Margaret McLoughlin

Dromahair the place of my birth is a small village nestling between small hills and mountains in the County of Leitrim bordering the County of Sligo.  It is a very historical area, as it boasts the ruins of a famous Abbey and three Castles.  It was the home of the O’Rourke’s Chieftains of Breffini.[ My cousin Mary, mentioned earlier, worte a comprehensive history on the O’Rourke Clan in her book Breifne:from Chieftain to Landlord, Nonsuch Publishing, 2009]. On the banks of the Bonet river stands the ruins of the Banqueting Hall of the O’Rourke’s and beside it the ruins of Villiers Castle.  Further out from the village are the ruins of another O’Rourke’s Castle the one legend had it that Devora Giolla eloped with Diarmuid Mac Morrow King of Leinster and was the cause of the Norman invasion.  About a mile from the village is the beautiful Loch Gill a lake mainly in Co Sligo but has one third in the County of Leitrim. It is surrounded by mountains and is dotted with small islands one of which is Inishfree Island made famous by Yeats in his poem "The lake Isle of Inishfree".  Another is called Church Island so obviously had a church, another one which was inhabited in my lifetime.  One old lady lived there on her own and I think her house was burned down which meant   she had to leave and live on the mainland. 

On the Leitrim side of the lake is the restored Parkes Castle with the remnants of another O'Rourkes Castle in the grounds.  It stood a ruin all through my childhood and it is only in the last few years that the Board of Works restored it. It now stands as a reminder of times gone by and is a beautiful sight to see if one is travelling from Sligo on a dark night as it is floodlit. A few miles from Dromahair on the Ballintogher road is a town land called Friarstown. Years ago there was a big house called Friarstown House.  I often heard my grandfather talk about it but  it was burned down and the area still retained the name. The area was supposed to be haunted but I suppose that was another story.     In the village beside De Villiers Castle was another large house owned by a Captain Hewson.   The estate must have had quite an amount of land as they employed a land agent and a Bailiff. The agent lived in the   big house opposite the Protestant Church. They were the Bracken Family and the Bailiff was Joe Jackson. He was a familiar figure in the village. He rode a big old fashioned bike wore plus fours and had his rifle strapped across his back. He rode that bike into his nineties.    I think the river rights were owned by the Hewson family.    He lived at the boat quay.  A German couple lived in a house beside the big house.  Their name was Bolger and my mother became friendly with Mrs Bolger. Francis made friends with the son.   I think she was either the cook or housekeeper and he the chauffeur.  The house itself had a large indoor staff Cook, Housekeeper Parlour maids Governess for the children and various other staff indoors as well as an army of grounds men to look after the gardens.  In the summer we would watch all the visitors coming and going to the Lodge as it was called. There were no cars but they had beautiful horses and traps.  When the weather was fine they would all be out in the gardens drinking tea and playing tennis.  To us in the village it was a completely different world.  I suppose in today’s world the big house was like a factory giving employment all around the area.  My father who was a tailor also benefited as he got a lot of work from the family.  He made all the children’s coats which were made from the finest of material and the most beautiful of trimmings.

The village itself had a Hotel two large stores a Post Office, two Churches,  a large Garda Barracks  which had been the RUC Barracks and two schools one Protestant in the village and a Catholic one a bit outside the village.  There were quite a few thatched houses our own included.  The terrace opposite us may have originally   been attached to the big house and like our own and many other houses in the village had the same architectural features.