School: St John of God Convent, Rathdowney (roll number 16203)

Location:: Rathdowney, Co. Laois
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0828, Page 100

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Penal Days (continued)

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(continued from previous page)
old church in Coolkerry Graveyard which is situated about a mile outside Rathdowney and there is in it also the mouth of a cave which is said to go some distance underground. In the Penal Days mass was celebrated in this church and whenever there was any danger they used to run into the cave for safety. All this was told to me by an old man named Micheal Rooney aged seventy eight.
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Penal Days

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Mr Fennelly, Galway who is seventy three years of age told me that there is a Mass-bush by the roadside in Moneynamuck. I went to see it and it is opposite Miss Mary Grattan's cottage. It is a whitethorn bush and seems to be a hundred years old. About four feet from the ground there is a flat portion in the trunk and this is said to have served as an altar. Mass was said there while the worshippers knelt in silent adoration on the cold rough road. On a hill a short distance away a scout kept watch while the Priest in imminent peril fulfilled the duties of his holy state. There is neither story or historic spot to tell us that a Catholic Priest was ever betrayed there or fell a

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