The Ballinakill Ceilí Band
A cheerful reminder of the beginning of the Traditional Irish music in ireland. What had remained dormant for many years was given a lasting revival. Sincere thanks to Seamus Clandillon, first director of 2 RN as Radio Eorean was known in 1929.
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Marblehill House
Once a mansion of great beauty, now a crumbling ruin.
It was built by John Burke 1775, a Catholic landlord who gave constant employment . Avenues to the house were formed with ash from Woodford iron works furnaces. Marblehill exported many animals to America during the Wars of the American Independence. |
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Johnny Broderick
Described by Bishop Cassidy as “ one of nature’s gentlemen” .Johnny a self made poet quarried among the hills of Derrybrien. A diligent worker, his spirit clear as a mountain stream, was a receptacle of the changes of nature around him. A poet of the highest order. If poetry is the language of the soul then Johnny’s verses are poems of the highest order.
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Ballynagar House
During the Cromwellian plantations of 1654 - 1658 , 77 Catholic land owners were transplanted from County Watterford to the province of Connacht.John Aylward received 2,000 plantation acres at Ballynagar. Johyn’s son Peter erected a small chapel in a vault in the hillside. Ballynagar house enjoyed considerable peace until the Land War.
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Crann na h-Ola ...
A place name , which carries an age old story, stands in the precincts of Derrybrien church. Relating to Saint Patrick's early visit to the area, and his penitential service with an age-old woman. Today , the actual site where the saint administered the Last Rights to the dying lady has been retained as the parish cemetery.
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Ballinakill Field Monuments
We generally blame the local landlord for rack rents and local dominance.But, there is much he has left us in the form of field monuments.
Here in Ballinakill , in the Marblehill area, we find wedge tombs, dolmens some dating from the later Stone and Bronze ages. A fulach fiaigh is found in th Ballinakill school area, many ring forts and a giant standing stone called "Carraig Brega". |
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Dalystown House
Dalystown house decscribed by Pope O' Mahony of the Georgian Society as a "gem" was built in the 17th century.
Being the property of the Daly family of Dunsandle, all the farm and tenant houses visible from its elevated position were levelled with its occupants relocated to an area now known as Newtowndaly. |
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The Landslide at Ballinlough
References made to Ballinlough are found I the "Annals of the Four Masters". Three small islands , one called Mill House Island are recorded.
Sadly, more than a century ago - January 1890 , the fate of Ballinlough was sealed by a landslide from a 600 foot contour in Loughatorick. Turf banks were deposited along swollen rivers. No life was lost, but Ballinlough was greatly reduced. Some years ago, the river outlet was deepened . With the riverbed lowered , Ballinlough lake disappeared. |
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Local Mass Rocks
The Penal Laws were enacted shortly after the Treaty of Limerick 1691. The laws forbade the celebration of Mass. Churches were closed, so Mass was celebrated in some lonely valley with sentries on the surrounding hills. Rocks served as altars. Woodford, Ballinakill and Derrybrien have well known sites such as Drimkeary, Killeenadeema,and Loughatorick where mass was celebrated.
Seán Mac Fheorais has written a beautiful poem entitled "Anseo í lár an Ghleanna". |
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The Earl's Chair, Amber Necklaceand The Gamble line
On a 600 foot contour two miles off the Black Road stands the Earl's chair. Two giant slabs of rock in the form of a chair and probably from the Ice age have retained the title "Earl's Chair", Here the gentry , lords and ladies of past generations rested and feasted after a day's hunting and shooting.
The Amber Necklace Whilst turf cutting 1960, Joe Mc Hugo unearthed an amber necklace five feet beneath the surface. It's now in the front gallery of the National Museum. |
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