River Dougles

My name is Robert. I live in Ballinacourty and a river passes through our land and it is called the River Dougles. River Dougles is known as the millstream. It flows out of the middle of Cappagh Lake. Originally the lake was fed from a stream that rises in Glenupper (Modeligo). It worked a mill in Mr. Chavasse’s yard. And the overflow went into the first cappagh lake. This lake is joined to the second lake by a channel. The Dougles flows out of the second lake (middle lake). It crosses under the Cappaquin main road at Killishal and flows down till it goes under ground at Ballinacourty, Cappagh and rises again at Knockawn and flows into the Brickey.

This stream also worked a mill for grinding wheat into flour, and oats into oatmeal during 1800s. The ruin of the mill and kiln can be seen to this day at Killishal.

By Robert

Knocknaskeigh

My townland is Knocknaskeigh. Knocknaskeigh means Hill of the White Thorns. St. Declan's Roadway runs right beside Knocknaskeigh and comes on to a road at Kerreen. It comes out at Ardmore. There is a river, which flows through my uncle's and Cashman's land. You can find all types of birds, fish and sometimes otters and minx. That river is called the Glenkerren. There is a doctor’s house, which was build for doctors but is now owned by Welsh’s.     

By David in 6th class

Ballinacourty

I live up the road from Ballinamintra caves. My townland is Ballinacourty, Cappagh. There are lots of caves there, but in one of them archaeologists have found three bodies from the Famine. They found a mother a father and a child. They have also found a skeleton in the caves from the ice-age. There is also a Fulacht Fhia in our Bog. A Fulacht Fhia was a place where the Celts cooked. It was a big hole dug in the ground. There were boiling rocks in it. The rocks made the water boil and then they threw the meat in.

By Fiona 

Our Parish: Ballinameela

The church of St. James in Ballinameela is 164 years old this year (2004). It was built in 1840 by Fr. William Roche. There had been churches on the site of St. James church before 1840, and they were simple thatched buildings. A year before this church was built there came the famous night of ‘the big wind’ on the 6th of January 1839. Maybe it was the damage caused by that terrible night that prompted Fr. William Roche to encourage the people to erect a new and dignified Church. The big wind of 1839 may have hurried up the building of this church but it was the faith of the proud people that built it.

The people of 1840 had reason to be proud. As they only had to recall the famous Stuart election fourteen years earlier in 1826 when a protestant native of this parish, Henry Villiers Stuart of Dromana was elected into the British Parliament. The election was fought with great determination, by bishops and priests, and especially by the poor Catholics. The priests and people won catholic Emancipation but the cost to County Waterford was terrible. Hundreds were evicted and saw their cabins levelled.

The Kilgreany Caves, which lie between the town lands of Scart and Canty, have been an important source of vital information about Stone Age in Ireland. Excavations in Kilgreany took place as far back as 1858 and again in the 1890s when R.J. Usher of Cappagh made important discoveries. Very significant finds were made in a major archaeological dig that found contents more than five thousand years old, remains of the Great Irish Elk, the Wild Boar and other animals which Neolithic man hunted, pottery and bronze axes and sliver plated emblems.

Aglish

The existing Church of Aglish was built in 1856 by Rev. John O’Meara, then Parish Priest. It was built to take the place of a much smaller church or chapel on the same site. The modern structure is plain and is capable of seating about eight hundred people.

Villierstown

Villierstown Church was built by John Earl grandson in 1748 who also built a catholic chapel at Mount Stuart. Villierstown church has a bell tower with two bells.