School: Coolderry
- Location:
- Coolderry, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: L. Mac Conriada
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0818, Page 096
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- Local Ruins
In the townland of Ballyknockan in the yard of the farm now owned by Mr Mahon are some of the walls of a castle which was owned by the O'Carrolls and which they had to leave owing to the persistent haunting of the place by a spirit. It appears that the spirit haunted the place and created such a din at night that eventually a priest was asked to remove the spirit from the house. After some futile attempts the priest eventually got the spirit into a bottle which he corked and sealed. The bottle was put i a hole in one of the walls but afterwards no matter how well the place was kept up it began to fall into ruins with the result that the O'Carrolls had to leave the place.
The site of this old castle was in keeping with others as to is strategic position. It commanded a good view of the district around it while it had a plentiful supply of fresh water from a spring well in the yard. This well (now a pump) has never been known to fail even in the driest of seasons.(continues on next page)
