School: Cortown (roll number 3113)

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1. Local Heroes - Continued (continued)

   

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   to work at the harvest. One of those was Phil Cahill, Tullyatten, Newcastle, Mullagh, Kells. That was about 40 years ago.
   At the time when the first of the labourers cottages were being built in Meath there was a family, the Shane Mór Reillys living in Newcastle, Moynalty. They were masons and were employed in building the cottages at Billywood, Moynalty, 6 miles from their home. No one ever saw them mowing their fields. The meadow stood at nightfall. It was cut when the neigbours got up the following morning, and the Reillys gone off walking to their building work.
   At Newcastle too lived a man named Phil Cooney. He was a thatcher, singer, dancer and story teller. He lived with his grandmother until he was thirty years of age and he spoke no English until that age. He is dead about 15 years. Almost all his songs were in Irish and as he thatched he sang. One of his favourites was Druimfhionn Donn D'ilis. He is described as being very tasty in his work and could do very beautiful ornamental thatching. He usually spent the winter months at the thatching work in places a considerable distance from his home. Loughan in the parish of Carnaross was one of the places where he worked. As his stories were often in Irish, the names of his favourite are not

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. historical persons (~5,068)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Peter Smith

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cortown, Co. Meath

   Informant

   Mrs J. Smith

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Kells, Co. Meath