The O'Callaghan Johnston Plot at Creggan Graveyard
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The O'Callaghan Johnston Plot at Creggan Graveyard by Eric Jones as part of the Geograph project.
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The O'Callaghan Johnston Plot at Creggan Graveyard
Image: © Eric Jones Taken: 10 Sep 2014
The enclosed plot contains the graves of the O'Callaghan's who were Catholic landowners who had amassed a fortune from distilling liquor. They were noted for their tight-fistedness when it came to paying poets and pipers for their service. This brought the wrath of the Gaelic poet Art MacCooey up on them. In his poem "Bodaigh n nEorna" (The Churls of the Barley) Art mocked the faux gentility of this nouveau riche family: "The oul' dame's a sight, her lace is so tight, Make money! that's all that she'd care to, To buy silk and satin, a skirt for her bottom, And a ringlet or two for her hair-do! The daughter's a snob when she's out on the road, On the new foreign fashions she seizes: A hat that's all bound with a gold band around, And a feather that ploughs through the breezes. The curse of the friars and the vengeance of Rome On the breed and the seed of the vipers Who threaten each day and never would pay A penny to poets and pipers".
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Image Location
Latitude
54.08357
Longitude
-6.575415