Dúchas Áitiúil - Preserving Local Culture

The Conneries Heritage Project

This proposal was submitted to Waterford County Council and was accepted for funding under a joint programme with Waterford Leader, The Waterford County Community Forum and the Department of the Environment.

Photos on this Page

1. Micheál Marrinan outside the site in August 2006
2. Micheál, Ger Dunford and Tony Doolin, Archaeologist, at the site in August 2006
3. Initial finds included non-local blue-green slates and bits of pottery
4. Part of an old iron pot and a more modern 'Chaynie' found on site.
(The iron pot may have been dumped on the site and not originally from the Conneries' site.)
5. Micheál Marrinan and Willie Fennell along the excavated remains of the east wall of the Conneries' cottage.

Project Rationale:

Comhaltas Craobh na gCumarach exists to celebrate Irish culture. Our locality has long been a haven for traditional culture. In the past century, local parishes have produced an inordinate number of poets and outstanding traditional ballads of international repute. While every form of traditional culture is celebrated and taught by the local branch, the one time-honoured musical style that still needs to be nurtured is singing. This project presents a unique opportunity to foster traditional Irish singing and song making in the locality.

Three local stories of historic importance are widely known, in outline at least, by nearly all residents of the area. These are the celebrated successes of greyhound Master McGrath in the Waterloo Cup. The infamous tale of Petticoat Loose combines in one true happening a famously independent woman, love and betrayal, murder and exorcism. Finally, there are the exploits of the Conneries both in County Waterford and Australia.

As an initial project, we are focusing on the Conneries. There are several reasons for this choice. First, the Conneries are probably the most widely known of these tales. This is because, most unusually, there are three historic ballads detailing their adventures. Further, the household site of the Conneries remains. The ruins are nearly totally decayed, but one wall of their pre-famine cabin remains. The land-owner has, for years, been suggesting that something be done to preserve what remains.

The Connery brothers lived in the hill country to the south of the Comeragh Mountains. Their small homestead is in the townsland of Bohadoon and an existing boreen connects it to the Colligan River. Then, as now, extensive forestry existed along the river. The wild highlands of the Comeraghs begin on the edge of Bohadoon.

Brendan Kiely, whose book “The Conneries – The Making of a Waterford Legend” is the most significant published biography of the brothers, believes they were leaders of a local faction. In the early 1800’s, the brothers waged their own private war with the local landlords. They murdered a local man and spent years evading the authorities sent to arrest them. When caught, the Conneries escaped from jail three separate times. When news spread of their final jail break, large crowds gathered to cheer and escort them out of Waterford City.

Eventually, the brothers were re-captured and transported to Australia. At least one of their descendants from down under has visited the remains of the cottage. So, there is a potential international dimension to this project.

The Conneries are remembered in three famous ballads and they became symbols of resistance to landlordism. Within the parish, however, they are still controversial characters. Some view them as local heroes, others as troublemakers.

Whatever the truth of the matter, their story is still very much a part of local oral tradition. The songs, the old homestead, the brothers’ paths through the wilds, the houses where they hid and cached supplies and the very spot where they murdered their first victim are all still known. And, recordings exist of several locals who were interviewed in the 1920’s and 1930’s about the Conneries.

Goals Relating to the Conneries:

1. Preserve the Connery home site.
2. Celebrate and share local lore and history.

1. Preserve the Connery home site.

Preserve the site:
Thanks to the generosity of Tom and Ann Marie Corcoran and their family, the property has been acquired by licence to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Comhaltas has an established national programme that already has saved important heritage sites throughout Ireland. One of the primary benefits of Comhaltas leasing of the Connery site will be insurance coverage.

2. Celebrate and share local history.

Host a Conneries weekend in the Autumn 2006 to publicize the local activities.

Collect local lore. Liase with Waterford County Museum in Dungarvan  to provide this information to the wider community.