Skehana Heritage Experience

Skehana & District Heritage Experience.

Hello, you are most welcome and thank you for accessing our Skehana & District Heritage Experience page. Were we are showcasing many aspects and locations of our natural, built and cultural heritage as we journey through Skehana and surrounding areas. We hope you have a rewarding, enjoyable and a learning experience.

The Burned House.

One of the most distinguished and widely used landmarks in this locality is ‘The Burned House’ located in the townland of Brierfield in Moylough civil parish.

There are six other townlands with the prefix of Brierfield and these are in Abbeyknockmoy civil parish. It has, however, a more official title and is recorded in the first Ordnance Survey mapping of 1838 as Brierfield House. This map shows that it was a considerably larger structure and an adjacent building, located on its eastern side, may also have been part of the residence or possibly was an outhouse. In addition there is another recorded structure that is smaller in area and considerably closer to the road junction. The existing ruin would suggest that was a dormer type structure given the gable remains and the existence of an upper window opening.

The existing gable is 24 feet in width and the foundation remains indicate a length of 49 feet. The adjacent building appears to have similar dimensions. It is also worth noting that just to the north is evidence of the existence of an enclosure that in all probability was a ring fort though excavations and land clearance appear to have removed all remains. An interesting feature of the existing gable to the right-hand side of the fireplace is another opening with a flue leading to the main chimney flue. This is likely to have been an oven and is actually not a common feature.

James Lynch is the recorded owner in 1641 but during the Cromwellian period he relocated to Gorteenlehard, near Cooloo, and Ballymageraghty as well as the south Roscommon areas of Granlahan and Ballymoe while Brierfield became the property of Robert Blake who had this time also had extensive lands between Lackagh and Cartymore. Much of the Blake properties would be sold under the Encumbered Estates Courts during 19th century and in Griffiths Valuation Brierfield was held ‘in fee’ by Thomas Davis with no valuation being applied to buildings which would suggest they were unoccupied or derelict. The Davis family had vast estates in the Kentstown area of Newbridge as well as Kilconnell. Thomas Henry Davies advertised three different parts of his estate for sale in the Landed Estates’ Court in 1873 and 1877 including Kentstown and Brierfield.

Corrandoo House

Located in the townland of Corrandoo it was situated on elevated ground immediately opposite the entrance to what was the original Clancy house in Knockcorrandoo which is now home to Patrick and Teresa Ward and family. The only remaining portion of Corrandoo house is the wall of an outhouse.
Corrandoo, an Corráin Dubh, translates as ‘the black hook’ and it is the most southerly townland of Moylough civil parish. This area was in O’Kelly country originally but by 1670 it was overseen by Patrick Ffrench and was part of vast areas of land and property in the locality owned by that family whose main residence was in Monivea Demesne.

Corrandoo was indeed a significant enterprise as the Census 1901 states: Slate house, more than 10 rooms in the house, 11 windows at its front, 7 outhouses, 1 stable, 1 coach house, 2 cow houses, 1 calf house, 1 piggery, and 1 fowl house.

It was occupied by the Reverend Mr Marsh in the 1770s and 1780s, by M. Dowdall in the 1830s and Thomas Kenny at the time of Griffith’s Valuation when it was valued at £10. Records indicate that Richard MacHale of Corrandoo was employed as a foreman for Robert Ffrench (1716-1779), as he developed his flax business. The MacHale family later leased Corrandoo House and a number of other farms for three generations and independently purchased a number of other farms in the region, including Kilbeg, Anabeg, Carrowferrikeen and Derrydonnell Beg amongst others.

As their prospects rose, the MacHales married into the Burke, O’Brien and Eyre families during the early 19th century, but this was the peak of their power, and they seem to disappear from the local Monivea records after 1869. Two descendants emigrated to Australia in 1850, where they became quite prominent pioneer farmers.

The last family to live at Corrandoo House was the Crowe Family. Thomas Crowe, his wife Mary and son Nicky left the house in the 1940’s to re-locate to Stamullen, Co. Meath. The land was allocated by the Land Commission to local farmers and these fields are still known as Crowe’s fields locally.
By local accounts, Thomas Crowe was a very pleasant man and good neighbour. He was of the Protestant religion while Mary, his wife, was a Catholic. They operated an efficient farm and kept orchards and had an apiary. Thomas was a keen bee keeper and won many prizes for his honey. The Bellew Medal for honey, which was won by him at the beginning of the Century, was presented to the Irish Beekeeper’s Association by his grandson Thomas Crowe in the 1990s.

Molly Clancy, born Apr. 23rd 1917, of Knockcorrandoo, recalls that it was “a great party house”. Molly also recalls that Crowe’s house was a very large house. Mrs Crowe was originally from Turloughmore (Coyne or Kyne) and she was educated at home by a Governess. The large house had a dining room, drawing room and a very large kitchen with a high wide fireplace where Mrs Crowe baked cakes of all types and cooked meals. They were big milk producers and supplied milk to locals when necessary. They delighted in the farm, garden and in the countryside around them and took pride in everything they did.
There was a terrace outside the house where fruit trees were grown and Mrs Crowe made jam. She took many of her homemade cakes and jams in her pony and trap to the annual Agricultural Show in Athenry. Her husband Thomas was a prize winner for honey on many occasions and was a keen bee keeper.
The dining table accommodated 21 people in what was a very large dining room and over 100 people would attend parties around Christmas. In Summer time, visitors arrived from all over and tents were erected in the front lawn. The dining room was used for dancing and Mrs Crowe would be dressed in her best frock for the occasion. Thomas Crowe thought a lot of the music was “noise” and he preferred to sit in the kitchen at the huge hearth where he rested his legs on the fireplace and read his books – sensible man!

Wicket Gate, Monivea Demesne.

A wicket gate is a narrow stand-alone gate that provides convenient secondary entrance through a walled park, garden or estate. The game of cricket term “wicket” comes from the term – meaning a narrow upright structure.

These narrow gateways, wide enough for a person to walk through but too narrow for a horse and cart, were widely created as pedestrian entrances through the demesne walls of large estates. They provided a short-cut to the estate for the many men and women who crossed through fields and over stiles to go to work for the local landlords. The well-crafted iron constructions fitted neatly into the high demesne walls.

There were a few such gates through the demesne wall surrounding the Ffrench family estate in Monivea.  The one adjacent to the Killaclogher boundary is particularly well preserved and has been retained in its original condition by the Coppinger family, Kilbeg, as occupiers following the estate land division and distribution. Another existed at Knockcorrandoo but only a trace of its position is still visible.  Interestingly the junction at this location is still known as “the wicket”.

Tobar Geal (Bright Well), Kilbeg

This spring well is situated at the meeting point of three Townlands – Kilbeg, Corrandoo and Knockcorrandoo. Surrounded by an ivy-clad stone wall, overhanging willow, privet and the common snowberry bush, it is a well-known and cherished feature of this area. Situated at an ancient junction, it was easily accessible long before the present road system was built.
Tobar Geal has served the local community with spring water for many years and dates back hundreds of years and, probably, to pre-historic times. This area is a karst limestone region where there are many underground and interconnecting streams. Springs rise regularly in the area. Small tributaries to the nearby Killaclogher river run to the rear of the well.

Before most families had running water installed in their homes in the early 1970s, it was an everyday sight to see women on their bicycles, men on their horse and carts and children arriving with tin buckets to fill water for use at home. In Summertime, it was a popular stop to fill bottles of the clean cold water to take to the bog or hay field to quell the thirst. How fresh and cool it tasted! Oaten meal was often added to enhance the taste.
During periods of drought in warm Summers, people from near and far arrived on carts, tractors and lorries to fill large barrels and containers for household use and to provide drink for animals. The sand rose from the bottom but it soon settled and filled up again with its cool clear water.

In 2010, the well was restored and made safer. Tommie Fahy, a native of Doonaun and a longtime resident in the U.S.A. donated a slab of granite to enhance the appearance of the well.
While Tobar Geal is no longer used for drinking water, it has been used in emergencies as a water supply. Meeting at the well or dancing at the local crossroads may not be happening in these times but the well continues to remind us of more simple times when “going to the well” was part of everyday rural life.