It was very crisp this morning, but a brilliantly sunny day, which was great for a walk with Nora around the old village of Mucklin. Historically, most of the houses were built on a lane that ran around the large green field in the photo below, with water being taken from the river which runs through the valley at the bottom of the field.
The lodge that we are staying in, is the only house to be built in Mucklin in the past 100 years, and there is very little left of most of the old village houses, but Nora has managed to record who lived where, with help from an 1850s map and by walking around the area with a long-time resident, Tom Hickey (more about Tom later in the blog). Although he was not around in the 1850s, Tom had a wonderful memory of which families lived where, and stories associated with each family. The lanes of the old village remain, and are used as farm tracks today.
It was great to be able to see the layout of the village and hear about the various families, but most interesting was seeing our old Gleeson family home & its setting down by the river. There is not much left of the old house these days, the roof is long gone (it was the first house in the village to have a slate roof), a lot of the walls have crumbled, trees have fallen over it, and the undergrowth has taken over.
Jim in the window of the Gleeson home in Mucklin
It is unfortunate that after the current generation, the Gleeson land will probably leave family ownership, as only Patrick has children, two girls who are already married, and not farmers. In another generation or two, the buildings will be gone, and memories of the village of Mucklin will only be what has been recorded for posterity....sad.
As we walked back to the lodge, we ran into Patrick who was doing some fencing, so we stopped for a chat and a photo in the lane.
Jim with cousins Patrick and Nora
After our walk we picked up Nora's mother, Nellie, visited the Grenanstown graveyard, where the more recently departed Gleesons are buried, then headed to Nora's house for a lovely dinner and long chat with Nellie, and later, Nora's husband, Liam.
As 6:30 pm approached we raced out of Nora's house, dropped Nellie at her home, and headed back up to Curryquin, where we had an appointment with Tom Hickey (referred to earlier re Mucklin), in hopes that he might remember something of my Sherlocks of Curryquin. Tom is 91 years old, lives in Curryquin with his wife Tess, and although he is not the oldest resident of the townland, he has the most recollection of the people and places. Each day Tom still goes walking the lanes of Curryquin and Mucklin, with just his walking stick, truly an amazing man.
Tom insisted on showing us where the Sherlocks lived, so we manoeuvred him into Nora's car and set off following Tom's directions. We soon found "Sherlock Lane" as it is still called, a narrow track with a small stream running down it. Tom indicated that the house was just a short way down the lane and we walked with me clearing debris from the path and Marlene and Nora supporting Tom. It was slow going, and dusk was fast approaching, so Nora and I went ahead to see if we could see the house, while Marlene stayed with Tom, who continued to edge his way down the path. By the time we returned, it was getting dark and I had to use the flashlight app in my phone to light our way back to the car.
Nora guiding Tom Hickey into Sherlock Lane
Back at Tom's house, we sat down with Tom, Tess and their son, Willie, who indicated that we had not gone far enough down the lane to find the house, so we will have to try again on Friday (without Tom). Tom remembered the Sherlock family, when they died, their musical and singing ability, etc., so it was great to hear about them from somebody who actually knew them.
It was almost 9 pm when we left the Hickeys, the end of a very fruitful day.
