School: St Columba's, Cloonagh, Granard (roll number 12813)
- Location:
- Cloonagh, Co. Longford
- Teacher: Peter O'Reilly
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0762, Page 422
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“In the townland of Cloonagh there lived many and many a year ago a quaint old woman called Peggy Hessin.”
In the townland of Cloonagh there lived many and many a year ago a quaint old woman called Peggy Hessin. Peggy was a well known figure on the place because she kept the local pub and it was the principal meeting place for young and old in the district and very few men far and wide but sometime or other quenched their thirst in it. The shop was a room in a small thatched house with a counter extending out more than half the breadth and at the end of the counter was a bed gaily curtained which was Peggy's resting place at night when she had her daily work done and her customers gone and satisfied.
It was very seldom when Peggy got retiring very early because it seems there was no closing time and very often they remained on until near morning and they always found Peggy most obliging to remain up as long as they had a penny. There was one man above all that Peggy hated and that was the penniless man, and she had the names of all such men in the locality on the tops of her fingers and nothing would induce her to rise for such men not if they knocked and craved the whole night and many and many a time thirsty souls would spend hours at night under Peggy Hession's window begging and promising of she would rise and(continues on next page)