Local Historical Trip

On the 21st of November 2017 the senior room went on a tour to see some historical sites in Trien. On our tour we were accompanied by the Historical Group from Trien.

Our first visit was to Kilkeevan cemetery. One of the first things we saw was a place outside the cemetery where babies who weren’t baptised were buried. We then went inside to look around the cemetery and we saw lots of unmarked graves. There was also church ruins inside the cemetery which dated back to the time of St. Patrick. We also saw a tomb in the cemetery where the Kings of Connacht (The O’Conors) were buried.

After visiting the cemetery we went to see The Méaróg stone in Cloonkeen.  The historians told us that a giant threw the stone from the Hill of Brockey. The giant was trying to throw it at another giant on the Hill of Fairymount but it landed instead in a field in Cloonkeen. On the stone is the giant’s handprint. We tried to move the stone but we weren’t strong enough.

The final site we visited was a Mass Rock which is located in Willsbrook. This rock was where people celebrated mass during the penal times in the seventeenth century. During this time it was illegal to go to a catholic church so people instead went to mass in an isolated area such as the one at Willsbrook. We had a great day and we learnt lots of interesting things about our local area.