The Church of the Cows

Teampall Na B( The Church of the Cows) No 30

Like any good story in Irish Folk lore there is a good bit of skulduggery and sure it has to be true as it was written down in the Book of Leinster”Lebor Laignech” in 1160 AD by the Monks and they wouldn’t make it up Would they? The Book of Leinster is now kept in Trinity College in Dublin. Teampall Na Bo is a small church just outside the village of St Mullins and it was built in thanks giving to St Moling who managed get the lads of Ossary (Kilkenny, St Mullins) out of a long-standing Tax or payback for misdeeds. The Story goes that the king of Leinster a fellow called Eochaid married one of the daughters of the High King (Tuathal Techtmar) her name was Fithir, but when he got home his wise men told him that he had got the second best of the two sisters. So, what did he do but lock up Fithir his wife in the dungeon and go back and tell the King that she died and didn’t he take her sister home with him? Now that’s a right bit of stuff for you not into the love bit at all. Well when the two sisters saw one another didn’t the two of them die with shame. Now when the High King got the news of his daughter’s death, he lost it, was apoplectic and he assembled his army from the provinces of Munster, Ulster and Connacht and marched on Ossory, beheading Eochaid in revenge. Under Brehon law a blood price had to be paid for the lives of the two princes so he put a tax on Ossary until the end of time, such was his rage. Every year they had to cough up 5,000 Cows, sheep, hogs, 5000 pieces of silver, cloaks and so on in what was known as the Borumean tribute. Sure the kingdom after many years was impoverished, they were close to starvation having to give all their produce away. This is where St Moling stepped in, didn’t he cod the High King into letting them off the tax and handed out a few miracles or curses so the Kings army couldn’t follow him back home, no flies on this fellow. I did say Saint; well Irish saints were different to what you might call saintly types. The Local built a church on one of the hills out of St Mullins in thanks giving to the St Moling for getting them off the hookit was called Teampall Na Bo (the church of the cows”) Later on, when the church became less Christian baby’s that weren’t baptised were not allowed into the proper burial ground or graveyard beside the Abbeys in St Mullins. The good priests with their little rules banished the dead children to Teampeall Na Bo because their souls were black with original sin, that’s a sin that you didn’t commit but it’s there anyway, can you believe it?

Not a Happy place but well worth a visit to remind ourselves how good we have it today and say a prayer for all the Baby’s buried beneath.

Author Martin O’Brien

St Moling visits Cheltenham

Isn't this what we have been saying for years Cheltenham would never get off the ground without St Moling. Come on the Saints R95XY93

Let's Hope April 5th sees The Mullichain Cafe open

The Saints 300 can you believe it?

St Moling No 28

Did you know there are 300 or more Irish saints because we said so, it was only when Rome got involved that rules and verifiable miracles became a must. Every town and parish has a saint sure supporting the next parishes Saint is like a Cork man supporting the Dublin football team,its just not on.

St Moling was eighty-two when he died AD 696 according to the “Annals of the four Masters “and was buried in his own monastery in St Mullins, Teach Moling “The House of Moling”. We have this pal from Cavan and the cheek of her trying to claim that St Moling is buried up in Cavan, what some people will do to claim a Saint. Sure, we all know he is buried up above in our grave yard by his own monastery with the Men of 1798, Chieftains, Generals and the Mad Sweeney. The width and the breath of the country they have wells called after the man sure he must have been a great fellow to travel. Where he got the time, I don’t know and he building a mill race all by himself with a shovel, no tractors or JCB’S in them times. For seven long years he toiled all the way from Glynn, he refused to wash or drink until it was finished, some man some whiff! Moling had to be making up for some very Big Black sin and all the local lads dying to give him a hand. He is credited with introducing rye into Ireland and was way ahead of the Normans who were the real milling experts.

St Moling descended from the race of Cathair Mor of the Leinster men and the High Kings of Ireland nothing less. He was born in Hy-Kinsellagh which is County Carlow and Wexford today and an Angel came down from Heaven when he was just a babby and blessed him so he would become a Christian monk. St Moling is linked with the character Suibhne Geilt also known as the mad Sweeney who was speared by Mongan the pig herder to the Abbeys of St Moling and he was buried up beside the great man himself. Another crowd of Kerry men are claiming he was born in Sliabh Luachra it’s like the Irish claiming that every American presidents Great grandad came from their village, Lordi Lord.

He set up a monastery in Ross Broc (Badger Wood) in the 7t century which is now called St Mullins just above the River Barrow in South County Carlow in a place called Aghacainidh (Kennedys Field) During Molings time the people of Kilkenny and South Carlow owed allegiance to the King of Leinster. The locals got tired of the king and his taxes so they rebelled which wasn’t a good idea because he came down with his army and devastated the area taking all their herds of cattle and livestock. The king imposed huge taxes taking hundreds of cattle each year and impoverished the poor auld peasants so they could barely live. St Moling went to see the King and made a deal with him, well not really a deal he pulled the wool over the kings’ eyes but the king was powerless as Moling had supernatural powers. All the goods were returned to the locals of St Mullins and Kilkenny (Ossory) who built a church in St Mullins to commemorate this event and it was called Thomple na-bo (The Church of the Cows). In the bad times of the Catholic Church children who were not baptised were buried in the grounds of this church as the church would not let them into the proper grave yard,can you believe that for Christianity 

Moling was also the Bishop of Glendalough and Ferns, he was associated with myths fables, curses and cures and people came in their thousands to ask for his help in keeping the plague of 14th century away from their villages.

Author Martin O’Brien

Danny Brennan Watercolours

Smashing Water colour by Danny Brennan Wexford 

The Lime kilns of St Mullins

The Lime Kilns of St Mullins No 26

Did you ever wonder what those funny little stone bee hive like structures were by the side of the river or up back lanes? It is said quietly by locals in St Mullins that The Mullichains built the kilns to melt their gold when making their magical gold coins but they didn’t mind the locals using the kilns to make lime.

Lime Kilns have been used in Ireland from the time of the Celts to turn limestone into powder. Lime had a lot of uses such as a fertilizer; lime mortar for building and disinfectant to keep away disease. The farmers spread the lime dust on the fields as a fertiliser and to break up the soil and sweeten the grass. The Normans were the real lads for making use of lime for Building. They used lime mortar to build their towers and castles, that’s why the French lad’s buildings are still standing. Lime mortar didn’t crack like cement as it is constantly resetting itself, a living breathing substance. The Ancient Egyptians were the first to use lime mortar and weren’t they the smart lads when it came to building Pyramids. 

Lime made buildings were waterproof, Lime killed off infection and made the thatched cottages look nice and bright. Whatever was going on in Carlow there are Lime Kilns up every back lane and boreen (small winding lane) especially in the parish of St Mullins, maybe they were smoking it? Lime is great for killing off ants and crawling insects and slugs. When Chickens are laying, they love a bit of lime to harden up their egg shells and its a great man for rooting cabbage plants.

My Uncle Jim had a small thatched cottage with the bare essentials of furniture and little or no possessions I remember the two chairs and the table out in the yard so he could lime wash the whole inside of the house to disinfect it for the coming year as they dreaded getting Tuberculosis which had been rampant in Ireland. 

The Lime Kiln was built shaped like an egg with a big chamber in the middle, a hole at the bottom to light the fire, leave in the air and take out the lime that’s called the eye. They would fill the chamber from the top with layers of wood and turf or coal whatever they had that would burn and then layers of lime stones as big as your fist. A bit of flint set the fire going, it would take about four days to fully burn and all that time some poor young fellow had to keep an eye that the fire kept burning day and night. Walk up the Barrow River from St Mullins until you hear the roar of the weir and there on your right-hand side is a lime kiln, I wonder is your man still keeping guard on the flame?

Lime has many uses

o to prevent foot rot in livestock (often found in heaps at field gates)

o as a medicine

o for removing the hair from hides in leather making

o in cesspits

o slug and snail repellent

o killing ants and other unwanted insects

o as a frost protection for stored potatoes or ‘slits’

o to disinfect walls

o to deter disease on fruit trees

o as a worm drench for pigs

o as rooting powder for cabbage plants

o given to poultry that were producing eggs to strengthen the egg-shells