Leacht cuimhne

The National Monuments Service's description

The leacht cuimhne stands on top of an outcropping rock on the north side of the road. It consists of a squat masonry pillar with a pyramidal cap that is surmounted by a roughly-cut cross. A plaque set in its southern side bears a weathered inscription. Hayward (1954, 31) records that: ‘This monument commemorates one of those tragic incidents all too common in the darker history of the west, when, arising out of some feud, John Joyce was set on by his enemies and brutally beaten to death, the same fate overtaking his wife when she went to his rescue. All around this cenotaph you will see little piles of stones and rude stone and wooden crosses. These are known as Crusheens ‒ Croisíní - Little Crosses ‒ and they have been placed here in memory of the dead who passed this way to their last resting place.’ Further information is provided by Fahy (1978, 19‒20) who noted that ‘it commemorates Mary Joyce, a young woman who was killed in a family feud in 1712. The incident was a sensation at the time, three young men, brothers, being subsequently hanged at Ballinrobe Gaol for their part in the affair.’ (O'Dowd 1998, 204)

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 16 November 2019

References

O'Dowd, P. 1998 Leachta Cuimhne or funerary cairns of Wormhole, Moycullen, Co. Galway. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 50, 201‒9.

Hayward, R. The Corrib country. Dundalk, 1954.

Fahy, J.A. 1978 The glory of Cong. Cong.