School: Cluain Fhada (roll number 15091)

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1. Local Poets

   

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   In the district where I live a great number of local poets lived and died and all their writings have been lost except what the old people can remember. The last of those was a man named James McKeon who resided in the townland of Cloonfad. He lived beside Cloonfad on Ballagh Lake for seventy years and died there. He is buried in the historic graveyard of Cloonaff. He inherited the gift of poetry from his ancestors and his writings are still in possession of is brother though they have not been printed or published. Poor Jamesy, as he was locally know, was of a retiring disposition and spent most of his time, when not engaged on the land, in fishing. There lived another local poet in my townland named "James Ones". He wrote many poems one being "Old Memories".
   Oh fare thee well my native plains,
   From these I had to wander,
   But in my head they memory reigns,
   In absence still the fonder.
   Farewell each lake and lonely isle which awoke my poetic number.
   And dear old Aughrims Holy Pile
   Where my forefathers slumber.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. genre
      1. poetry
         1. folk poetry (~9,504)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Phyllis Crosbie

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Cloonfad More, Co. Roscommon

   Informant

   Michael Crosbie

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cloonfad More, Co. Roscommon