A Horrifying Spectacle

The town of Lisdoonvarna is built on a geological unit known as the Clare Shales. It lies directly atop the limestone which comprises most of the Burren.

This is a beautiful part of County Clare.

Most of the area is composed of bog wetlands covered with heather.

A peat bog is an accumulation of dead sphagnum moss.

This moss is very spongy which, in some areas, makes walking feel more difficult ~ pushing the walker upwards and forwards with every step. 

In some areas, this spongy bog can be waist deep.

Once trapped in this spongy substance, it can prove very treacherous and difficult to extricate oneself.

In addition, the surface is intersected by deep ravines which were formed when torrents of rain came .rushing down from Blakesmountain ~ one of the highest hills in the county

Because Blakesmountain has always been cut for peat, deep, dangerous ravines and crevasses have been created just beneath the surface making it treacherous for the unprepared.

This entire area of Lisdoonvana was granted to Pierse Creagh by King Charles II, as a reward for his services against Cromwell,

In 1851, his descendant (also named Pierse Creagh), owned 1,907 acres and was building a huge demesne called  Rathbane on his property.

Offering subsistence wages, Creagh employed numerous laborers to complete his showcase manor house.

On September 1, 1852, our great great grandfather, Patrick Edward Reilly, made a "horrifying" discovery which he brought to the attention of his fellow Guardians on the Board of the Ennistymon Union.

Poor Mr O'Driscoll was probably "hunting" for peat to light the fire in his humble hovel when he was trapped in the bog.

This news article was published numerous times throughout the United Kingdom.

((It was a weird feeling to suddenly come across this newspaper article while doing research on something else entirely.))

The Burren has been a unforgiving landscape for thousands of years.

EPILOGUE 

History gives a nation its bearing on what it is and how its people are affected by what has happened in the past. 

Its kings and queens, its wars - with victories and defeats - these all mold a nation’s culture into the way it views itself in the present. 

In the same way, a family history presents how a family has survived and come to terms with the great social and cultural experiences of the ages.

We hope these stories will give each member of our family a foundation and, in some small way, explain how we came to be what we are today.

Hopefully, through these vignettes, our future generations will gain a knowledge of the energy and dynamism, the loves and hates, the errors and mistakes, the victories and failures, the struggles and successes that make us what we are.

Our family history presents a fascinating read - and, hopefully, some lessons to be learned in the process.