DOI: 10.7925/drs1.duchas_5008906
title: Stamullen

description: A collection of folklore and local history stories from Stamullen (school) (Stamullen, Co. Meath), collected as part of the Schools' Folklore Scheme, 1937-1938 under the supervision of teacher Áine, Bean Uí Ghamhna.
description: Names of Fields -- Stamullen / Healy, John -- Stamullen / Mathews, Joseph -- Tubberstool Well / Hanly, Iris -- It is stated that there was a charity boiler that used boil porridge for the people at the time of the famine... / Healy, John -- How Picket Hill Got its Name on the Farm of Mr T. McCourt Stamullen / Healy, John -- It is stated that Cromwell brought his cannon to Picket Hill and blew the roof of the old Church in Stamullen grave-yard. / Healy, John -- How the Rebel's Field Got its Name / Healy, John -- At one time Mr Purfield's and Mrs Filgate's land was all under flax. / Healy, John -- There was a big flour mill and a furze mill where the mill yard in Stamullen is now. / Clarke, John -- There are three holes in the fields belonging to Mrs Filgate where they used to steep the flax grown, in Kilbrickstown and Stedalt. / Clarke, John -- Gormanstown / Mathews, Joseph -- In the Castle grounds there are very ancient Cloisters situated. / Fleming, Mary -- There is a great underground passage about two miles long in Headland Way (a field in the Gormanstown Demesne... / Fleming, Mary -- There is a wood called Hopyard in the Gormanstown Demesne where Hops were grown years ago. / Fleming, Mary -- There has always been a legend about the Gormanstown family that foxes leave their neighbouring coverts and... / Fleming, Mary -- During Cromwells invasion of Ireland when advanceing to take possession of Gormanstown Castle his soldiers... / Murphy, Roger -- The time of the priest hunting in Ireland it is said that Lord Gormanstown used to hide a priest. / Carolan, Robert -- Near Ardcath, there is a place called Whiteparks In one of the fields there is a lios coverd with furze. / Flood, Paddy -- There were two men named Lamb and Duff hanged on Mullaghteeling for stealing 5s.9d. -- In Claremount, owned by Colemans, situated in the townsland of Ratholland there used to be a graveyard... / Reid, Paddy -- On Mr Curtis's farm in Gormanstown there is a big stone in one of the fields and there is supposed to be money buried under it. / Flanagan, John -- In the time of Cromwell there was a battle fought in a field at Dardistown which ended in the taking of Dardistown Castle... / Reid, Paddy -- There are three very large stones in the village of Greenanstown called Jack Stones. / Hanly, Imelda -- In the year 1933 there was a Chalice found in Tullock wood. / Byrne, Lily -- There used to be a village from Tullock to Giblockstown long ago. / Byrne, Lily -- Years ago there were two men named Lamb and Duff hanged on Mullaghtelling for not being able to pay 5s.9d. / Byrne, Lily -- There are two turn pike gates on the Stamullen Gormanstown road where long ago everyone had to pay to get past. -- It is said that when Cromwell was going to take Gormanstown Castle he rested at the "Cock Inn", (a public house owned Mr. Michael Mc Cabe)... -- When Cromwell was marching to Wexford after taking Drogheda he stopped at Gormanston Castle for one night... -- At Gormanstown the mail coach was robbed by Collier the robber. -- From underneath Mosney house a cave runs to Chapel Castle an ancient burial ground about a mile from Julianstown. -- Some of the Danes are supposed to have landed in Ireland at Gormanston. / Cullen, Betty Mc -- It is said that when the Danes came to Ireland they built caves in a field called Headland Way in the Gormanston Demesne to hide in. -- It is said that Cromwell's soldiars stopped in a field in the Gormanston Demesne called the Avenue. / Murphy, Roger -- In Gormanstown Castle there are shoulder straps with a brass buckle and printed on them is "The Gormanstown Infantry... -- It is said that Matties Wood (a wood on the Gormanstown Estate) is called after the man who built Gormanstown Castle. -- In Gormanstown there is a Granny stone, (opposite the Castle gates). / Murphy, Roger -- When St Patrick came to Ireland on his first Mission he is supposed to have built his first church in the valley... -- Years ago there were two men hanged on Mullaghteeling for not being able to pay 5s.9d. / Byrne, Lily -- Lamb and Duff were hanged on Mullaghteeling on the shaft of a truck for stealing 8 1/2d. / Healy, Margret -- There is a tree in Picket Hill and it is called the Mass tree, because in the Penal Days the Priests used to say Mass under that tree. -- There is a cave in Matties Wood and it is said that the Priests used to hide in it at the time of the Priest hunting in Ireland. -- There is a well called St. Patrick's Well below Benhead. / Fleming, Molly -- The old road to Dublin was through the village of Gormanstown and the Mail Coaches used to go that way and get... / Fleming, Molly -- There were three families evicted by the Gormanstown Estate namely, Flynns of Cockhill (Stamullen) Fulhams... / Fleming, Molly -- When Fulhams lived in Stamullen they kept a bakery. / Clarke, John -- There is a river at the back of the Castle called the Dairymaids river, because the Dairymaids used to wash their cans in it. / Guest, Olive -- There is a tree in Gormanston ground and it is supposed to be some what like the tree Judas hanged himself on and it is called the Judas tree. / Whelan, Peter -- There was a basket maker in Ashbourne. / Whyte, Joseph -- Michael Collier was born the Spot in Lisdornan. / Murtagh, Una -- There is the remains of an old inn in Balscaddan. / Delahan, Fin -- There is a wood in Gormanston Demesne called the Drummonds wood. / Whelan, Peter -- In the year 1798 there was a hang man called Hempenstall. / Whyte, Joseph -- The Cloisters in the Gormanston Demesne are made of yew trees. / Delahan, Fin -- There was flax grown in Stedall some years ago. / Hanly, Iris -- There used to be a school in Gormanstown village and the teacher's name was Caffrey. / Hanly, Iris -- In olden days the road leading through Gormanstown Village was the main road from Dublin to Belfast... / Clarke, John -- Collier the robber used to live in the vicinity of Lisdornan at a place called the Spot. / Brien, Joseph O' -- On another occasion when the police were prsuing Collier, he saw a man working in a field. / Brien, Joseph O' -- Local Cures -- Local Cures for Cattle -- Weather Signs -- Local Beliefs -- Riddles -- Local Shipwrecks -- Mrs. Laura Dunphy, Stamullen, was told by her Grandfather that on the night of the Big Wind the door of their house... -- It was customary to give a night's lodging to "travellers" on the road... -- The unoccupied house in front of Stamullen school belonged to a family named Long. -- On olden times fairies used to frequent the fields, I often heard the old people say, that there was a circus one night... -- Once upon a time, there was a man who had a family. / Oonan, Christopher -- Old Prayers -- Games - Pussy Four Corners -- Games - Ghost in the Garden -- Games - Buttons -- Games - Rookem Rawkem -- Games - Tip and Tig -- Games -- Games - Hide and Seek -- Games - Hell, Heaven and Purgatory -- Games - Skittles -- There are two graveyards in this parish Stamullen and Moorchurch. -- Hidden Treasure
description: Supported by funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Ireland), University College Dublin, and the National Folklore Foundation (Fondúireacht Bhéaloideas Éireann), 2014-2016.