In my search for Family History the following
story was related to me, in May 1986, by Michael Joseph Dowling around
a kitchen table in the farmhouse Dysertbeagh, Mountrath. The tale was
supported by Michael James Dowling a little further down the road over
a large glass of potheen. I am not sure that potheen should be taken
with the milk he gave me as a mixer but I am sure the story should be
taken with several pinches of salt!
"Once
upon a time around the turn of the century, two Dowling
brothers owned a mill in a village near Ballycollah
called Gortnaclea.
Now
it is said that on St. Martin’s Day, on the 11th
November, that no mill or other machinery should be
operated. This, apparently, is because St. Martin himself
had been killed on that day in a mill.
Well
on 10th of November both
brothers were busy in the mill completing as much work as
possible before the coming Holy Day. One of the brothers
left leaving the final clearing up to the other.
At
about half past eleven a pretty young slip of a girl
comes into the mill with a sack of barley to be ground.
The remaining brother tries to avoid the business telling
the girl of the restrictions placed on the mill by the
Holy Day now less than half an hour away.
The
attractive girl uses her womanly powers of persuasion and
eventually the brother agrees to do the small favour.
The
mill wheel turned as did the wheel of time. The two were
still embracing when at the stroke of midnight a loud
crack was heard. The mill wheel had broken. Timbers
creaked and snapped crashing to the floor throwing a
solitary oil lamp to the ground. Dry floor coverings
caught alight immediately and soon the fire spread to the
building timbers. Within minutes the entire mill was
engulfed with flames.
The
brother escaped with his life but the mill was in ruins.
The woman, seen to leave the mill by the brother, was not
known locally. She was never seen again."
Knowing the family specialised in
tall tails I mentioned this story to Mrs Cougan, who lived
near Ballycollah, more out of interest than for any research
reason. She could remember a mill by the old castle. Some
stones could be seen by the river near that castle but they
did not appear to be anything particular.
I suspect that some confusion has
seeped in over the years as, coincidentally, Thomas Dowling
(who died in 1910) had two brothers who apparently emigrated
to the United States of America and became successful
millers. Accurate, or not, it is still a good story and I
wonder if those brothers operated their mill in the United
States on St. Martin’s Day.
