School: Lurga, Patrick's Well (roll number 10317)

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1. A Turncoat named Murphy and His Fate

   

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   Local Stories.

   A Turncoat Named Murphy And His Fate.

   When the Irish were crushed 'neath the Cromwellian forces, many Irish people, who were disloyal to their country, turned Protestant, because they got money in form of bribes from the English. Those people were commonly known as "turncoats".

   There lived at the time of the above mentioned period, a man named Murphy, who became a "turncoat". It is hard to understand how a man belonging to such a patriotic family, became a turncoat, but in reality it is true.

   When this man turned over to the protestant religion. It was the law that any such person had to do something to prove his loyalty to that religion. He might have, for instance, to arrest Catholic outlaws, or burn a Catholic church. Anyhow this man was told to knock the priest off his horse and kill him.

   This is how he set about doing it. Nearby to the priest's house, there was a hill on which the priest used to come down trotting on his horse. One dark night, the man tied a rope across the road at the foot of the hill, so as to trip the horse. The man then hid and waited for the priest. The priest came trotting down the hill, and as soon as the horse came to the rope it stopped. The priest urged it on, but it would not move. The priest dismounted to see what

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Michael Mc Grath

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Baile Uí Chearnaigh, Co. Luimnigh