School: Gurteen (roll number 586)
- Location:
- Gurteen, Co. Tipperary
- Teacher: Richard B. Bracken
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0530, Page 278
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- About a quarter of a mile from the village of Rathcabbin there is a field owned by a man named Mr. John Carroll. In the middle of this field situated in a flat valley there is a Mass Rock. This rock originally was three feet in height, two feet in length and one and a half feet in width, but it is now in two fragments. It was probably formed of lime-stone. On every side of this rock there are hills. When Mass was being celebrated in the valley sentries used to be posted on these hills watching for the "red coats". When they would see the soldiers coming they would give signs to the priest and the people attending Mass so that they could escape in good time if the soldiers did happen to come. There is a clump of trees growing around the rock. Some of them appear to be very old but others appear to have sprung up within the last century. There is one very old ivied tree hanging over the rock and it seems as if it were there in the penal days sheltering the priest while celebrating Mass.
