School: Árd Móinín
- Location:
- Ardmoneen, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: A. Ó Cianaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0962, Page 295
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- XML School: Árd Móinín
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- XML “Traces of Pre-Christian Industries and Hence of an Ancient Colonization of this Locality”
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- The Slieve-an-iarnan mountains lie to the north and north-west of Ardmoneen School. The name signifies 'the mountains of iron', and there is every reason to believe that it is not a misnomer.
Tradition states that the De Danaans and Firbolgs wrought the iron mines here thousands of years ago, and carried the iron ore to Muilian-naiarnan for smelting. The same tradition says it was in bags they carried it, and hence the name - Firbolg.Muilean-na-iranan or the town of the iron mills was so called because it was here that they had their principal furnaces or mills for smelting of the iron ore. But apart from these large and important mills, traces of minor and of course less important furnaces, and even the roads leading to them have been discovered in recent years under our bogs, often at a depth of fourteen or sixteen feet below the surface.
Tradition tells us of many such roads and small furnaces, but I will just instance one that I saw myself. I saw the turf-cutter dig the bottom floor (or spith[?]) of turf off a nicely-made dry road made of broken freestone and covered over with the remains of burned wood, as I suppose, a substitute for sand.
The stones were just like what we see today in piles along our country roads, but somewhat larger in size.(continues on next page)
