Book Two Chapter Six

BOOK TWO CHAPTER SIX I intend that this chapter include some descriptive references to places in Ireland, some of which may relate directly to foe Hartnett or Corcoran families, or to historical or other interesting sites. A lot of it may relate to other things foat have no relative value. DRUMCULLEN There is a lot of information about Drumcullen, which is (or was) a parish (or townland) just outside of foe town of Kinnitty in County Offaly. It is where the old family cemetery lies. Ghosts and Other Things I only know of two ghost stories that are told by family members, and both of these relate to foe area of foe cemetery at Drumcullen in County Offaly. It is said to be the oldest cemetery in Ireland and it dates back to the 6th Century when a holy man named John lived there, supposedly in isolation. An old church was built on the site and a little of its remains can still be seen. A newer church was put together and parts of it still stand. These are not churches as we know them, but stone huts, for one or only a few people. N These churches were small corbelled stone structures made by piling the stones atop one another and leaning them inward until an arched interior is formed by the side walls meeting overhead. At the most, the newer church could only hold a few people, if that. It is more like a small stone hut, and it may also have been used to afford shelter to shepherds in the early days of Ireland. There is supposed to be a holy well near here where a Station or Pattern was held in olden days. The word "Pattern" comes from "patron", and it can refer to a saint, or to one who patronizes the saint by hosting the "Pattern". These meetings of the faithful are sometimes still held at people's houses, but in the past, they were more often held at places which have special scenic or ethereal qualities. I have never looked for the St. John's holy well, but I have read about it. The river that flows alongside of the site, the Walk River, might also have been considered to be of a special nature in this isolated area. The ghost stories must await the completion of a further description of the site. From the bridge over the Walk River near where you will park your car at foe road edge, there is an opening in foe bridge parapet wall on the east side. Several stones jut out and they enable you to walk down the several steps to reach foe north side of foe river. There were some gravel piles here during my last visit. Walk along the fields, keeping parallel with the general direction of foe river and, about two hundred yards in, you should see the general outline of the cemetery several hundred yards ahead. It is nineteen chains (at 66 feet per chain) to the cemetery which can be located at some times of foe year from the road because a tall stone grave marker erected in it by foe Grogan family can be viewed from a certain location,. Often, foe field alongside of the cemetery has cows in it, so that careful attention has to be given to foe places where one's foot is placed. The cows can become very curious and can invite themselves to visit with you along the way. The cemetery is fenced, with a gate that is usually locked. However, entry does not prove to be a formidable issue. Take care, as you are in a holy and revered place at this point. Once there, you can look back to see the Walk River as it flows below the hillock upon which the cemetery stands. Fields to the north are cleared and a copse of wood referred to in earlier descriptions of foe place is long gone. A boreen (or a cart road) meanders toward the cemetery from the paved road, but I do not invite you to travel it, except possibly on foot. Along the river's edge between the cemetery and the road, brush and trees make a trek there almost impassable. A moat from former days is no longer visible. Looking to foe north, you can see the Fairy Mound, about a thousand feet away, and it appears to be about fifty meters tall. It is obviously man made, or should I say foat the Little People put it there? Who's to say? Legend has it foat the ghosts come out of the cemetery on All Saints Eve,(called Halloween in America), and anciently called Samhain (pronounced Sow ween) in Ireland. They meet with the Little People to cavort and to dance on their "Hungry Grass" in between the two places. This night is supposed to be one of the few times foat certain humans can see them, but even they have to have "The Power" to have foat privilege. But, that's a different subject. Hungry Grass is an area foat is kept especially green by The Little People for their use for hurling matches, to which they sometimes invite humans to play. Should you walk over it, the grass can slowly steal away your senses, until you fall into a deep sleep upon it, from which you may not awake for hundreds of years. I have visited this lonely place on a Sunday morning, with the fog rising from the nearby stream, and not a sole within a mile. The air was thick with hanging raindrops and mist. Drizzle had accompanied my every step. It seemed as if I was in another world, ethereal in nature, and in the company of so many who had passed away before me into it. Yet, I was so entirely alone that I did not know if I would ever make it back to the comforts of civilization. This was where a neighbor had dug graves to the crunch of a shovel full of decayed bones, and where Barbara Hartnett's foot had sunk into a grave site as the family stood in prayers for the departed. This place was almost as old as Christ. A short distance away, the Fairy Mound had probably been formed in foe old custom of each person paying tribute to an ancient Irish princess by foe placement of a stone on a pile over her grave. Was it, then, the place where the head of Etech, (or Etain), the Tuatha de Danann queen, was buried as set out in accordance with a gloss in foe Felire of Angus and other ancient Irish writings? She was buried somewhere near, and it is reasonable to assume that it could be here. Kinnitty, the nearby town, is named for her. Technically speaking foe Fairy Mound is said to be "a mott and bailey", which was a type of fortification created, like a castle, for defensive purposes, where a few soldiers could dominate an area, and yet be protected from foe locals because of foe difficulties of attacking the fortification. There are some things that the family may wish to know about St. John's Cemetery because of its long association with our family. By all standards, it is a small place, but then, land has always been needed for agricultural purposes. In trying to picture the site some fourteen hundred years ago, it was probably cleared at that time. Low lands would have been boggy and habitation would have been extremely sparse. Upon a chance meeting with Billy Spain in 1985,1 found out that his brother, M. P. Spain, had dug graves for my father's two uncles here. It is an honor to be asked to dig the graves of a neighbor in Ireland, and a mark of respect to do so. It was Billy foat told me about the shovels crunching through the bones of so many that had been placed there before those efforts. At another time, in another place, Willie Joe Boland told me about foe men who had uncovered the white circular marble slab with its gold lettering buried beneath the ground while grave digging, and of their covering it out of respect for the person of such importance who commanded foe expenditure of such extravagance in his or her name. When you relate such burial costs to the economic picture of foe community, both in its present and past times, you can only wonder about the place. When Joe Davis told me of those blue eyes staring upward toward the heavens, the outline of the British trooper, lying in foe road in uniform, as he described it, comes clearer to my thoughts. I know that Joe Davis had no part in foe matter, but he was aware of all foat had transpired. A hurried burial in the obvious place, the cemetery, would have easily been found by the English enemy. Besides, foe Catholic does not place foe body of an Unbeliever in consecrated ground. The nearby river rose and fell, so that disturbed soil alongside it would not be noticed. The body was placed alongside the river bed, but not permanently. The waters rose during the night, as if in rebellion against accepting the unwanted one, and they washed away his covering. The remains were removed and put into another place, from where they were later recovered by the authorities. This story, which began to be about ghosts, has taken several turns, and I now refer you to a poem about the place written by me several years ago.

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