School: Dromina, Ráth Luirc (roll number 11262)

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1. The Burning of Churchtown (continued)

   

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   trustworthy “runner” from Glenosheen engaged in noting the lie of the path, and ascertaining where the gathering was to be. The next night, the first of February was bright, with a clear moon just suitable for the work in hand. The eastern Whiteboy contingent assembled near The ‘Lapp’ about a mile from the village and the western men under the command of Brosnahan from Ardglass, near Dromina mustered in a hollow off The Black Road near the windmill Hill where they found a policeman called Benlap concealed in some bushes, he apparently having found it impossible to return to the barrack with any reasonable hope of safety. After a long debate, he was shot, as he could not be trusted to keep secret all he knew and a score of lives would be at his mercy while he lived. “As dead as Benlap” was a common saying among the old people, when they wished to convey the very last tracers of life had fled. About midnight both sections of Whiteboys silently closed in on the village when the people were in their beds, and

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. events
      1. hardship (~1,565)
         1. fires (~306)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Eileen O' Connor

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   14

   Informant

   Patrick O Brien

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   62

   Address

   Ballynageragh, Co. Cork