Penal Times

transcribed at

Penal Times  [duchas:4377371]

Long ago, the priests would not be allowed to say mass in Ireland. Sometimes they used to say mass in a cliff or hill away from the enemy.
There is a place in Seemachuda called the See. It was so called because St. Carthage rested there on his way to Lismore. There was a stone with some writing on it. The writing was called Ogham writing. The curate in Lismore, named Father Murphy, brought the stone to the National Museum in Cork.
There is a Mass Rock in Knockrue. There is a cross on the front of it and a hole for holy water at the side of it. It is about six feet high.
Long ago, the priests had no altars, on big rocks they used to say mass. These rocks are called Mass Rocks.
There was an old church in Coole, it is called the Kill, there was a grave-yard also. The people say there is a light seen at night and sometimes people. The Kill is a field with trees all round it.