IRD Duhallow is delighted to be in receipt of a wonderful contribution to our collection of historic stories from John Joe Kavanagh of Kilshannig Heritage Society.

Written by Florence Mary Wilson in 1918, the poem offers a famous and dramatic account of Thomas Russel’s entrance into a tavern in County Down, and the circumstances under which he was seen again.

“Into our townlan' on a night of snow
rode a man from God knows where;
None of us bade him stay or go,
nor deemed him friend, nor damned him foe,
but we stabled his big roan mare;
for in our townlan' we're decent folk”

Many thanks to John Joe Kavanagh for his powerful recitation and for setting the historical context of this poem for us. Also, thanks to Donie O’Sullivan, Pat Mulcahy and Jerry O’Keeffe for their interest and support of our LEADER project.

@DeptRCD @Pobal @HistoricGraves #LEADER #OurRuralFuture #TheHeritageCouncil