, a duel was fought between Somers and Fawcett. A large crowd of peasantry had gathered, contrary to an agreement that the affair would be private. Somers fell at the first discharge. Though wounded and disabled, he used such severe language that Fawcett's second refused to withdraw him from the ground until Somers' own second requested it. Fawcett and his party narrowly escaped. The slightest false step might have led to a murderous attack on them by the surrounding mob.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 161 · source

This is a holy well in Scardan Beg, in poorly draining low-lying land. Three holy wells stand in close proximity, and the maps do not agree on their names. The 1837 map calls this one Saint Patrick's Well and places Saint Brigid's Well about 110 metres east-south-east. By the 1940 edition, this same well bears the name Saint Brigid's Well. The well itself is a square area enclosed on three sides by drystone walls, standing roughly half a metre high, with an entrance at the south-east. There are no steps.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL014-038001- · source

This is a holy well in Scardan Beg, in poorly draining low-lying land about 110 metres west-north-west of St. Patrick's Well. Three holy wells sit close together, and the maps do not agree on their names. On the 1837 OS map this well carries the designation 'St. Brigid's Well', positioned about 110 metres east-south-east. On the 1940 edition it bears the name 'Lady Well'. The ground to the north-east has been raised with hardcore in recent times, and no surviving remains were identified.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL014-038003- · source

Scardan Beg is a holy well site in poorly draining low-lying land, 25 metres south of 'St. Brigid's Well'. Three holy wells sit in close proximity, and there is some discrepancy as to the designation applied to each on the 1837 and 1940 editions of the OS 6-inch map. On the 1940 edition this monument bears the name 'St. Patrick's Well', but on the 1837 map it carries the designation 'Lady Well'. The ground level to the north-east of the holy well has been raised in recent times with hardcore, and no surviving remains were identified.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL014-038002- · source

As you pass through Strandhill, this is where Mrs. Irwin was held during the war of 1688 to 1691. She was captured by Sir Teigue O'Regan as she tried to flee the county. He said, "Though the Fox has escaped I have got the cubs." She was detained prisoner in a fort here at Strandhill, and found herself obliged to part with everything belonging to her, even to her wedding ring, in order to procure bread for her children. At the close of the struggle many Protestants found themselves ruined, their money exhausted from the pressure on their own resources while the war was being carried on. Each side seemed to understand the art of carrying on the struggle at the cost of their adversaries.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 2 · source

As you come through Strandhill in Sligo, you are passing a place that was once nearer the seashore than it is now. Between 1816 and 1835 a great inundation of moving sand overwhelmed the village, and the inhabitants were forced to remove in a body up the slopes of Knocknarea. The sand had been threatening for a long time. People had broken up the sandy lands along the coast for potatoes, oats, and other crops, and the catastrophe that followed might have been foreseen by any intelligent observer. But no note of warning was raised. It was not until 1816 that the real inundation commenced in full force. From that year up to 1835, thousands of fertile acres were overwhelmed. No efforts succeeded in checking the devastation. The planting of bent grass as a remedy was then unknown. The unfortunate cottiers retreated before the deluge, clinging to their wretched hovels as long as the roofs could sustain the mass of sand above them. The same fate fell on the land near Haughly, on the properties of Sir Robert Gore-Booth and Mr. John Grethin. Year after year the wind turned several townlands into a miniature Sahara. The inhabitants abandoned the struggle one by one until only one or two houses were left. An eye-witness described the once fertile plains of Raughly. The remains of many houses could still be traced. At least a hundred huts were still inhabited but nearly overwhelmed, resembling more the dens of wild animals than the habitations of human beings. Fragments of the ancient church and some of the rude tombs were still seen, peering over the accumulating sand. This wilderness was bounded on two sides by the Atlantic.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 140 · source

The road comes through Strandhill in Sligo. This was a seaside place, and here Johnny Bustard kept a public house. His name stood for good drink. Paddy M'Guinn tells of a night when a man he calls Prince Nebs came knocking at his door. Paddy told him to come in like a Christian instead of wearing his knuckles on the door. Prince Nebs sat down in Paddy's chair and said he had come back for additional information Paddy had promised him the year before. Paddy said he nearly lost the boat the last time they talked, and Prince Nebs never asked had he a mouth on him. Prince Nebs said talking was dry work. Paddy told him there was no licensed house within miles, but there was a shebeen across the street kept by Mr Youngford, who kept as good a drop as you would get this side of Johnny Bustard's. They drank the pint sent out for. Prince Nebs said he was leaving Sligo. He had been travelling the Province of Connaught for Foley's stout, and now that he had it established, the company were sending him to Ulster. He told Paddy that if he sent a decent article to Mister Kilgannon's Almanac he would get 2 guineas, and if he gave some of his experience since he got married, he might make it 3. Paddy said if he could get Biddy to write an article for 2 guineas he would do so. Prince Nebs got up to go. Paddy, seeing one glass still in the bottle, asked him to take another mouthful. He said he would have a small drop as the night was cold, and between them he finished the bottle, with Paddy kicking himself for asking.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from KILGANNON’ S ALMANAC FOR NORTH CONNAUGHT 1906 Vol. 2 Parishes And Townlands Of County Sligo (1906), Tadgh Kilgannon of Sligo, Internet Archive kilgannon-s-almanac-for-north-connaught-1906-vol.-2-parishes-and-townlands-of-county-sligo, Chapter 37 · source

As you come near Knocknarea, that mountain above Sligo, you are passing a place where the campaign of arson that swept this county in 1797 left its mark. A few nights after agitators burned the haggards of Mr. Thomas Jones at Mount Edward, they came here and burned the house of Mr. Henry. It did not stop there. A few nights later they stripped Mr. Wynne's gatehouse of its lead, taking it for bullets, and then set fire to the haggard of Mr. A. Irwin of Willowbrook. The writer of the time said it was thought they would

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 162 · source

Kilmacowen holy well is a ritual site in pasture, in a damp hollow with rising ground to the north and west. It sits about 30 metres north-east of the north-east corner of a graveyard. The well is named Tober Padraig, as shown on the 1837 and 1913 Ordnance Survey maps. It is a rectangular, vertical-sided pit, roughly 1.2 metres by 1 metre, half a metre deep, with rough drystone walling on the sides. A low wall of jumbled stones and boulders encloses the top on three sides, and a boulder wall extends to mark a small access route. A shallow overflow channel runs to the south-east, bordered by remnants of a field wall and a line of hawthorn bushes. At the time of inspection the well was dry and overgrown. A holy stone stands about 15 metres to the south-west.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL020-054004- · source

Somewhere close to Kilmacowen, a duel was fought in 1816 that left one man dead and questions hanging over the conduct of the seconds. Major Hillas faced Thomas Fenton that day. John Fenton acted as second to his cousin, while Major Hillas was attended by Captain Ferrall, a noted duellist, assisted by Loftus Jones and Jack Taaffe. Ferrall, however, was old, between seventy and eighty years of age, and lame, so Loftus Jones took on most of the second's duties. John Fenton, the account says, acted all through with consummate skill and coolness. He placed his cousin on the ground, put the pistol into his hand, squared him, and moved his arm so as to protect his own person and to cover that of his adversary. Hillas, all this time, was left very much to shift for himself. The multitude of seconds, unlike the multitude of counsellors, did not ensure safety. What is everybody's business is nobody's business. Fenton was the first to fire. Hillas fired nearly at the same moment, after which he dropped down dead. Thomas and John Fenton were indicted on the 21st March 1816, in the Crown Court of Sligo, before Judge Fletcher, for the murder of John Hillas. The court was crowded to its utmost capacity. The witnesses examined were James Moffatt, Loftus Jones, Doctor Armstrong, Robert Ormsby, Mr Wynne, and Doctor Carter. The proceedings were dull and languid, the conclusion a foregone one. In his charge to the jury, Judge Fletcher was so one-sided, and so hard on Hillas, that he felt the need to make some apology, adding that he had perhaps entangled himself on the subject more than he ought. The jury retired from the box just after the judge pronounced the duel to be, in his words, as fair a one as ever was fought. They came back in a minute or two.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 272 · source

Somewhere around here, a member of the Phibbs family owned 499 acres and charged rents roughly double the valuation on land that tenants had themselves reclaimed from bog. When the parents of Pat and James McK. came into possession, there was not a perch of arable land in their holdings. It was all wet, unwalkable bog, still in its primeval state. Day after day, year after year, these men and their children delved and drained and manured, up to the knee in water or sludge. The writer says they were continually realising more than their share of the lot assigned to the children of Adam, of "eating their bread in the sweat of their face." And then, the moment a patch of land was made ready to give crops, the landlord stepped in and set on it a rack-rent, inflicting a penalty on the tenant instead of a reward for reclamation. The writer says he makes these references with great reluctance, but history, to be useful, must notice the good and the bad of men and things.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 107 · source

A court tomb at Corhawnagh, in County Sligo. It stands on sloping pasture about 400 metres north of the steep slopes of Slieveward, with an outlook across Ballysadare Bay. The tomb sits in an oval mound, 9.7 metres north-east to south-west and up to 6 metres north-west to south-east. A north-east-facing gallery is divided by jambs into two chambers. Only the more northerly entrance jamb survives, and no remnants of the court remain. Four sidestones are left on the more northerly side of the gallery, three on the opposite side, and a large backstone closes it.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL020-161---- · source

This is a passage tomb standing on the narrow summit of Croaghaun Mountain, 2km south of Ballysadare Bay, commanding an extensive outlook in all directions. The tomb faces south-east and has a rectangular outline within a circular cairn. Three stones form the left-hand side of the structure. One stone of a probable original three stands at the right-hand side, and the chamber is closed by a backstone. A sillstone stands at the front of the chamber. The site was excavated in 1985. Cremated human bone was found in the chamber, along with a fragment of a poppy-headed antler or bone pin, one piece of chert with wear-marks, and fragments of coarse ware pottery. Five minor deposits of cremated bone were found in the cairn. With one of those deposits there were sherds of food vessel type. A hollow scraper made of chert was also found in the cairn. During the excavation two displaced slabs, likely to have been chamber roofstones, were found south and west of the structure. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from an in situ cremation suggests it was deposited in the interval 5640 to 5490 BC. That date is much earlier than would be expected for a passage tomb, and it may be that charcoal already many centuries old somehow became associated with the burial deposit. Charcoal associated with cremated bone in another part of the chamber has been dated to the interval 4675 to 4460 BC. That date too, according to the excavator, presents “problems of interpretation.” A prehistoric wall of large boulders, which may have been associated with the passage tomb, lies about 130 metres south, where it curves around the base of the mountain roughly south-east to south-west.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL020-181---- · source

A holy well, Crockacullion, recorded in 1836 as Cuilltilinead Holy Well, the name meaning the woods of Liney. It stood in pasture beside a low rise. The priests prohibited stations there because of, in their words, some vice or misconduct committed by those who visited it. There are no visible remains now.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL019-168---- · source

You're coming up on Beltra, a small place in Sligo with a story from August 1782. A gang calling themselves the regiment of cudgelers, about two hundred strong and active across the baronies of Leyny and Tireragh, showed up at the fair here. Over a hundred of them came armed with cudgels and oak boughs, striking people as they passed along. They attacked a party of the Independent Tyreril Volunteers who were recruiting for the navy, pelting them so severely with stones that the Volunteers had to take shelter in the Strand-house. Lewis Francis Irwin heard what was happening and came immediately to their assistance. Four men, Michael Kenny, Owen Kenny, Maurice Marley, and Francis M'Cowen, were committed to the county gaol for the riot.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 161 · source

Barnabrack passage tomb stands in the townland of Barnabrack in Sligo. On the Ordnance Survey map of 1913 the site was marked as a stone circle. Wood-Martin, writing in 1887, described it as a slightly raised mound, about 57 feet north to south by 45 feet east to west, formerly encircled with boulders. He recorded that the site was traditionally called Coolcrave, and was said to be the burial place of those who died in a battle that took place nearby. What survives today is a semi-circular level area, about 18 metres north to south, defined by remnants of a ring of close-set boulders and incorporated into a curving field wall. The stones survive best in the north-west to north, where six to seven boulders occur in a curving line. In the south, five close-set boulders appear to be in situ, and a few isolated stones protrude from overgrowth on the east. The boulders range from 0.50 to 0.70 metres across and stand 0.40 to 0.80 metres high. The western half of the site has been obliterated, bordered on that side by a rough track from which the ground falls away sharply.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL019-132---- · source

Up ahead you're coming into the parish of Skreen, where a church was founded in the seventh century by St. Adamnan, who died in 704. The name comes from the Latin word Scriniuni, meaning a shrine, because Adamnan's shrine was deposited there. Old writings mention two shrines of Adamnan, one holding his own bones and the other containing relics of various saints he had collected, and the church seems to have been built to receive and preserve them. The site itself had earlier been granted to St. Columba. The Life of St. Farannan relates that when Columba visited Tireragh after the convention of Drumceat, Tipraid, the chief of Tireragh, granted him three places, and the third, Cnoc-na-maoile, became Serin-Adamnan after a church was built on the spot, now called Skreen.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 217 · source

Somewhere close to Dunmoran, over the Dunmoran stream, there's a flag stone, nine feet long and nine inches broad, known as Droiched-Awnan, the Bridge of Awnan or Adamnan. It's thought to be the Leo Adamnan mentioned in the Book of Fenagh, tying the saint's name to this stretch of the landscape. Adamnan left his mark on other spots here too. Near the church, on the north side of the road, there's a well called Tubber Awnan, with a stone monument standing over it. The Book of Fenagh and other records keep his memory alive across this corner of Sligo. Dr. Reeves, in his edition of Adamnan's Life of Saint Columba, notes that the shrine of Adamnan held 26 articles, among them manuscripts of the Gospels, hymns and poems, apparel belonging to the saints of Ireland, and a few relics of St. Paul and the Virgin Mary. A large box, and what Reeves calls "a rather heavy load to carry about."

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 217 · source

As you pass through the parish of Templeboy in Sligo, there was once a substantial church here, sixty-two feet long and twenty-four feet wide. The interior was occasionally used as a place of burial, and some tombstones still stand with inscriptions so worn they are nearly illegible. The dates 1733, 1741, 1761, and 1765 are almost the only parts that can still be made out. A well dedicated to St. Molaisse stands near the church. St. Molaisse is credited with spreading religion across this part of Tireragh, and Templeboy was one of the parishes he is said to have influenced. He is also linked to the priory of Aughris, on a bold headland to the west, where tradition holds he founded the original establishment, though no trace of that structure now remains. Donnell O'Dowd, who died in 1380, may have repaired or rebuilt the priory, but the original foundation is attributed to St. Molaisse himself.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 220 · source

A late sixteenth-century tower house, Cashelboy, standing on a north-facing slope in hilly pasture in Sligo. It is a square, two-storey building of limestone, with a slight base batter at the foot of the walls. Cashelboy church stands about five and a half metres to the east. The ground floor is covered by a barrel vault running north to south, with a loft above it. The entrance is at the south end of the east wall and opens into the vaulted area. A spiral stairwell sits just north of the entrance. It is lit by one slit window at ground level and two more at first floor level. At first floor, a passage in the south wall leads to a garderobe in the south-west corner. Another passage, beginning in the north-east corner, leads to an oubliette in the centre of the east wall. The east wall has a large round-headed window with late sixteenth-century dressing. The north wall has a small slit window. The west and south walls have broken-out, flat-headed, single-light windows. There are large rectangular niches beside the windows in the west and north walls. There is no evidence of a second floor or of battlements.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL018-029001- · source

A pit-burial at Ballyeeskeen, in Sligo, found inside a barrow that was excavated in 1963 before the N59 road was widened. It was a secondary burial, inserted into the east side of the barrow. The pit held the cremated remains of one adult, gender unknown. Cremated animal bones were also recovered, along with five decorated pottery sherds of Food Vessel type. Twelve fragments of chert were found nearby.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL012-053003- · source

Dunneill Castle stood on a low rise on a high bluff overlooking a bend in the River Dunneill, on the outskirts of Dromore West village. The Down Survey map shows a castle named Dooniell Castle at this location. By 1837 the six-inch map marked it only as a site. It was an O'Dowd castle, taking its name from Neill, a chieftain of the family. It later fell to the MacSweeneys. In 1641, according to some depositions, the castle was in the charge of Gullne duff O'Hart of Carbury. Today the ground is a subcircular mound of earth and stone, about 30 metres across, rising between 1.7 and 3 metres. It shows considerable evidence of quarrying and disturbance. No masonry is visible.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL012-031---- · source

As you pass through Dromore West, the old union workhouse opened here on the 1st of May 1852. A sealed order from the Poor Law Commissioners declared it fit for paupers. 170 indoor and 6 outdoor paupers were transferred from Sligo and Ballina workhouses. The building cost about 4,000 pounds. By 1890 the union had 60 indoor and 233 outdoor paupers.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 84 · source

You're passing through Dromore West on this road. The most important road built in later times led from Sligo to Ballina. The new portion left the old line at Tanrego and took a direct course to Dromore West, then through the bogs to Ballina. It was about 27 miles long, made around 1810 to 1815.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 100 · source

As you pass through Dromore West, this was the headquarters of one of Sligo's Poor Law unions, part of the administrative infrastructure for famine-era poverty relief. The union covered 96,985 acres, contained 3,129 houses, and had a population of 17,849. That is all the record holds for this place.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 223 · source

This is Carrownrush Tower, a stone signal tower built about 1805 on a promontory overlooking Sligo Bay to the east. It is square on plan, two storeys, with corbelled bartizans at the south-east and south-west corners and a corbelled garderobe on the north wall. The walls are rubble stone with ashlar copings to the parapets. Later work at parapet level dates to about 1850. Windows on the north, east and west have ashlar dressings and stone sills but are missing. The entrance is missing, assumed on the east elevation. Both internal floors are gone. This tower belongs to a series built around the Irish coast during the Napoleonic wars. Its resemblance to the medieval tower house is striking.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (CC-BY 4.0), NIAH 32401201 · source

This is a holy well at Doonaltan, on the Ballymeeny River, beneath a small waterfall in a steep-sided, wooded ravine. The well is a natural river pool known as Dabhach Fharannain, the vat or keeve of Farannan, said to have been used by St Farannan for the baptism of pilgrims and for personal mortification. A bedrock slab beside the pool at the south-east served as an altar. A second holy well lies on the steep west slope of the ravine, about 40 metres to the north-west. On the ridge top bordering the east side of the ravine, about 20 metres to the south-east, there is a cairn traditionally said to be the saint's grave.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL011-058002- · source

Coming up now is Easky in Sligo. This is where Michael Fenton, who had the name of being no great friend of "the boys," once met Thady Connellan in company with some neighbours and said to him: "So, Thady, you are transporting the boys?" The imperturbable Thady replied: "Yes, sir, just to save you the trouble of hanging them." Thady had received large sums for the work of the Elementaries and a considerable amount for emigration purposes. With the emigration fund he dispatched several young fellows of Tireragh to America on O'Connor's vessel, the Cadmus. It was suspected at the time that he was anxious to have them out of the country, as they knew more than he wished of his relations with the Thrashers, some years before, when for lack of other employment he used to hawk felt hats at fairs and markets. Self-denial was not Connellan's characteristic virtue. He made a good thing of his connection with the Hibernian Society. But in an evil hour he was tempted by the prospect of high interest to bank most of his savings with Baron Foster, who was about as pious a man as Thady himself, and closed on the money. Those who knew Thady gave him no credit for sincerity, but rather regarded him as a charlatan and a sham. Lady Morgan, young as she was when she met him, gauged correctly his assurance, his cunning, his affected dignity, his rich brogue that beggared all description, and his simulated learning.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 222 · source

As you pass through Easky, this is the town where a public religious debate took place in the Catholic chapel on the 23rd and 24th of November. Michael Fenton of Castletown chaired the proceedings, and more than 600 people attended. Three priests faced four Protestant ministers, arguing over the propriety of indiscriminate Bible reading and private judgment. The chairman conducted things with great order, impartiality and firmness, and the disputants showed conspicuous ability — though the record notes the result probably did more ill than good to speakers and listeners alike. It was said to the credit of the diocese of Killala that the first three priests met there were a match, and many thought more than a match, for the trained controversial athletes opposed to them. Among those ministers was Dr. William Urwick, reckoned one of the most eloquent men in Ireland in his day. He was ordained for the Sligo ministry on the 19th of June 1816, called to York-street Chapel in Dublin in 1826, and died there on the 16th of July 1868. He is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 225 · source

Somewhere around here lies Castletown, in the parish of Drumcliff, described as the cradle of the O'Connors Sligo. Its original name was Caislen Conor. The book calls this the starting place of the family, though it offers little more than that about the settlement itself. What it does give is a long catalogue of the O'Connor Sligo line: Cathal becoming king of Connaught, Cathal Oge's exploits and death, Donnell murdering his cousin Teige and then enlarging the territory and improving the town of Sligo. Later came Sir Donnell O'Connor, described as a match for Queen Elizabeth and her ministers. Sir Donogh, nephew of Sir Donnell, married Lady Eleanor Butler, widow of the Earl of Desmond. The name of O'Connor Sligo eventually drops out of view, with Mr. Peter O'Connor and his nephews named as the genuine descendants of the line. The book notes a serious mistake by O'Donovan and others regarding the O'Connors Sligo, and speaks of the character of the Castletown O'Connors, though the passage before us does not give the substance of either.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 345 · source

A ringwork castle at Oldgrange, set on a north-facing slope overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. A raised circular area is enclosed by two low banks of earth and stone with a shallow ditch between them. The outer bank is stone-faced, some of the stones quite large. Both banks have been levelled from north-west to north-north-east. The original entrance is at east-north-east, marked by a stone-lined break in the outer bank, a disturbed causeway across the ditch, and a matching break in the inner bank. Other causeway-type features lie just south of the entrance and at north-east. A possible house site sits within the interior.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), SL011-009001- · source

Somewhere around here is Kilglass. There is doubt as to the meaning of the word. It might signify the Church of the Stream, the Church of the Green Spot, or the Green Church, but it is extremely probable, if not certain, that it means the Church of St. Molaisse. In a letter written by Thomas O'Connor to Thomas A. Larcom, given in the Ordnance Survey Letter Book of the county Sligo, the writer observes, "Kilglass is a corruption, the people say, of Kil Molaisse." What would show the people to have been right is that in the Commonwealth Rental of Bishop Lands, Kilglass appears with the alias of Kilmolasse. The church must have been a comparatively rich one in early times. While Dromard, Skreen, Templeboy, and Easky are valued in the Taxation of 1307 for 2 marks, 4 marks, 4 and a half marks, and 5 marks respectively, the value of Killoglassa is 100 shillings. The parish of Castleconor, divided from Kilglass by the Belawaddy river, stretches along the east side of the bay of Killalla until it joins Kilmoremoy on the south. It takes its name from the castle, sometimes called Caislean mic Conor and sometimes Dun mic Conor, the castle or the dun of the son of Conor. Want of attention to that meaning led even O'Donovan and Hennessy to confound the Castleconor of Tireragh with the Castleconor of Carbury.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 227 · source

As you come through Inishcrone, there are considerable remains of a castle. The town was a fashionable seaside resort, frequented by the traders and shopkeepers of Ballina and the better-off people of upper Sligo. The parish of Kilglass, like most of the other districts of Tireragh, had its quota of castles, three of which are marked on the Ordnance Survey map. This castle was the chief seat of Caomhain's descendants. Old English writers called them O'Keevaines, John O'Donovan called them O'Keevans, and in recent times they called themselves Kavanaghs. The Burkes of Lower Connaught took the castle from them. Then in 1512, O'Donnell recovered it after a spirited contest, which the Four Masters describe well. He forthwith demolished it, "lest it should fall again into the hands of his enemies."

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The history of Sligo : town and county (1900), O'Rorke, Terence, Internet Archive historyofsligoto00oror, Chapter 226 · source

As you come through Inishcrone, you are near ground where the 1798 insurgents attacked several Protestant churches. They pulled the carpenter work from the churches at Lackan, Easky, Killraghtige, and Enniscrone, and tore the books they found. The Enniscrone church suffered worst. They tore up the flooring, demolished the pews and communion table, rifled the tombs, and desecrated the remains of the dead. The Sligo insurgents were aided by those of Mayo. All the houses of the gentry were plundered, and some demolished. The principal sufferers were Mr. Nesbitt of Scurmore, Mr. Fenton of Easky, Mr. Brown of Fortland, Mr. Grove rector of Kilmacshalgan, Mr. Charles and Mr. Robert Jones, the Messrs. Wood, and several others.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 12 · source

In the town of Inishcrone, in County Sligo, the church was among several badly damaged during the rebellion. They tore up the floors, demolished the pews and the communion table, and rifled the tombs with great indecency. They insulted the remains of the Reverend Mr Valentine. He had been vicar of that parish and resident there for fifty-three years. He died in 1765, in his ninetieth year, noted and universally revered for his humane and charitable disposition. He left 600 pounds for the support of the widows of the clergy of the diocese, and 400 pounds for maintaining a charity school in the parish, and for apprenticing the children who were instructed in it.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Memoirs of the different rebellions in Ireland, from the arrival of the English : also, a particular detail of that which broke out the XXIIId of May, MDCCXCVIII : with the history of the conspiracy which preceded it (vol. 2) (1802), Musgrave, Richard, 1745 or 1746-1818, Internet Archive memoirsofdiffere02musg, Chapter 77 · source

As you pass through Inishcrone in Sligo, you're travelling a coast once lined with salmon bag-nets. An Act in 1863 abolished the nets at Enniscrone, Streedagh, Mullaghmore, Rosskeeragh, and Drumore West. But after a Fishery Inspectors inquiry in 1866, the nets at Enniscrone and Streedagh were restored. At Enniscrone alone, 34 nets were put back to work, each 400 yards long. From Easky to Aughris, 18 boats fished with nets of equal length. Before the railway reached Ballina in 1865, about 500 boxes of salmon a year from this shore were shipped by steamer to Liverpool from the port of Sligo.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 129 · source

You are coming near Inishcrone in Sligo. In August 1877 a sudden flood destroyed the bridge at Enniscrone, along with the Cabragh bridge. Both were rebuilt at a combined cost of £550.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 101 · source

Somewhere around here, half the people of Inishcrone still remembered the time the Enchanted Island appeared off their coast, about twenty years before 1888. The fishermen of Ballysadare Bay in Sligo knew all about it too. This was no ordinary island. It came and went, showing itself along the west coast from Cork in the south to Antrim in the north, appearing in bays and off headlands, then vanishing again. People disagreed about what it was. Some held it to be a real island, its tricks down to magic of some kind. Others said it was not earth and stones at all, but a deluding show made by evil spirits or the devil himself to deceive poor sinful creatures. What everyone agreed on was that it had been seen, and that there was something strange about it. A Kerry fisherman summed it up: it is against nature for a real island to be coming and going like a light in a bog, and when you do see it, you can see through it. The Inishboffin islanders in Donegal said it looked like their own island, and the people on Gweebarra Bay, when it appeared there, saw along its shore a village like their own. A landlord in Galway even made a devout wish that it would stay where it appeared in the mouth of his bay. It never did stay, of course. It confined its wanderings to the west coast and went no further east than Rathlin's Island off Antrim.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Irish Wonders (1888), D. R. McAnally, Jr., Project Gutenberg #19486, Chapter 5 · source

As you pass through Inishcrone, this was a fishing town where fishermen used nets, lines, lobster-pots, and trawl-nets, taking nearly every description of fish. Nearby stations at Pollacheeny and Derkmore produced cod, pollock, haddock, whiting, herrings, mackerel, and plaice.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 128 · source

Somewhere close to Scurmore there's a place locals call the Children of the Mermaid. The name belongs to seven large boulders sitting on the edge of a circular rampart that surrounds a fine tumulus. The thinking behind the name was that these megalithic stones had once been living creatures, changed into rock by magic. That belief ran deep among country people. Sligo had its own mermaid lore, called the Merrow, and the old annals fed it. In 887 a dead mermaid was said to have washed ashore, and her dimensions were recorded in detail. The Annals of Loch Ce tell how fishermen caught two mermaids in 1118. Some fishermen still believed. One man swore he saw a mermaid sitting on the rocks combing her hair, and when he came near she dove straight into the deep.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of Sligo, county and town, from the close of the Revolution of 1688 to the present time (1892), Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory), 1847-1917, Internet Archive historyofsligoco00wood, Chapter 179 · source

The castle of Belleck-Moy stood on the west bank of the Moy, on the north edge of Ballina, at a slight bend and narrowing of the river, opposite its confluence with the tributary river the Brusna. It was built in the 13th century and held by the Barretts. In the 15th century the Burkes were in dispute with the Barretts over ownership of the castle, among other properties. A resolution in 1584 saw Walter Kittage Bourke gain possession. Knox records that Bourke did not hold Belleek for long, as the English gained possession of it and it became a garrison. In 1595 Bourke regained possession, but by 1630 it was owned by Sir William Fenton, and ownership continued to change in the succeeding years. By 1838 the Ordnance Survey Letters recorded that a considerable portion of the ruins had been visible in the memory of the old natives, but no part was then traceable. The ground had passed to Edward Howley, a catholic magistrate, who built Ballina House there in the 1830s. The castle stood on the hill over the Moy between Howley's house and the river. A possible remnant was identified in 2012: a three-storey, stone-built tower-like building, incorporated into the east end of a 19th-century brick and rubble stable block, about 30 metres east-north-east of Ballina House. The building measures 6.10 metres north to south and at least 4 metres east to west. Its base is set back 4 to 5 metres from the river's edge, now separated by a trackway. At the base of the east wall, a portion of the original mortared limestone blocks is visible. No original windows remain. Brick-lined square windows were inserted later, and a doorway opens into a small vaulted chamber lined and roofed with red brick. The 19th-century modifications make examination and interpretation difficult.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA030-055---- · source

Somewhere around here, in the autumn of 1847, a Ballina solicitor described how Mayo landlords were clearing their land. Instead of formal ejectment, they used civil bill processes, suing tenants for the use and occupation of the land. A summons was served on the tenant at least six days before the court sat, stating the amount claimed to be due and requiring the defendant to appear. The court would then grant a decree under which either the person of the defendant or his chattels could be taken in execution. In practice, the landlords issued these decrees against the persons of the tenants, for the obvious purpose of clearing the land. For two and a half years, the tenants had been unable to pay their rents with their former punctuality, and in the northern part of this county the landlords almost universally proceeded against all tenants in arrear, in most cases up to the last gale day. Many of the poor tenants, upon being served, fled the country and saved the landlord further trouble. They knew that if they stayed they must either pay the rent in full, surrender their land and home, or submit to imprisonment under an Assistant-Barrister's decree. Many who had no means to leave or pay gave up their holdings willingly and sought admission into the workhouses to escape arrest. A few who were obstinate were arrested and cast into gaol, and found they could procure release only upon giving up possession of their land. Some were even detained in custody until they surrendered their holdings.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from A Visit to Connaught in the Autumn of 1847: A Letter Addressed to the ... (1848), James Hack Tuke , Society of Friends Dublin Monthly Meeting . Central Relief Committee, Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends (Dublin, Ireland), Internet Archive avisittoconnaug00irelgoog, Chapter 3 · source

Named St. Patrick's Well on the 1837 and 1930 maps, this holy well stands on the outskirts of Ballina, on the road to Killala. The 1838 Ordnance Survey Letters record it as the place where, according to the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, the saint baptised a local chief called Eochodius. The original form of the well is unknown. In the 1960s it was set in a concrete surround inside a walled enclosure that also contains the Stations of the Cross. A bush once grew beside the well, and pilgrims tied rags to it as votive offerings.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA030-052003- · source

On the 1837 Ordnance Survey map, a roughly square area, about 30 metres by 30 metres, is shown near what is now Kilmoremoy in Mayo. It is not named as a burial ground on that map, but by the 1930 edition a much larger walled area is marked and called League Cemetery. The townland boundaries had shifted by then, bringing the burial ground within Kilmoremoy. A mortared stone wall encloses the ground. An access road branches from the Ballina-Killala road to the entrance on the east side, then continues westward along the full length of the south wall. The land rises and falls with the natural slope of the ridge, so some graves sit on level terraces and others on sloping ground. Most are marked by formal headstones or graveslabs from the 18th and 19th century, with a few plain, uninscribed stone markers among them. At the highest point, in the south-west corner, a circular enclosure stands where the dashed outline appeared on the 1838 map. A bullaun stone and a cross-inscribed stone are associated with it. Fifty metres east, a medieval church stands within Kilmoremoy graveyard. Long grass, yew trees, and thick scrub now cover much of the ground.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA030-051004- · source

A burial monument at Laghtadawannagh, in Mayo, on a ridge in pasture land. It was shown on the 1837 and 1930 Ordnance Survey maps as a small oblong feature, named "Friar's Grave" and "Laghtadawannagh," and seems to be the source of the townland name. Local information described a low heap of stones, about 8 feet by 4 feet and 2 to 3 feet high, with no formal structure. It was removed during land clearance in the 1970s or 1980s. A single stone, 0.8 metres north to south and 0.7 metres east to west, lies partly embedded in the ground just below the summit of the ridge on the north-west-facing slope, but it is unclear if this is a remnant of the monument.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA030-035---- · source

Somewhere close to Derreens, there was once a small bog-lake celebrated for its trout. The smaller lakes scattered across this country vary in the fish they produce. Some afford trout, others pike only, and many hold both. But that union cannot long subsist, as one remarkable circumstance shows. Derreens, a short distance from Castlebar, was famous ten years ago for its numerous and well-sized trout. Then pike accidentally found a passage into the lake from the Minola river. Now the trout are extinct, or at least none are caught or seen. Before the pike came, you could kill half a dozen trout in an evening at Derreens, whose collective weight often amounted to twenty pounds. Indeed, few of the Mayo waters are secure from the encroachments of the pike. The lakes of Castlebar still retain their ancient character. But pike have been latterly taken in the Turlogh river, and they will soon appear in a lake which directly communicates with that stream.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wild Sports of the West; Interspersed with Legendary Tales and Local Sketches (1832), William Hamilton Maxwell, Internet Archive wildsportsofwest00maxwrich, Chapter 40 · source

The town of Killala was where the French landed in August 1798. General Humbert brought his force ashore at Killala Bay, and thousands of the disaffected joined them. They promptly marched on Castlebar, and the whole country was at once plunged into terror. The Government had been alarmed at the prospect of a French invasion, which private information said was intended for the western coast of Ireland. Colonel Vereker, holding the rank of Brigadier-General, commanded the British forces in various disturbed districts during the rebellion. The Limerick Militia under his command were ordered to move from Athlone to Carrick-on-Shannon, and ultimately sent to Sligo, next to Castlebar one of the most important strategic positions in the neighbourhood of the landing. The Government chose Vereker not only for the confidence they placed in his skill, activity, and courage, but also on account of the well-known loyalty, excellent discipline, and manly bearing of the fine regiment he commanded. The prudence of the Government was justified by the event. The English had not yet crossed bayonets with the French, nor taught them in terrible lessons that they were not invincible. The French name was clothed with terror. Europe had beheld mighty armies on her continent scattered in dismay by a vastly inferior force of French troops. Everywhere victory accompanied her banners, and so uniformly successful had she been that her officers and soldiers alike came to look at resistance to her arms as an absurdity, and at defeat as a simple impossibility.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Limerick, its history and antiquities; ecclesiastical, civil, and military,from the earliest ages, with copious historical, archaeological, topographical, and genealogical notes (1884), Lenihan, Maurice, 1811-1895, Internet Archive limerickitshisto00leni, Chapter 237 · source

As you pass through Killala, you are on the ground of a battle fought in 1798. The two divisions of the royal army made up about twelve hundred men, with five pieces of cannon. The number of rebels could not be ascertained. Many ran away before the engagement, while a considerable number flocked into the town in the very heat of it, passing under the castle windows in view of the French officers on horseback. They were, in the words of the source, running upon death with as little appearance of reflection or concern, as if they were hastening to a show. About four hundred of these men fell in the battle and immediately after it. Their entire number scarcely exceeded eight or nine hundred. When driven from their post outside the town by a flanking fire of the soldiery, they fled in all directions. They were furiously pursued by the Roxburgh cavalry, who slaughtered many in the streets, and were intercepted at the other end of the town by the Kerry.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of the Rebellion in Ireland, in the year 1798, &c., containing an impartial account of the proceedings of the Irish revolutionists, from the year 1782 till the suppression of the rebellion. With an appendix to illustrate some facts. 2d ed. with considerable additions; and a pref. containing a reply to the observations of Sir Richard Musgrave, upon this work (1803), Gordon, James, 1750-1819, Internet Archive historyofrebelli00gorduoft, Chapter 146 · source

Somewhere around here, on Sunday, 23 September 1798, the Battle of Killala was fought during the Irish Rebellion. British Crown forces faced a combined force of Irish rebels and a small number of French troops at Killala, County Mayo.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), en.wikipedia.org: Battle of Killala · source

As you come through Killala in Mayo, this town was held for 32 days by the French and rebels in 1798 before his majesty's forces recovered it. When the town was taken by storm, a fleeing rebel burst through Andrew Kirkwood's door. Kirkwood was a most loyal and respectable citizen, and he was rejoicing at the victory, in the very act of shouting out "God save the King," when soldiers fired a volley that proved fatal to him. The general and his officers exerted themselves, but the town showed all the marks of a place taken by storm. Houses were perforated like a riddle. Most had their doors and windows destroyed. The trembling inhabitants scarcely escaped with life by lying prostrate on the floor. It was not till the close of the next day that their ears were relieved from the sound of muskets discharged every minute at flying and powerless rebels.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from History of the Rebellion in Ireland, in the year 1798, &c., containing an impartial account of the proceedings of the Irish revolutionists, from the year 1782 till the suppression of the rebellion. With an appendix to illustrate some facts. 2d ed. with considerable additions; and a pref. containing a reply to the observations of Sir Richard Musgrave, upon this work (1803), Gordon, James, 1750-1819, Internet Archive historyofrebelli00gorduoft, Chapter 148 · source

Somewhere around here, in March 1667, Captain Theobald Dillon and a small detachment waded the Moy water and scattered into villages searching for food. They kept no watch, believing themselves miles from the redoubtable robber Dudley Costello. But Costello's scouts were better served. He and his forty men swooped down. Dillon was reinforced, and in the fight that followed Costello was shot dead. Dillon's letter reporting the affair was dated from Croghan.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from The life of James, first duke of Ormonde, 1610-1688; (vol. 2) (1912), Burghclere, Winifred Anne Henrietta Christina Herbert Gardner, Baroness, 1864-1933, Internet Archive lifeofjamesfirst02burg, Chapter 13 · source

This is a children's burial ground at Carn, in the townland of Carn in Lackan parish, Mayo. The ground holds a grass-covered wedge-shaped cairn of small and medium stones, about 28 metres long, 11 metres wide, and just over a metre high, close to the summit of a prominent hill. Much of the broad north end has been quarried away.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA014-062001- · source

This is Carrickanass castle, on the north bank of the Carn River at the base of a south-south-west-facing hillside. The castle and bawn of Carricknassy were listed in the 17th-century Stafford Inquisition of County Mayo. It was still standing in 1802 when McParlan described it as a square tower, 30 feet by 45 feet high, surrounded by a bawn 9 feet high, built by the Burke family. By 1838 it had been demolished. O'Donovan found only a single wall, which he took to be a remnant of the bawn wall. The 1838 map marks the spot as the site of Carrickanass Castle. Nothing is visible at ground level now.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA014-057---- · source

A children's burial ground, Rathoonagh, Mayo. The record for this site has not yet been uploaded to the Historic Environment Viewer. Those seeking information may contact the Archive Unit at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Custom House, Dublin.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA014-003---- · source

Somewhere around here lies the Céide Fields, a prehistoric landscape on the north coast of County Mayo, buried beneath blanket bog. It holds stone-walled field systems, habitation sites, enclosures, and megalithic monuments, and has been dated to the fourth millennium BCE as a Neolithic farming landscape. There are estimated to be more than 100 km of field enclosure walls hidden under the peat. An alternative reading by Andrew Whitefield suggests parts of it may be closer to later Bronze Age or Iron Age field systems found elsewhere in Europe. The Behy court tomb stands within the complex, and the site sits on UNESCO's tentative list for World Heritage status.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), en.wikipedia.org: Céide Fields · source

Somewhere around here is Behy, a megalithic court tomb near Belderrig in the north of County Mayo, sitting within the Céide Fields complex on the slope of Maumakeogh hill. It's the most westerly of the thirty or so tombs in the Killala group, with wide views across the sea to the Stags of Broadhaven. The chamber lies buried beneath peat, long known to local turf cutters by the folk name 'Roomeens,' and that sunken chamber had once been used as a still house for making poteen. The site is on private property. The monument first came to archaeological attention in 1952, when Rúaidhrí de Valéra and Sean Ó Nualláin of the Ordnance Survey surveyed it, initially classing it as a passage grave because of its cruciform chamber, before that assessment was revised after a second survey in 1959.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), en.wikipedia.org: Behy court tomb · source

Somewhere around here, in the autumn of 1847, fever was so severe that one visitor called it a plague. He was warned against entering the town, told that every other house was more or less infected by its deadly presence. The fever struck the respectable classes and the poor alike. Hardly a family among the better off escaped it; several members had been attacked or were mourning the loss of nearest friends. But among the poor, crowded together on filthy straw on the mud floors of their cabins, without suitable nourishment or care, it was worse. In one family seven were lying prostrate, in another five, in another three. The poor themselves were so fearful of the infection that they frequently warned the visitor against entering their cabins. Infection once in these hovels was almost certain to remain. The great mortality of the past year was confirmed by all he spoke with. The belief was general that unless immediate steps were taken to relieve the people, deaths would be even more numerous, and the famine far more terrible in the coming winter. Instead of twenty thousand inhabitants, ten thousand only would be left. He called this place upon the inner Mullet the ultima Thule of human misery. At Bangor, at Rossport, at Pullatomas, everywhere he saw the same waste land, the same neglect, crowds of wretched beings imploring for food or work. "Feed us or we die" seemed written on the countenances of every one. He had visited the wasted remnants of the Red Man on his reservation grounds in North America, and explored the negro quarter of the enslaved African, but never had he seen misery so intense.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from A Visit to Connaught in the Autumn of 1847: A Letter Addressed to the ... (1848), James Hack Tuke , Society of Friends Dublin Monthly Meeting . Central Relief Committee, Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends (Dublin, Ireland), Internet Archive avisittoconnaug00irelgoog, Chapter 1 · source

This burial ground at An Carn, in Mayo, lies in farmland adjacent to the north end of Blacksod Bay, about 1 km from Belmullet town. It is a trapezoidal enclosure, roughly 95 metres across, bounded by a mortared stone wall and reached by a trackway from the main road. Inside are dense rows of 19th- and 20th-century headstones and grave plots, mixed with north-to-south lines of low, uninscribed stone markers. The graveyard does not appear on the 1838 OS map but is marked as 'Grave Yd.' on the 1921 edition. Local tradition says it was used for famine burials and was associated with the Belmullet Workhouse, opened in 1851. The earliest inscribed headstone, recorded by the Mayo County Council Graveyard Survey, dates to 1896. Clay pipes found within fall into the date range 1850 to 1910, evidence that smoking beside the grave after burial was a common practice.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA009-027---- · source

Somewhere around here in Binghamstown, in the autumn of 1847, a temporary auxiliary workhouse was still under construction but had already taken in destitute applicants. Able-bodied men were given tasks for daily meal allowances. The place could shelter only a small fraction of the evicted poor in the district, and families who could not get in were found lying in the ditches nearby, too weak to crawl any further. One family of five was found in a ditch about a fortnight before and carried inside on the orders of the Inspecting Officer, who thought they had come there to die. One child had died, but the mother and the other children, little more than skeletons, were just recovering. Another family was found the same way, and the doctor attending said the mother could not weigh more than three stone. Despite everything, the inmates expressed gratitude to the Inspecting Officer for his kindness. The writer left here for Belmulet and closed what he called scenes it would be difficult to find equalled, even amidst the terrible wretchedness of Ireland.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from A Visit to Connaught in the Autumn of 1847: A Letter Addressed to the ... (1848), James Hack Tuke , Society of Friends Dublin Monthly Meeting . Central Relief Committee, Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends (Dublin, Ireland), Internet Archive avisittoconnaug00irelgoog, Chapter 2 · source

This is an unclassified castle at Bearanach Thoir, on the north-west side of Ely Harbour, on the south-east side of the Mullet peninsula in Mayo. It stands on a storm beach, bordered on the landward side by flat marshy ground, with access along the beach to rising dry ground about 100 metres to the north-east. The 1838 Ordnance Survey map shows a rectangular building about 20 metres by 10 metres, annotated as, in their words, "Barranagh Castle in ruins." By the 1921 edition, only a single wall is shown bordering the shore. There are no upstanding remains today. The site is marked by a slight sod-covered rise, about 12 to 15 metres by 15 to 20 metres, bordered by a spread of large angular stones spilling over the natural rounded cobbles of the beach. Two blocks of displaced masonry survive, about 2 metres by 1 metre by 0.8 metres, consisting of uncoursed rubble coated in rough lime mortar with heavy inclusions of shell and animal bone. Two parallel lines of contiguous stones, set 2 metres apart and extending about 8 to 10 metres, may represent the basal course of a wall. A layer of dark soil 0.2 to 0.25 metres deep, with degraded mortar and small angular stones, some with a burnt appearance, may be a floor surface, or may relate to a limekiln built within the castle ruins and later destroyed by storms. A fragment of a rotary quern was found among the rubble, half of the upper stone, 0.6 metres by 0.28 metres, with its central perforation and a smaller one toward the perimeter for a wooden turning handle.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA016-011---- · source

Reported by Tommy Walker of Aughleam, Belmullet, this unknown wreck lies in the waters of Elly Bay, in Blacksod Bay, Mayo. The National Monuments Service found it during a rapid dive inspection on 1 September 2011, about 130 metres east-north-east of the position marked on UKHO charts. The wreck runs north-north-west to south-south-east. Ten upright metal frames form one side of the vessel, stretching about 10 metres in length. The frames stand up to 0.70 metres high, 10 centimetres wide and 1 centimetre thick. A heavily concreted mound of metal debris rises to about 1 metre in the centre. A metal pole stands 2 metres above the seabed. The remains of a winch, both stud-linked and open-link chain, and a 1-inch steel hawser are also present.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Wreck Inventory of Ireland Database (CC-BY 4.0), WIID W11714 · source

Coming up now is Bangor, in Mayo, a town the road passes through. In the autumn of 1847 an author came through here and what he saw stayed with him. He had been making a circuit of the Erris district, through Belmullet on the inner Mullet, through Bangor, through Rossport, through Pullatomas. Everywhere he went he saw the same thing: waste land stretching out, cultivated land left neglected, and crowds of wretched people imploring vociferously for food or for work. The mortality of the past year in this district was confirmed by everyone he spoke with, and the belief was general that unless immediate steps were taken, deaths would be even more numerous and the effects of famine far more terrible in the coming winter. They said that instead of 20,000 inhabitants, 10,000 only would be left. He wrote that it was a state of things that makes one unhappy to write about, how much more to witness. On the countenance of every person he met, the words seemed written: "Feed us or we die." He had visited the wasted remnants of the once noble Red Man on his reservation grounds in North America, and explored the negro quarter of the degraded and enslaved African, but never had he seen misery so intense. The Temporary Relief Act had expired, and whatever could be said of it, it had doubtless saved multitudes of lives. The Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends had directed its particular attention to this suffering district, and even at that time numbers were relieved by its grants. But the very small number of persons to whom funds for distribution in this and similar districts could be entrusted made it absolutely impossible to do all that could be desired.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from A Visit to Connaught in the Autumn of 1847: A Letter Addressed to the ... (1848), James Hack Tuke , Society of Friends Dublin Monthly Meeting . Central Relief Committee, Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends (Dublin, Ireland), Internet Archive avisittoconnaug00irelgoog, Chapter 1 · source

As you pass through Bangor in Mayo, you are near a coast where, in 1847, at least 3,000 people scattered along the rugged shore could have found support through the fisheries. At the time of the author's visit that autumn, many were being kept alive by food grants from a relief committee. An efficient and trustworthy agent based here in Bangor was engaged to encourage both the fisheries and native manufactures as a more lasting way of supporting the population. The small curraghs in use were not suited to deep-sea work, and it was said that a few hundred pounds spent on larger boats for the cod and ling banks would have created a profitable trade, as the fishermen of this coast were expert and courageous under good leadership.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from A Visit to Connaught in the Autumn of 1847: A Letter Addressed to the ... (1848), James Hack Tuke , Society of Friends Dublin Monthly Meeting . Central Relief Committee, Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends (Dublin, Ireland), Internet Archive avisittoconnaug00irelgoog, Chapter 1 · source

As you pass through Ballycroy, you are near the waters where an otter-killer was once carried to his burying-ground in a funeral flotilla of more than a hundred boats. The lodge where he had lived stood cut off from the burying-ground by the estuary, so the body had to be taken across by water. When evening came, boats gathered from every creek and harbour, and the master and his foster-brother carried the coffin ashore on their own shoulders. It was said this was the highest honour a master could bestow on the dead, surpassing even the magnificence of the otter-killer's wake.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wild Sports of the West; Interspersed with Legendary Tales and Local Sketches (1832), William Hamilton Maxwell, Internet Archive wildsportsofwest00maxwrich, Chapter 154 · source

Around Ballycroy in Mayo, there is an old belief in a creature called the master-otter. He is said to live in certain inland loughs, and to meet him is thought to be fatal. But his skin holds amazing virtues. Where a piece of it is kept, a house cannot burn and a ship cannot wreck, and the man who possesses even an inch of it is safe from steel or bullet. Antony, who knows these things from otter-hunting, says he never found one himself. But he tells of one killed far down in the north by three brothers called Montgomery. They rose from poverty to great wealth, and their descendants are rich to this day. Antony says the master-otter was seen twice in this neighbourhood. At Dhu-hill, about 60 years ago, he appeared attended by about 100 common-sized animals, waiting upon the master like loyal beasts. He was also seen by one of the O'Donnel family, passing through Clew Bay in a sailing-boat. O'Donnel needed fresh water and landed on an island to fill his keg. He found the spring already occupied by a strange animal. After his surprise passed, he went back to the boat for a gun. He loaded it carefully with five fingers and a half of powder, levelled it within a dozen yards, and pulled the trigger three times. Three times the gun missed fire. The otter wisely left the well for the ocean. Mortified, O'Donnel fired at a passing gull and the gun went off perfectly, killing the bird. The gun was faultless. As Antony said, he might have snapped at the master to eternity, for if an inch of skin can save house, ship, and man, what a deal of virtue there must be in a whole hide.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from Wild Sports of the West; Interspersed with Legendary Tales and Local Sketches (1832), William Hamilton Maxwell, Internet Archive wildsportsofwest00maxwrich, Chapter 104 · source

Recorded by John O'Donovan in 1838, this is the site of a castle at Castlehill in Mayo, set on a west-south-west-facing slope in pasture, 130 metres from the shoreline on the north side of an inlet on the inner reaches of Blacksod Bay, with bog stretching to the east. There are no upstanding remains. O'Donovan wrote in the Ordnance Survey Letters that in the townland of Knock a Chaisleain, now Castlehill, the foundations of a castle were shown, and there were old men living who had seen considerable portions of it standing, but he could find no tradition of its founder or last occupier. On the 1838 Ordnance Survey six-inch map the location is marked as 'site of Castle' with a small farmstead of three rectangular houses immediately to the north-west. By the 1920 edition the farmstead is no longer shown and only 'Castle (site of)' is marked. Moran in 1942 reports the tradition that the castle was destroyed by fire, and that the Composition of 1585 and the Grant of 1612 suggest Castlehill was an early Butler property. A cross-inscribed pillar stands 70 metres to the south.

Told by the narrator (z-ai/glm-5.2) from National Monuments Service, Sites and Monuments Record (CC-BY 4.0), MA044-007---- · source