05/03/2024
Muireann’s Bridge
As you walk around the magnificent trails in Rossmore Park you will notice a lot of lakes, seven in total. Something you might not know is that none of the lakes are natural, they were all created by Muireann , the Drumlin Giant that controls all water in the Park. Muireann rests over her river now, but many, many years ago she was incredibly busy, digging out all of the lakes and constructing tunnels, sluices, and bridges to control the flow of water from her river to fill up the lakes. If you look closely as the path turns at our Baby Redwood towards Druid, you can see Muireann’s river split in two and one channel flows into Priestfield lake.
Back in the 1770’s a young man called John Mckenna was born in Willeville House, which you can still see today if you stand at St.Macartan’s Cathedral and look towards the graveyard. In the distance, behind it, you can see a large old house, and this is where John was born. He was a highly spirited boy and was always looking for adventures. In those days, around 1778, Monaghan was a growing town. A prison was being built where the courthouse is today using stones from the old Monaghan Castle. John and his friends would enter the construction site when the workers were finished for the evening and roll large stones down to the castle’s old fish ponds and make dams. They’d get chased away by the night watchmen. Other times he would organise his friends to go into the grounds around Sparke’s Lake, now called the Convent Lake, where there was a large brewery powered by a mill wheel. He made the wheel go backwards, flooding the brewery and getting chased away again.
He looked for adventures so often that all of his friends’ parents complained to John’s mother and father that he was constantly getting them into trouble. John argued that his friends only got into trouble because they were slower than he was and that it wasn’t his fault that they kept getting caught.
His father imposed a curfew on him. He was not allowed out of the house after 4pm, and the town’s watchmen had all been offered rewards if they spotted him in town on his own to bring him home at once.
After a few weeks of confinement, he was so bored that he crept out at midnight and instead of going to the town, he walked out to Rossmore Park, or Mount Maria as it was called then, to play in the castle extension works.
He thought it would be fun to push large timbers and cut stones down the hill from the castle to the river Muireann below, to make another dam.
So he did.
He pushed huge timbers that were due to be used in the roof, and stones for the door frames, and then scrambled down the hill after them and started trying to arrange the timber and blocks to dam the river.
“Such a waste of talent !”
John stood stock still. “Who said that ?” he asked nervously.
“I did, of course.”
John looked up, in the direction of where the loud voice was coming from. His jaw dropped as he saw a giant lady staring down at him. He would have run away, but he was so terrified that he couldn’t move his legs.
“Don’t be afraid. No harm will come to you here.”
“Who..who…who are you ?” He asked nervously.
“I am Muireann, of the Drumlin Giants, and this is my river, that you are making a bit of a mess of.”
“I’m sorry. I was just experimenting.”
Muireann smiled and lay down along her river so that she was looking at John rather than down at him. “I can see that.” She said, smiling “But instead of just damming the river to make a mess, why don’t you do something good with it ?”
“Like what ?” John asked, no longer afraid.
“Well , I make small dams, and tunnels in order to make lakes. I can divert water to dry fields so that grass can go. And I can harness the power of the water to move objects.”
“Can you show me ?” John asked.
“I’d be delighted. Now first of all we can remove this dam you’ve made and rearrange these large timber and stones into a wee bridge.”
John and Muireann spent the rest of the night making the bridge where today you can see her along the river.
The next night, and subsequently once or twice a week, Muireann showed John around the Park and explained the tunnels, channels, sluices, and waterfalls she’d made and what each of them did. She also introduced him to the other Giants. John looked forward to his evenings in the Park , and couldn’t wait every evening for everyone else in his house to go asleep so that he could sneak out to the Park , and Muireann.
A year later a very sombre John McKenna walked slowly to meet Muireann. She could tell immediately that something was wrong.
“Why so glum ?” Muireann asked.
“I have to go away. My uncle Alejandro O’Reilly has come home from Spain and he has convinced my father to let him take me back and to join him in the Spanish army. I don’t want to go.”
“Don’t be afraid John. You have great talents and you will have great adventures.”
“But I will miss you.”
“And I will miss you. But wherever you go , we will be together.”
“How ? “ John asked.
“This river flows to the sea, every sea is connected. So no matter where you are just put your hand in a stream, or the wave in the sea, and eventually , over time, that water will flow through here, through me, and we will remember each other.”
John smiled at that.
John McKenna did indeed go to Barcelona with his uncle. He studied mathematics, and trained in the Royal Military Academy and became a military engineer in the Spanish Army. He fought for Spain against the French in the Pyrenees, where he helped bridge the Adour river. He thought that Muireann would be proud. He fought for Spain against the Moroccans and helped channel the river Loukkos to irrigate the fields around Larache, and he thought of Muireann.
Years later still he was sent to South America to help quell a rebellion by people in Chile against Spain. He fell in love with a rebel called Josefina and changed sides, fighting against Spain, and helping to liberate Chile. He trained the very first miltary engineers in the new Chilean army and then was appointed as Governor of Osorno.
Juan McKenna stood between the rivers Rahue and Damas surveying the ruins of the old city Osorno. It was a desolate place, and the task of restoring the fields, and rebuilding the city seemed impossible. He walked to the riverbank, knelt down, and idly placed his hand in the water…and suddenly he was no longer in Chile, he was back in Monaghan, along the river Muireann, and his favourite Giant was again smiling down at him.
“Muireann !” he exclaimed and ran to her. She scooped him up and he hugged her neck.” I’ve missed you so much !”
She placed him back on the ground, and lay down again, like she had when he was a boy. “Let me look at you, John. My, my, you’re nearly a giant yourself now ! I am so very proud of you. Every time you crossed or entered water, I got an image of you and what you were doing.”
John smiled “They call me Juan now.”
“Juan ? I like the sound of that.”
“I don’t know what to do now. The task is huge and I am on my own.”
“John Mc Kenna ! Sorry, I mean Juan MacKenna ! I have taught you better than that. You know in your heart that you can indeed rebuild Osorno, and more importantly that you are never alone. I am always with you.”
Juan smiled. ”Thank you , my friend. I should get back.”
“Of course. Just close your eyes and you will wake up on the banks of the Damas. Goodbye Juan.”
Before he closed his eyes Juan turned back to Muireann for the last time “Oh, I almost forgot, I’m married now, and we have three children. Two boys, Juan and Felix, and a gorgeous wee girl, called Mariana, which is Spanish for…..”
“I know.” Said Muireann. ”Thank you.”
Juan woke up on the bank of the river Damas.
He did indeed rebuild the city. Today Osorno has a population of 150,000 people and is a centre of agriculture, on the river terraces of the Damas and Rahue rivers.
The main city centre street is Juan MacKenna Avenue.
Creative Monaghan Monaghan Tourism Marc Kelly Sculpture Coillte Monaghan County Council County Monaghan Heritage Office Monaghan County Museum
