“Doire Bhile”
(Near Glengoole)
Doire Bhile or Derryvilla was a Monastery founded by St Tighearneach and was regarded as the second oldest churchyard in Ireland and one which the Pope is obliged to mention once a year. A King Henry II coin was discovered on this site and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. King Henry II was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine who gave the relic of the True Cross to the Monks at Holy Cross Abbey as a sign of her gratitude to the monks for giving her son a Christian burial after he had been set upon and murdered by thieves while collecting the Peter’s Pence. The image on this panel is of a King Henry II coin.
Buolick.
(near Gortnahoe)
In the late 19th Century two bronze bells were found under the tower of the church at Boulick while a grave was being dug. This was the family grave of the Lanigans of Pastorville, very close to Boulick. These bells were kept in the grounds of the Archbishop’s Palace – Dr Croke at the time - in Thurles until the early 1970’s when they were gifted to Holycross Abbey following its restoration. At this point the bells were dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
These bells are thought to be the oldest church bells in Ireland and it is believed that Michael is over 750 years old. It is believed that these bells once hung and rang in Kilcooley Abbey.