School: Tamhnach tSeiscinn (roll number 12778)
- Location:
- Tawnytaskin, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Aibhistín Ó Tárpaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0234, Page 189
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Tamhnach tSeiscinn
- XML Page 189
- XML “Hermit Island”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- I got the following story from my grandmother Mrs Mary McDermott who resides at Doon.
Hermit Island is in the centre of Lough Key it is a wooded island and it contains a little over an acre of land. Up to two or three hundred years ago the island was called Bada (?) Island. There is a story told locally about how the name changed from Bada island to Hermit Island.
During the Cromwellian period Boyle town did not escape the ravages and destruction of Cromwell's Insiders.
At this time, too, Boyle Abbey was occupied by the Cistercian monks. The story relates that the abbey was attacked by Cromwell's soldiers. The monks were taken unawares and all the monks with the exception of one were killed. This monk escaped to Bada Island where he build a hermitage. The hermitage consisted of one large cell together with two smaller ones in which he kept his fuel and food. The large cell was where he and prayed. Here the monk lived amidst the trees and ferns. In all that was around he saw the work of God(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Thomas Mc Dermott
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Doon, Co. Roscommon
- Informant
- Mrs Mary Mc Dermott
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 77
- Address
- Doon, Co. Roscommon
