1798Strictly speaking the 98 Insurrection may be said to have commenced in Ferns.
Exhorted by Fr Murphy to give up their arms the people of Boolavogue repaired to Ferns and surrendered their arms to Captain Hawkes Bornock who was a J Peace [Justice of the Peace] and who resided at Killogey Castle which is situated to the east of Ferns. (By the way it was here that the pitchcap was applied & here also the people were flogged.)
On their return homeward the people were set upon & some of them were killed by the - "Black Watch"- the Ferns garrison.
The O Donovan estate & mansion is situated about three miles to the east of Ferns and here a plot was hatched to murder Fr Murphy but it was frustrated through the butler who was a catholic & who was let into the secret by Lady Donovan.
Rockspring residence which is situated about two miles and a half to the east of Ferns now owned by a Mr Haughton (a Quaker) was the residence of Captain Bookey of the Camolin Militia. This Militia burned 100 houses on the morning of the Insurrection between Kilthomas (2 miles to the North of Ferns) & Ferns.

There are a lot of field names in my locality such as:- Garrdha Rannach which means "The Garden of ferns" and there are a great number of big rough ferns around it so that it is worthy of the name it got. There is another called "Garrdha Dubh" or "the Black Garden" It is a very dark garden and there are trees growing all round the border of it, and also big brambles and ferns which make it look very lonely. Another is called "Coiléar" or "the

This well is now partially overgrown with ferns and briars, but not filled with earth[?]

A man lived in Ballymanus + he used to let tinkers stop on his land. This evening they came to stop + they got ferns out of the raheen to sleep on. When the man of the house went out to bring in the cattle the next morning the cattle were all on their knees in the rath beating the ground + he could not get them out. Then he though would the travelling people have taken some of the ferns out of the rath + he went + got the ferns + put them back + then his cattle went home alright

Kilfea, Jacob's Garden which is someplace near Brownes house and the Bog which is to the West side of the Windmill Hill, the Windmill Garden which is to the East side. Windmill, the Milldam which is back near Bridge hill, and Struan land which is around Struan Hill.
The meaning of the word Raheens is Ferns or a little Rath, but I think it is Ferns that is the meaning for it because there is no Rath to be found in the vicinity of Raheens and in some parts in Raheens there are Ferns growing six feet in height. "That is the History of Raheens to the best of my knowledge".

There is a fort in the townland of Mountain. It is situated in the land of Dinn? Mcgrath. There is a lot of trees and ferns growing in this fort. There is also a high mound and a deep dike around this fort. There was once a man named Austin Killeen of Carrowneden who went to cut ferns in the fort. When he had the ferns cut he tied them in a bundle with a rope. When he put them on his back

There is a fort in the townland of Caherbirrane, alongside my house. Two men who used to be hunting came there to pull some sticks. As they were pulling them they heard a roar of a bull, and ran for their lives. On another occasion a neighbour had some young pigs and had nothing to put under them. In this fort there were some fine ferns, and the man came to cut the ferns. He put the ferns under the pigs, and in the morning all the pigs were black and dead.

Saint Aidan's monastery is still to be seen in Ferns. Saint Aidan worked many miracles such as curing people. There is a holy well dedicated to Saint Aidan in Ferns. There are many people called after Saint Aidan in Ferns.The Feast of Saint Aidan is observed on the thirty first of January. But about sixteen years ago it was a holy day and not a stroke of work was ever done on that day.

We have seven churchyards in the Parish of Ferns, Barony of Scarawalsh, Co. Wexford. These include an old and a new in Ferns, an old and a new in Clologue, an old and a new in Ballyduff and one old disused graveyard in Monasootha which is called Kilcomb Graveyard.The church ruined otherwise is in Kilcoomb graveyard. It is cross-shaped like a church. The present Catholic Churches of Ferns, Clologue and Ballyduff are each situated in the centre of the old Graveyards.The graveyards are level with a high ditch surrounding them, and some hawthorn bushes growing in top of it.Ballyduff old graveyard contains some very old monuments and crosses. The are mostly of the homemade type and some are flat slabs resting on four pillars, and other slabs are lying flat on the grave with the inscriptions on top. The earliest names inscribed on these tombs are a family of Cartons of Clonee, Parish of Ferns, Co. Wexford who died on the following dates :- 3rd April 1820 . 27th February 1827. 29th June 1829, 15th December 1830, and 26th September 1847. The latter died during the second year of the Great Famine.
Other early dates 15th August 1832, and 28th June 1838, 25th June 1835 and 2nd December 1840.Kilcoomb Graveyard is the only disused grave-yard in the Parish of Ferns, Co. Wexford. It is in a field belonging to Mr James Byrne, Monasootha. It is said that it is over 70 years ago since a burial is remembered to

One day Anthony Heneghan of Cloonskill cut ferns in the fort and he brought them down and left them out side the house to dry. When he went to bed that night he was brought out and put sleeping on the ferns.

The most harmful weeds growing on the farm are nettles, thistles, dock-leaves, groundsels or rag-weed, and ferns. Thistles, nettles, dock-leaves and ferns grow where land is good. The chicken-week is very harmful because

There are different kind of weeds growing on the land such as cornkale, ferns , nettles and thistles. Cornkale only grows in bad land. Thistles mostly grow on level land. Ferns grow in wild bad land. Sea-weed is the only weed that is good for the land. There is a tree called the "yew" tree and if any animal eats it he gets poisoned on the spot. Hemlock is another poisonous weed which grows on some land.

Long ago there was a man and it used to be said he had witch-craft. He was going to the fair. He picked a bunch of ferns and changed them into pigs and carried them into the market & sold them there. The man that bought them was driving them across the river & when he was driving them they went away into ferns, when

175
expose what might be left.
Put in a large heap and covered with straw and rushes or ferns.
There are now chosen -black taken out and put separately ,so also small ones .never of those ever pitted,just covered with "sops".
Large ones are pitted .heap made on top of level ground .(some hollow out its bed in surface of earth)Brought to a narrow top.Covered with withered ferns or straw .Earth then to depth of 4 or 5 inches .Ferns again on outside of pit .Light cap of earth along top to keep on ferns.left in pit till about end of February, when transferred

There are many herbs around this place such as, míon bfear, Patricks leaf, turkey weed, and many others. The herb that does most harm to the land is thistles, and ferns. The thistles and ferns does not grow in any place but in good land, and gloráns grow also in good land. There does not any herb grow in bad land, because there is nothing in it but dirt. There is another herb also called tóirpín. It is a cure

over the ditch into a lot of ferns. The man looked over the ditch and he saw a fairy. "Did you see my pig?" asked the man. I saw it and I have it, and I will give you four pigs for it. "O all right" said the man.
The fairy pulled up four ferns and went to the river which was near. He threw the four ferns into it and called out four names, and when the man looked what was on the road but four pigs. The man drove them into the fair and got twenty pound for them. He put them in the waggon of the train and got his money and came home. That evening when the train was about to start the four pigs jumped out over the door and up the town and hundreds of people after them. The pigs ran to the glen and jumped into the river. The people looked in there was only four ferns floating on top of the water.The Hare and the Hedgehogs.
One time a hare thought that nothing was as swift as her. One day a

The well in the glen is partly covered over with a flag stone and heath ferns grow all around it. At times, this heath and ferns assume a burnt up appearance for no seeming reason at all. It s said that the "Fairy Hare" living in it gets away from its pursuers by jumping into the "Fairy Well".

109Ferns Cathedral.Ferns Cathedral was first built in the 12th century, it was destroyed numerous times by the Normans, and it was made into more or less a modern building in 1816. It was lastly renovated and re-modelled by the late Dean Gibson - on the plan of the old building. The present building is really the centre aisle of the old St. Peter's Church. The old church of the parish of Ferns is now a ruin, dates back to 1055. It is of Hiberna Romanesque Architecture. The late Dean Gibson is buried in the Chancel, other families are buried in the grounds though the Cathedral church yard is nearer.
There is the ruins of an old church in Clone townland and people are still buried in the churchyard surrounding the ruined church. Clone ruins are about two miles from Ferns, and some of the stones of the ruins were used in the

farm and bring them home. On Newyear's night they would cut them off at the black piece and they would put them into a little bag and hang them behind the door for the round of the year. It is said that bunches of ferns grew at the foot of the cross on Good Friday when Our Lord died. It is said that no flowers are as lucky as the ferns.

There are many weeds growing on our farm. The most harmful weeds are redshank, thistles, cowfoot, ferns, gillgowans, nettles, scutchgrass chickenweeds, and whins. All these weeds spread quickly. Redshank, thistles, ragweeds, nettles, scutchgrass ferns and whins grow only on good ground but gillgowans only grow on bad ground. Nearly every herb cures some disease. Nettle broth will cure the measles and