There is a cure used by an old woman in Prosperous for a sore throat. It is a stocking full of salt. She tries it round her neck and her sore throat is cured.Matt SmythThere is a castle in Blackwood which belonged to the Fitzgeralds of Leinster. When Cromwell came to Ireland he destroyed it. It is at present in ruins. There is also strange letters on it's walls which are four feet in width.Matt SmythCornelius Kay was a hedge school master in Prosperous and he was a great poet. He is buried in Downings Church-yard and there is a head stone erected over him by the bards ofMatt Smyth