Stage 7: Keadue to Ballyfarnon Link

There are crannogs Lough Meelagh. These were man made defensive Islands, reached by boat or causeway.

The ivy-covered Duignan Kilronan Church ruins date to 1339. The church site was begun in the 6th or 7th century by Saint Ronan. The Duignans were historiographers to the MacDermotts. The book of the Duignans, alias The Annals of Kilronan, alias The Annals of Connacht, chronicling the period 900 to 1563, was compiled in their school. The south doorway is 12th century romanesque, incorrectly reassembled in the 15th century. Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738), harpist and composer, is buried here.

St. Lassair’s Well has a money tree and a rag tree. At the well there is a slab dated 1686 to Roger McDermott Roe and his wife Geis Conor. The supported slab opposite the well is reputed to be a cure for backache. Religious ceremonies are held here at the end of the summer. St. Lassair was the daughter of St. Ronan and St. Ailbhe.

A whole folklore has grown up around this shrine. Thousands of people gathered here for religious ceremonies each summer in times past. It was often the venue for faction fights between the Duignans and the Guihens who fought each other, and indeed all comers, with blackthorn sticks.

Castle Tennyson is a magnificent castellated mansion of the 19th century. It was built by the Tennyson and Kingston families who enlarged the existing Kilronan Castle, now restored to Kilronan Castle Hotel. There are many demesne features within the wooded landscape, notably the triple arched rustic entrance gate of heavily weathered limestone and the adjacent gate lodge, both set into a tree covered cliff.