Walsh Island and Clonygowan Offaly

A few spins this week thankfully. There's a lot of history in the Irish Midlands.

Walsh Island Bord na Móna Locomotive

I passed Clonygowan by it's Village Green and took a photo of the old water pump.

 Clonygowan Village Green

 

 At Garrymona I stopped at the Ringfort and burial ground, it's quiet here with an air of sadness though.

Garymona Memorial

Clonygowan much like Walsh Island is also a village that once relied on Bord na Móna for most of its work and employment in the midland bogs.

Garrymona

 

I cycled up to the old Bord na Móna Train to get a quick snap.

Hedge School sign at Garrymona

Walsh Island got it's unusual name because it was a fertile "Island" in a sea of surrounding bog.

Barnes and McCormack

Back cycling and out and about on the TCR in the nice weather.

I passed a memorial which I've meant to take a look at but until now hadn't. It was a Cross at Banagher in Offaly in memory of Peter Barnes and James McCormac.

 

They were hanged in Britain at Winson Green Prison in 1940 and their bodies were not returned to their homeland until decades later.

I have read that 15,000 people attended their reinterment in Ireland. It is widely believed they were innocent of the charges levied against them relating to a bombing in Coventry. They were active members of the I.R.A. at the time.

 

The immediate decades following on from the Irish Civil war were far from quiet and partition had left a very sour taste and bitter memories.

An article below from the Irish Times illustrates the enmity still evident throughout Ireland at the time.

Article here :

 Irish Times - Assinations and Executions during the Emergency

It is difficult to believe that in the 1940's the State was still flogging people and had introduced Internment. It's a part of Ireland's hidden history and irrespective of one's Politics a part that should be told. Without remembering the past the future becomes a neutral and sterile environment.

Entry at the National Graves Association here:

National Graves Association 

Lough Gur, Limerick

Lough Gur

I haven't been cycling much these past few weeks so we took a trip down to Limerick to see the Stone Circle at Grange, near Lough Gur. It's the largest Stone Circle in Ireland, very picturesque.

Nearby was a smaller Stone Circle and a Standing Stone and further along the lakeside a medieval Church ruin.

A beautiful Wedge Tomb was just a short distance away and close to that were a couple of 7th Century Stone Hill Forts (Cashels) with stunning views of the surrounding countryside.

We didn't have time to visit the nearby Interpretive Centre. The countryside here is one huge vista of beautiful scenery dominated by the lake and lush grass and the many exposed rocky "bluffs" surrounding the area.

There's a wealth of sites of archaeological and historical interest to visit around the lake.

Lough Gur is well worth taking the time to visit if you're ever in this area.

Lea Castle, Portarlington.

I've been doing most of my recent cycling on the TCR so I've not stopped for Photo's recently.

  

Last week on a gentle recovery spin I stopped at the ruins of Lea Castle in Portarlington.

There has been a group formed to try to save this beautiful antiquity for future generations so hopefully things work out well for them. 

 

It would be nice to think it could be saved for future generations. I also passed a brightly painted old style Water Pump at Lea. These old pumps are a nice sight at the roadside in our towns and villages.

Saint Ciaran's Well, Shannonbridge, then home.

Yesterday was a 200 Km spin over the Slieve Bloom mountains and a wander around Offaly and past Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge before returning home.

The weather was atrocious and I even got a sprinkling of Snow as I headed over the mountains. Below is a ruin near a Towerhouse in Offaly.

Hail, sleet, snow, rain, wind, mist, cold, and wet........... but apart from that the weather was great !

I stopped a few times to take some quick snaps but each time I regretted stopping as I quickly froze up from the wind and cold.

I liked the look of the fresh machine harvested Peat lying at the side of the road and couldn't resist taking a picture.

I didn't go into Clonmacnoise, it was too cold to bother but I did stop at a place about 600 or 700 meters further along the road to Shannonbridge. Here on my right I spotted a galvanised pedestrian gateway which I had never noticed before despite passing at least a dozen times !

It turned out to be the entrance to Saint Ciaran's Well. It is an ancient spot on a pilgrim trail and little known. There were several carved slabs around the well with intricate and interesting carvings.

It's reputed that a leper wanted to sit beneath a tree here and asked a man to pull up some reeds for him to sit on. When the reeds were pulled water sprouted into the hole that was left and this is now Saint Ciaran's Well.

On my way home I passed Clonony Castle in Offaly (not far from Belmont) and an old pretty Green Water Pump.

Then it was home for some greatly appreciated warm food......

Henry Grattan - Moyanna Laois (Moyanna Spin Today).

Depending upon your particular viewpoint Henry Grattan (1746 - 1820), Member of the Irish House of Commons/Irish Parliament was either a staunch Irish Patriot dedicated to some form of Irish Independence or merely a man dedicated to increasing control in Ireland for the Ascendancy class by gaining independent status for the Irish Parliament, with powers of legislation independent of the British Parliament and with a franchise limited to those of wealth or property.

It is more than likely he was neither but a mixture of both and as time progressed he no doubt changed his outlook and position. 

A sign of wisdom is the ability to change your stance over time as your insight or available information dictates. In his time Grattan was an advocate of Catholic emancipation.

Irrespective of views there is a nice statue of the statesman opposite Trinity College and several memorials in Dublin. 

A bridge over the River Liffey is also named after him as is at least one Dublin street. Pictured below are the Sea Horses on Grattan Bridge in Dublin.

Strangely enough Henry Grattan is more closely associated with Moyanna in Laois where he purchased an Estate and wished to be buried. 

He is actually buried in Westminster Abbey. Having cycled the Moyanna area several times I have recollection of seeing neither signage nor statue dedicated to the memory of Henry Grattan, a real shame.

I believe the markings above the entrance arch to Moyanna Cemetery (pictured above) are the Grattan Coat of Arms but I don't know how true this is. There is a road in Portlaoise named after him and an Aquaduct just outside Vicarstown.

Below is the Slab marking the spot where Henry Grattan is buried at Westminster Abbey. A member of Staff kindly located it for me. It lay hidden, unseen beneath a floor rug. Photographs are generally not allowed inside the Abbey but they kindly made an exception.

Westminister Abbey.

The Board of First Fruit.

Today I cycled through Moyanna and then on to "who knows where" when I came across a "Board of First Fruit" Church which was unmarked. It had a lovely Red door and Red Louvres. I had no idea as to exactly where I was but it was somewhere on backroads between Moyanna and Stradbally 

(I like to wander aimlessly on the bike).

The Church I presume is no longer holding regular services however it is very well kept and the grounds are being maintained from what I could see.

Interestingly I came across the final resting place of Shaun Fane De Salis who was killed in a flying accident near Limerick in 1962 according to the inscription on the Cross.

His full name was Henry John Aldworth Fane de Salis and he worked for the Bristol Aeroplane Company, engine division. More here : John Fane de Salis

There is a de Salis family association going back centuries in Limerick and the name can be found mentioned in an old ruined Church near Lough Gur.

Moyanna (Google Maps)

Monicknew - A quick spin Yesterday over "The Cut" in the Slieve Blooms.

A short spin yesterday up to the Slieve Bloom Mountains and back.

 

Monicknew is a great place for a Picnic if you're in the area or passing.

The River runs under the bridge across from the Car Park and it's nice and tranquil in this little Riverside Glade.

Saint Manchan, Boher, Liss, Ballycumber and Raheen Offaly.

This week has been a washout for Cycling, just two spins on the Turbo versus nearly 500 Kms last week. There's just no consistency but what can you do? Anyway I was off to Raheen today and Ballycumber and Boher to see The Shrine of Saint Manchan, a 7th century Saint.

The Shrine is a reliquary which contains some of the Saints bones. It is exquisite and a copy of it is in the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin but thankfully the original is closer to home in Boher, Offaly.

There are also some beautiful windows from Harry Clark who was an internationally recognised craftsman of Stained Glass windows.

 

Anyway enough here as I will do a full page post on Boher, Saint Manchan and Raheen later.