School: Niall Mór (roll number 11843)

Location:
Killybegs, Co. Donegal
Teacher:
B. Mac Niallghuis
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1039, Page 254

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1039, Page 254

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  1. XML School: Niall Mór
  2. XML Page 254
  3. XML “Castlecommon”

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  1. There is a place a little outside of Killybegs called Castlecommon. There are some caves and a tunnel there and it is said that there is a crock of gold hidden somewhere in the tunnel. Every year people come to see the tunnel. This tunnel is connected with another place called Larg na Greine. It is said that it was the Danes who lived in Castlecommon. One day the Danes had to leave Castlecommon in a great hurry because their watchman had seen some great ships coming into Killybegs and they were afraid of being taken prisoners. When leaving they could not take the gold with them therefore they hid it in the tunnel. Many people wonder why the owner of the field in which the tunnel is, never opened up the tunnel to see if there was any gold in it. It is said that before the Danes left they made a man swear to guard the gold until they would come back for it.
    When the man had sworn to guard it, they would kill him and then he would guard it in the form of a serpent. At present the entrance to the tunnel is blocked by a great rock. There is a grianan and a giant's grave up in Larg na Greine. It is with the grianan that the tunnel is connected. The grianan is a sunny bower that was built for ladies in olden times.
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. genre
      1. belief (~391)
        1. folk belief (~2,535)
          1. treasure legends (~7,411)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Mary O Donnell
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Killybegs, Co. Donegal
    Informant
    Mrs O Donnell
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Killybegs, Co. Donegal