There is an old boreen behind my house which is called Boirín Aindriú. There was an old man living there long, long ago. Andrew Cosgrove was his name. He had one young son named Brendan. That man and a man named Michael Kavanagh were fighting. Didn’t Brendan kill him. The boys of the area drove him out then. He went down to Kiltimagh in County Mayo and he was going around like a tinker there. One evening he came to a place where there was a big meeting. He went as far as them and what was there but people throwing stones to find out which one of them was the best. He took the rock and he threw it further than any of the others. They all gathered around him and asked him “who was he”. He told them his story from start to end. They jumped on him then and they killed him. His mother heard about it and great sadness came upon her. She walked down to County Mayo and she opened the grave. She took the head from the body and she closed the grave again. She came home then and she left the head on a big stone that was at the back of the boreen. She cried for three days and three nights. Then she put it underneath the stone. She lied on the stone then, and she died. The stone is called “Cloch Bréndán” [Brendan’s stone], and the boreen behind it is called “Boirín Aindriú”. It is said that that woman is to be seen every year, and that she does have the head under her arm. It was said that the stone should not be broken, but it was broken a few years ago and there is nothing more about it.
Patrick Delaney, Coteenty.
Written by Pádhraig Ó Dubláine / Patrick Delaney of Coitchianta / Coteenty. Anach Cuain, pages 22-23. Link: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4566055/4562643
Boithrín Aindriú – Andrew’s Boreen, Pádhraig Ó Dubláine
