School: Derrynananta

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1. In the Penal Times

   

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   The Penal days as regards time, are so far removed from the present time that memories of them are almost forgotten. Yet there are some stories in remote places of the sad events connected with the Penal persecution. "Mass Rocks" and secret caves are still occasionally referred to and localised by the peasantry. On the road to Bawnboy not far from "Glan Gap" beside the country road there is a remarkable rock known as the "Mass Rock". It is also named "Maguire's Chair". It was conveniently situated for the people of the district to hear Mass. The night before the Mass was to be celebrated the priest who was to perform the Holy Ceremony came in disguise to a farmer's house adjacent to the Rock. As dawn was breaking the people flocked to the Rock to hear Mass, the celebrant been already there. On the top of a neighbouring hill a sentinel saw the approach of yeomanry he gave notice by an agreed signal. This sentinel stood his ground until the congregation dispersed, but any movement of his might cause the soldiery to increase their pace. Then the sentinel moved away. On one occasion it is said that some of the mounted soldiers saw the people running away in the distant hills and suspecting that the sentinel they saw and who was then nearby had given the signal to the people who had escaped, they sieged him and cruelly put him to death beside the rock. The sentinels name was Maguire and the "Mass Rock" was in consequence called "Maguire's Chair.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
         1. penal times (~4,335)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Peggy Mc Govern

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Moneensauran, Co. Cavan

   Informant

   James De Lacy

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   81

   Address

   Moneensauran, Co. Cavan