School: Clonmacnoise
- Location:
- Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: P. Ó Maolmhuaidh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0812, Page 032
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- XML School: Clonmacnoise
- XML Page 032
- XML “The Clan Fights”
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- The Clan Fights.About fifty years ago a great party from Clonaderrig, the "Maws" or Maw Coughlan and another mob or party, the O'Kellys from across the Shannon used to collect and meet at Clonmacnois at a field called the "Pattern Green". They used to carry in their hands black thorn sticks with a piece of lead on the ends of them. They had about eighty or ninety men between the two parties. A certain man, the leader from Clonaderrig would shout, "It is twelve o'clock and not a stroke struck yet." Then the two parties would march through the Church yard and Pattern green, shouting and cheering. The priest often tried to stop them but they would not stop for him. A man belonging to Connaught, an O'Kelly would strip off his clothes, except his shirt and trousers. He would shout he was the best man in Pattern green. Another man from Coughlan would shout he was as good a man as was in the green .
Then the others would knock him down and kick him along(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Kathleen Pillion
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Francis Coughlan
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 70
- Address
- Clonascra, Co. Offaly
