School: Knockminna (roll number 12720)
- Location:
- Knockmoynagh, Co. Sligo
- Teacher: Máire Ní Scannláin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0183, Page 514
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- His wife and child were both turned into swans and immediately left the house.
Máire Ruad's castle is situated four miles from Kilfinora. Máire Ruad was Máire Mo Mahon and married an O'Brien. Both of them were tyrants, particularly Máire. They killed and tortured both men and women. At one time a member of the McNamaras family visited them. Máire gambled with him. He lost everything. Then they agreed to play for his mother's property. He was to ride a very vicious stallion to the Cliffs of Moher and back. If he did not succeed in reaching the cliffs on this wild horse, he was to lose all his mother's property. He made friends with a groom who told him how to manage the horse. He reached the cliffs. The print of the horse's hooves is there yet. He rode back safely but the horse dropped dead after arrival.
