There lived an old man in Ratholdren whose name was Captain O Reilly. He was very kind to the crows and they used to come to him every day to be fed. When Captain O Reilly died, he was buried in Donaghmore, and from the day that he was buried the crows went to Donaghmore every day, and fly over the graveyard. After a time they deserted Rathaldron and settled in Donaghmore.

My home DistrictMy home District is Donaghmore. I live in the townland of Donaghmore. The name of my parish is Donaghmore. It is in the barony of Ballaghkeen. It is situated about twenty miles from Wexford and about eight miles from Gorey. There are about hundred people in the parish of Donaghmore. Long ago there was a church in Donaghmore but now it is in ruins. Every year there is a patron held there. It means

Mr Eager of Ballinafoyle, Townland Ballinafoyle, Donaghmore Parish, makes potato baskets from sally twigs.

Cooladawson is a small town land in the Parish of Donaghmore in the County of Donegal. It is on the boundary where the parish of Donaghmore meets the parish of Stranorlar and where the diocese of Derry meets the diocese of Raphoe. Its area is about 133 acres It lies between the two Cavans Upper Cavan and Lower Cavan and the town lands of Corean (?) and Gortletra bound it on the West.
The present National school was erected in the year 1840 who had been the parish priest or priest in charge but who had not the pleasure of seeing it opened in 1841 as a national school as he was murdered a few months prior to the opening of the school. He met his death in a mysterious manner on the roadside between Castlefinn and Donaghmore on a Sunday night having spent the evening with friends in Castlefinn after his sacred duties of the day were over and he was returning on horseback to his lodgings in or near to Donaghmore.
Many and varied were the rumours current in the parish at the time and for some years afterwards but as no inquest seems to have been held the cause of his death is only vaguely hinted at.
The old people of fifty years ago in recounting the awful occurrence declared that the priest was murdered on account of having performed a marriage ceremony between a Catholic and a Protestant and laid the blame on a rather

Landlords,Tenants etc.
Once upon a time there lived in New Castle a landlord named Donaghmore. He evicted one of his tenants who lived close by. Lord Donaghmore used go fishing along the banks of the Suir. The man he evicted worked nearby and as he was a very strong man Donaghmore was afriad of him. So he sent into Clonmel for the army. They put him in to prison, and after a few days they hanged him from the bridge that is over the Suir near New Castle.

An old lane, traces of which still exist run from the south side of Donaghmore hill, through Mr Mc Kevitts Farm, on to the Rice's Cross - Kilkerley Church Road.LandlordThe landlord for the townland was Mr Pierce Fitzgerald of Dublin. His agent's name was Donaldson. There was one eviction in olden times, details of which are lacking.Wells.There are two fresh water-wells in the Townland. They are known as Mc Ardle's Well and The Far-Well. Mc Ardle's Well is in Mr Matt Murray's Land and the Far Well is at the foot of Donaghmore rock. Adjoining Donaghmore is the Deerpark, so called, because it was the home of a herd of deer in former days. In this Park there is a Well known as the Friar's Well. It is situated at the S. E corner of the field. It is square shaped and about four feet deep. The Story goes that friars used to hide in the district. On one occassion they wer surrounded by English Soldiers who opened fire on the friars. Some of the friars were wounded and bathed their wounds in this well which since has

Near here there was a great big stone castle beside the road. It was six stories high and there were windows with sashes in them but no glass. There were some rafters in it also but the roof had fallen in if there ever was a roof on it
It was not a Danish castle as it was too well built for that. The old people said that it was never finished so no one ever lived in it. They said it was built by a tyrant named Mr Donaghmore and that the mortar put into the walls was mixed with blood to make them strong and hard. It was also said that the tyrant killed many innocent men to get blood for the mortar. Well Mr Donaghmore got just punishment for he was never able to put glass in the windows. Everytime he tried to put glass in it would fall out in smithereens. Sometimes it would be broken in an accident on the way to the castle and other times the job would be finished and the glass would be broken

in Castletown and the five swiftest runners were selected to drag for the huntsmen. The huntsmen procured a red herring and rubbed many chemicals on it then they gave the scent to the dogs. One man would run about six miles dragging the herring behind him then he would meet another man at an appointed place who would continue the hunt. There were prizes given to the huntsman who came nearest to the " dragger " and he also got a sum of money.
There were two very good old time dancers in this district namely John Sweeney of Killadooley and Daniel Dowling of Clonmeen. They won prizes at the old Flower Shows held in Donaghmore and Granstown. The principal dances were jigs, hornpipes reels etc.John Wall resident of Donaghmore was the best singer in many counties. If he had been trained he would have been famous.

There is a ruined castle in the district. It was built by Margaret Fitzgearld in the end of the fiftheenth century. It is on the estate of Major Cavanagh. There is a big stone chair in it and it is said if anyone wished while sitting in it they would get their wish. It has a dungeon which stretches from it to the river. People were fouly done to death in it.The ruin of Donaghmore Church is situated about a half a mile south of Ballyragget. It is built on the site of a church which was marked by St. Patrick on a Sunday. That is why it is called Donaghmore. It was also dedicated to St. Patrick. The nave and the chancel of the church are in very good condition still. The walls are very thick.
The church was used

Hidden Treasure
Two men dreamt that there was a crock of gold hidden in the graveyard in Donaghmore. There is a piece of land in the graveyard where sailors are buried and it is called the sailor's hole. It was there the gold was supposed to be and possibly hidden by some Monk or Saint. The men went one day to dig it and they came to a big flag. They were about to lift the flag when they heard chains rattling. They believed it was the devil so they fled. At that time there was a gallery on the old chapel in Donaghmore and two goats that were teetered happened to be going up the stairs and this caused the noise.
Thomas Dunne

Unlucky Days.
I got this information from a man named Thomas Brady of Donaghmore Naven. A grave should not be opened if a Tuesday in the Donaghmore graveyard it is said to be unlucky. It is all right to have the grave started the before Tuesday.
Another day that is said to be unlucky is, if you were in bed sick for a month. It would be unlucky to get up if a Friday.
This is said to be unlucky to travel to America on any Monday. If you were sick in Hospital for a few months. It would be unlucky to leave on a Wednesday.

and the nearest graveyard in the vicinity of Errill. All the graveyards in this district are still in use, but there is a large amount of people buried in Errill, and in Donaghmore.
In Donaghmore there is a nice little church, but there is only the ruins of a church in Errill graveyard. There is also a church in Eglish, and service is carried on there every Sunday.
There are a lot of old tombs and crosses contained in Errill graveyard, and some of them are only newly erected. There are crosses of different sorts in it also, some of them are made of wood, and others are made of concrete.
There is an old ruin in Errill graveyard, and there are people buried within this

Once upon a time a man living in Kilkenny dreamed he found money in the cave in Donaghmore. He was a great friend with Jerrie Smith. So the next day Jerrie Smith and himself went to the cave to get the gold and when they came to the door where the money was a great gust of wind came and blew Jerrie Smith into his own yard and the Kilkennyman had to go back to Kilkenny without the gold. Jerrie Smith lost his sight and died some time after.

the big Sunday. There are a good many people in my District seventy years in my District. The houses were more numerous in olden times but now many have fallen. Some of the people emigrated to England. The land is hilly. There are no woods in my townland. The Cooperstown river flows under the bridge at Donaghmore.
Bridie Ryan
Donaghmore
Killena
Gorey

The townland that I live in is Bruce which is in the parish of Donaghmore and in the barony of Ballaghkeen. Bruce in Irish means the big farm. Four families dwell in Bruce, and the approximate number of inhabitants is twenty-three. Dunne is the most common name

St Patrick entered the territory of Moy- [?] by way of Barnesmore Gap, and having reached the banks of the river Finn, he followed the course of the river as far as Donaghmore, where he halted.
The saint was then on his way to visit a prince of the Hy-Niall named Eugenus (Owen) and to offer him conversion to the faith.
St Patrick was so much impressed by the beauty of the place that he founded a church there which he named Donnach-Mor and to which he appointed as guardian one of his followers named Dubannum, son of Corcam.
The Protestant Church at Donaghmore now occupies the site originally selected by St. Patrick, and it is said that during the process of the building, not a single particle of the original edifice was all allowed to be used in the south wall. This stone can be easily identified by decorations and hieroglyphics that appear thereon.
This stone, it is claimed, furnishes the only concrete evidence in support of the claim that Saint Patrick ever visited Donegal.

“Domhnach” Mor : This parish is called “Donaghmore” from a popular belief that when St Patrick was on his way to Aillach he stopped at the place where the present Donaghmore church stands, and built is church there. From the numbers of people who gather from “Magh Ma” it was known as the “Big Sunday” i.e. “Domhnach Mor.” The church at present there is a Protestant house of worship. People tell of their sires [sic] having been buried there, and talk of a certain time and font, which are to be seen there, the only relics of its former Catholic ownership.It is told by Mr. John McMenamin, Egaltybane that when the Protestants were rebuilding the church, they endeavoured to do away with a certain stone by throwing it in the river Finn. On the following day, the building had fallen to the ground. This was repeated several times, until they recovered the stone and put it in the church, after which the building proceeded without mishap.The holy water font has had something of a similar setting. It seems that it was thrown into the river Finn on several occasions but again was back again the following day in the porch of the church.

This story was told to me by a man named Eddie Connaghan. He is about forty years of age and lived in the townland of Ownagadragh [Parish of Donaghmore]. He said that there used to be a light seen in the mountain of Ownagadragh. This was supposed to be fairies. It was seen for a long time but it was seen in the winter. This light is not seen now.

Lone BushesThere are two lone bushes in the townland, one on Byrnes land and the other on O'Hare farm.Cave.There is a Cave beside Peter Farrell's Cottage. It was discovered 1935 when workmen were building a new ditch around this Cottage. It was never fully examined and is covered over with a heap of stones. The entrance to the cave is along the Eastern ditch of Mr Farrell's Cottage approximately 12 yds from the County Road. There is a small rock somewhat resembling a fort in the field on the opposite side of the road from Farrells Cottage. Two fields on Mr Matt Murray's farm are known as the Paracladdy and the Crockachinny - in the latter field there is a fox covert.RoadsTwo roads pass through the townland. One runs from Kilkerley Church to the top of Donaghmore Hill where there is a T cross roads. At this junction, one section of the road runs north through the townlands of Greyacre and Newtownbalregan to the Main Dundalk-Castleblaney Road, while the other section runs south to the townland of Thomastown to the main Dundalk-Carrickmacross Road. These roads were constructed by the late Bd. Lavelle Donaghmore about the year 1907 (Jas. Reilly, Rathmore). Before that time the district was served by a boreen.

The townland of Donaghmore lies due east of Kilkerley Chapel. On the main it consists of one range of hill running E.W. and rising to an eminence 250 ft. high over looking Dundalk and Dundalk Bay. It is one of the highest hills in the District and from it can be seen an extensive area of the Co. Louth and the surrounding counties.
Mass RockAs the name implies, it is of Irish derrivation - Domhnach Mór. In the penal times Mass was celebrated in the open at the foot of a rock on the land of Mr Thomas Mulholland. This rock was recently demolished (1934) by County Council workmen in the course of quarrying operations. Mr Jas Reilly foreman in charge of the work (native of Rathmore, Kilkerley, aged 45) told me that the work men found some medals and coins at the foot of the rock in the course of the work. Some of these coins passed into the hands of the Rev. P. Corcoran P.P. Collon Co Louth.
Sea ShellsOn the top of the same rock small heaps of sea shells and sea sand were found recently in isolated spots by Thomas Darcy aged 12, native of Donaghmore. The writer