JOURNAL OF THE 'COUNTY DONEGAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY in .Kilmacrenan is a i:q>ring well known to this day as '"McGrath's Well." God's mer:cy was not floligottein. Before ·g;oing to gaol Manusi'is fri·ends stopped once again at Knocknabollan, this time with him in their midst, and all recited a Rosary of Thanksgiving. Captain O'Donnell was not harassed after his release and was p~rmitted to live in peace with his family. He and IBrighid had four sons and four daughte·rs. All these, with the exception of Eamon, the first born, to whom I have referred, marrted and had large famities. Their descendants are t-o be ·found in many climes from the Seven Hills to the Snows -of Alaska! Several great-great-.great-grandchildren survive in this country, and, it is not unlikely that beyond the seas, there are others who are also their great-great-great-greatgrandchi1dren. The compilation of an accurate and comprehensive chronological table of Manus's descendants would, therefore, be a difficult and formidable task. THE GLASSAGH OiDONNELLS 1\{ ANUS died on the 5th · August, 1844, at the ripe old age of eighty-six, and was laid " to rest in the family plot at Garton. Brighid, who is recorded as seventy-six years in the 1841 Census, survived him by twenty years or more. A great-grandson of hers, who was born in 1848, remembered her quite well. Although her name is not inscribed on the tombs she was certainly buried with her husband. The remarkable thing about Manus's arrest and imprisonment was that his wife's people, the Glassagh ,Q'[)onnells, who held such a high !Place in the county, do not appear to have intervened or used their influence on his behalf. None of them turned up at 202 the fight at 1Li:fford. Their absence was noted and ·Commented UPQn by all. It is ·believed that they were afraid to jeopardise their position w'ith. the Powers That Wer-e by piublicly identifying themselves with such a noted rebel, especially as !Blri,glhidt s br:othe:r, !Rory, W!a.s Siu!bConstable of the Barony of Boylagh at the time. I was told that a son of Manus, who was iborn in 1815, never mentioned his mother's people nor have tpey been discussed among the later generations. There is no doubt tiha:t there wais an estrangement between the two families and it probably had its origin, in the a·ttirude :tJhtait tJhe O]assa:gjh O'[)lon.nellls ass·umed towards Manus when he ran· foul of the authorities. The pikes and other arms of Captain O'Donnell's local Society of the United :Irishmen were burled by night in the bog of ~g 'a Churrain: the :body of the members pledging one another to secrecy as to their exact location. The secret has been well kept. About :fifty years ago when the railway to . Burtonport was being made through the middle of the bog there was much talk of the hidden pikes and many expected that .they would 1be found during the course of the work, but they never came to light. AN INTERESTING SEQUEL AN interesting sequel to Manus's fight with the dragoon is the mark that it left on British military history. The vulnerability of leather where pike or sword was concerned was demonstrated by the slitting of the reins to deprive the rider of control of his mount. The authorities were quick to profit by the experience and thereafter provided their cavalry with chains fer attaching to the lower :part of the reins that hangs between the horse's neck and the bi:t
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