The Local RoadsIn this district beside where I live there is a cross - roads locally know as "The Cross". From this cross there are three roads all leading in different directions. One leads to Charleville the nearest town, and another to Ballyglan, a village some three miles to the North West of the School. These form the main road from Ballygran to Charleville. The third is a by - road. This leads from Colmanswell Cross, through Foxhall to a cross called after the townland and there joins the road from Garryfine to Charleville. These are the principal roads in the district of the school.There is a Mass - path from Clonmore, an outlying townland in the Newtown parish, to Colmonswell. This leads in an casterly direction from Clonmore road through Clonmore and Gortroe to the school and church here. Travelling this Mass - path one passes St. Colmanswell and the gaveyard. It is used by children

The townland is situated between Fort West and Fort East and lies in the West part of Colmanswell Parish. It is inhabited by eleven families which comprises approximately sixty people. The outstanding name in Fort

this day. As in all the parish of Colmanswell the land is very fertile and well watered by springs and the River Maigne which flows to the South of Fort East.

The townland of Gortroe is situated at the Western side of the Parish of Colmanswell in the Barony of Upper Connelloe. The approximate number of people living in this townwland is thirty. Family names are varied :- O'Dwyer, Donworth, Reidy, Kelly, and Drew. There is one old lady over seventy who knows no Irish but can tell stories of olden times in English. Her name is Mrs. Kelly, Gortroe, Charleville. All the dwelling houses have slated roofs, but in the adjoining townlands of Foxhall and Fort West there are still a few thatched farm houses. In olden times there were more than a hundred people living in Gortroe - each family having a small farm

Situated at the eastern extremity of Colmanswell parish, and in the Barony of Upper Connelloe. It is separated from the townland of Foxhall by the Garryfine Charleville road, and bounded on the eastern side by the main Cork Limerick road. There are twelve families in this townland and approximately forty people. Collins and Quaide are the most common family names. Others are:- O'Leary, Daly, Deasy, O'Gorman, Leahy, Lyons, Boyce. All the houses are slated with the exception of the farmhouses owned by Mr. Daly and Mr. O'Leary. . Origin of name is not known, but, as there is a stone quarry in the townland it could be that the name Cregane is derived from the Irish "creagán" meaning a holy place.

Johny Cowhey was a great Rhyme maker of which one was.
I sell Cahills bread both white and brown
And every loaf is a half-penny down
Johny was a jolly fellow and every time he got the chance he said a Rhyme. He was living beside a man named Gore who was married to a school teacher in Colemanswell and was not a good farmer, he used to do all the washing and household duties and when he was about to leave to live in Colmanswell Johny wrote a verse which is
Johny Gore you'll work no more
Your tub and búird you'll sell
You'll let the land for cash and hand
To live in Colmanswell.
When Gore went to

Over a hundred years ago there lived in the townland of Foxhall West a poor man by the name of O'Dea. The house where he dwelt was situated on the Cork Limerick border beside the Garryfine Charliville road. Looking at the place today one cannot see any remains of this house.
He was an honest hardworking man but even so he found it hard to make ends meet as he had twenty one children. One night he dreamt there was a pot of golden sovereigns buried in the Abbey. This Abbey is a ruin in Colmanswell graveyard. The poor man was delighted but he told nobody - not even his wife. He had always heard that it was no use to dream of hidden gold unless one

forms the North Eastern wing of the Parish of Colmanswell. It is inhabited by only three families with a total of seven people. The family names are:- O'Gorman, Creagh, and Gardiner. All three have slated dwelling houses. There is one man, John O'Gorman, over seventy. Like all the older people of the parish, with the exception of Michael Howard, he knows no Irish but can tell stories in English. Here too we have some ruins of houses, some of which can scarcely be located. There is one house which is fast going to ruin. It is the property of Mr. Hartigan. In a field near the derelict house is a grave, known locally as "The Fenian's Grave". According to tradition the Fenian who lies buried there was wounded in Kilmallock and fled in the direction of Fort East. Exhausted, he fell in that particular field and was buried there. The grave which is only a slightly sunken hollow about 7' + 4' can be seen in the field to

In the district of Colmanswell, during the late 19th and early 20th century lived a family of renowned athlets known as the Leahys of Cregane. Rarely indeed has a group of brothers, possessed the pith and spirit for Athletic iontention which each of these Leahys displayed. There was scarcely an athletic event in the comprehensive programme of their time in which they did not excel.P. Leahy one of the above named brother was such a famous high jumper that he reached and altitude of any short of seven feet. In 1898 he won almost every jumping event in Munster and many else where. Here is an exact account of some of his feats/
In Milstreet (1898) he jumped 6 ft 4 3/4 ins.
Limerick Market Fields 6 ft 5 1/2 ins.

minutes before the ball as thrown in for a match.Colman Danaher,
Fort Middle,
Colmanswell,
Charleville.Material obtained from :-
Thomas Walker,
Fort Middle,
Charleville,
Co. Cork.

In former times the doctor was not called in except in very serious cases. Certain it is that he was never called in to prescribe for the poorer class. They preferred to be restored to health by the medium of quack doctors and local cures. It is on record where a person was restored to heath by a local "knowing woman" after his case had been given up as hopeless by an eminent doctor.
The following are some of the diseases with their cures which to the writer's knowledge were carried out locally .
Sore eyes.
Wash in water of certain Holy Well. St. Colmanswell is said to possess great healing power for sore eyes.
Thrush.
Can be cured by the seventh son who never saw his father.
Whooping Cough.
Can be cured by using the food left after a ferret.
Boils or skin eruptions can be cured