JOHN RYAN, AGE 70, BALLYMACEGAN AND TONY MOLLOY, AGE 68, COOLEEN (Part 1)

A visit to the Ryan home in Ballymacegan provided me with a wealth of information. The recording began with a piece of music sweetly played on the tin whistle by John Egan, after which he told me that he got a share of the land 37 years ago which was part of the Wiltons estate, having originally come from Upperchurch. Tony Molloy provided a commentary on the locality, where he was born and grew up, and where his people had lived before him, and he told me that his mother had passed on much historical information to him. He also informed me that he was a gamekeeper, and knew every inch of territory in the area, and all the rich layers of history associated with the place.