School: Ballyboy

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1. Ballyboy and Surroundings - Social Tradition (continued)

   

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   unceasing war on their protestant neighbours who attended here. Finally there was a regular battle and the Mount Bolus crowd won, and locked up the school. It remained locked for many years and it was during this time that school was held in the protestant church.
   The Carmelites who lived in Kilcormac about a mile from Ballyboy occupied the place in or about where the present Parochial House stands. The late Fr Kane P.P. Kilcormac discovered a walk under the trees in his lawn barely covered with grass and soil. This was one of he monks walks. He got an expert from Dublin to examine the trees to find out their age. He gave it as his opinion that the trees were over 1000 years old! So seemingly those trees grew there long before O'Molloy founded the Carmelites in the 16th century.
   Curfew seems to be very strictly enforced in Ballyboy. The enforcing of the law was entrusted to a man called Atkins. He was a Scotch man. Every night at 8 o'clock he stood at the top of the street and called "all lights out. He then rode his horse up and down the street until after midnight. This would be about 1870 or earlier.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Miss Dora Pettit

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   80

   Occupation

   Shopkeeper

   Address

   Ballyboy, Co. Offaly