n~a!J· - roJt.: f.J1 wu1-..l •ll'lll ~; ~•ill. "l<'<tir yo1in.~ maiden. be HOt afraid. for neither I nor ·rny men will do you harm but pray tell me how came you here for we have been riding sin<:e we came ashore this morning and you are the first human being we have met". Thus reassured, Kathleen expfained hew she and her grandmother dwelt in a castle nearby and, to make a long story short. he and his followers a·Ccompanied Kathleen thither. And ·who, mav be asked. was this 0 dashing yo~ng man'? He was one Mi:c Sweeney - leader of a band of gallowglasses-but where he came from is riot so easy to !lay. Some say that he came from Scot1a!1d, as in tho5e days profession.al soldiers hired thernce!ves to the chieftai.!ls. So in all likelihood MacSweeney came <i.cross to offer his services to some Irish chief. The uoshot of :'.\llacSwe?ney's visit ·was that he and Kathleen Roe fell in love and, in due course, were rr.arried and thus into the hands of the MacSweeneys fell the Castle cf Doe. ·Mae:Sweeney took service with O'Donnell and rendered him such good service, that he was appointed by O'Donnell over a number of diHricts (dTuaiih). Hence tte name Caislean na dTuaith, i.e. . The Castle of the Districts. 11 MURROUGH MM,I, MAC SWEENEY Murrougri ~as named Murrou_gh Mall from being the last of O'Donnell's chiefs• to arrive with his followers at the Battle of Fearsad Suileact in 1567. The l>at1k w;J·~ hCtl wht.:1.1 l\l,11::-lwe<;• w) al'rivetl from !Joe and o·uonne:t's troops were being driven back slowly, but surely. bv the forces Of Sean O'Neill. The O'Donnell wa·s in· no good humour. ".Is Tusa .l\1urach Mall," arsa seisean. "Chan e, acht is mise Murach i n-.am," says MaeSweeney. And he was. 111 COMMUNICATIONS WITH DOE CASTLE IN THE OLDEN ' DAYS The main road bet,ween East ·snd West Donegal did .not run as at oresent as tl»e road through Barne~ Beg was nof constructed until the year 1849. In former time.$ the road to the west ran from Letterkenny to Kilmacrennan and then straight uphill via Golan and Lough Salt, then downhill into the village of Glen. across Lackagh and so on westwards. TJ-·e castle w.as conveniently situated for observing the crossing of the Lackagh river, hence there 'was a strategic reaso.n for iti; site. IV SIR MILES :)lacSW,EENEY In the Plantation of ·Ulster he was given l,500 acres in the neighbourhood of Dunfanaghy, wt.ere he was allowed to hold two fairs yearly. The greater portion of his land was on the Ho.r::i Head promontory. then called Corran Binne. At a place called MuintermeHan he built a fortified dwelling afterwards called Horn Head House. It is· now occupied by Mr. William Durning. · Sir Miles was abhorred by the country people to whom .):le was very cruel. We do not know the 400.
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