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Archiver > IRL-SLIGO > 2001-12 > 1008399985


From: "mkirk" <>
Subject: [IRL-SLIGO] Re: Taunagh, Riverstown, Co. Sligo
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 23:08:51 -0800
References: <001c01c184bf$2f3afee0$3141b9ce@ariley>


Dear list,
Thanks for all the responses on Taunagh. It was great to know how many
others are checking the same area. It is a very pretty area with soft
rolling hills and plenty of trees and lakes, both small and large, with an
old arched stone bridge going over a small river into the town. There is a
Folk Park on the river with reproductions of how the town used to look. The
people were very friendly and helpful. I stopped for information at the
local SPAR grocery store, which seems to be the hub of the town. They led
me to two B&B's, I stayed at Margaret Kelly's right in the town (she has
two rooms on the ground floor=our first floor). When I came back a couple
more times, everyone in the store knew I was the lady from the United States
looking for her TAHANY relatives and had more information for me, asked if
they could help with directions, or had some local tidbit to share. It was
the experience you dream of having, where you get off the main road and get
to meet people. Many were speaking Irish, including the schoolchildren.
Also, I was willing to inflict myself upon anyone who would stop (driving or
walking). I wasn't in a hurry and listened to every story. I was only
there two days, but it was a memorable two days.

About the pronunciation of TOWN-ah (I even taped people saying it on my
mini-recorder), it changed often! I went with what the older folks who
still speak Irish said, but it could have been TOW-nah or A.Riley's Tah-nah.
Trust me, there will be many people willing to help you with pronunciations
if you ask for help. I guess what I'm saying is that nothing is carved in
stone and it's a living language so I like to think that there are no
terribly wrong answers.

About the church, there didn't seem to be any local written records of who
is buried where, but I didn't really pursue it due to time constraints.
It's quite beautiful as you come around a corner and off in the distance it
is up on a hill. Many graves are unmarked, some have a chunk of rock for a
stone, and there is some sort of lichen on lots of the older stones making
them really hard to read. I would recommend doing rubbings, but you'd need
a lot of supplies to do just one cemetery. The local priest refers history
questions to my "new" cousin, Stephen TAHENY, so I will see what I can find
out about dates. I was excited to find some REIDs between the church and
the road, but I was met with extreme silence by the local folk, which was
how I eventually found out about it changing religious hands. So I'm going
back to Sligo Town for my Catholic REIDs.

Apologies for being a bit off-topic (travelogue versus genealogy) and the
length.
Thanks again for all the responses,
Margaret Kirk
paternal: KIRK/REID/TAHANY, SCULLY/MULLEN
maternal: MEEHAN/SAVAGE, KEARNEY/TONER/MURRAY

..............................................................

----- Original Message -----
From: "A. Riley" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 8:48 AM
Subject: [IRL-SLIGO] Taunagh, Riverstown, Co. Sligo


Dear List and Margaret Kirk,
Thanks for the information on Taunagh, including the pronunciation -- here
I'd been thinking it was Tah-nah, and Margaret tells us it's TOWN-ah. Our
people (CRYAN, McDONAGH) were from that neck of the woods; Atty McDonagh
Cryan's ten or eleven kids were all baptized there 1825-1846. They
apparently lived in the townland of Drumraine, two or three miles due east
of the church.

I had heard that the ruins were the Protestant church, but hadn't heard that
it wasn't always so. It must have been quite a local drama when the church
changed hands. Anyone have any records of that? When did the church fall in
ruins, anyone know?

Can you describe the countryside for us, Margaret?

Thanks
A. Riley, who has learned that every answer leads to ten more questions
researching Cryan, from Sligo to Leominster, Mass., and thence to Fond du
Lac Co., Wisc.




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