Domhnall O'Dowd
‘Is as Cill Chúile do mhuintir Uí Dubhda. Beimíd ag dul sall ansin ag caint le Padraig Dowd. Bhí réimse leathan d’eolas ag dul siar glúnta, agus é ag caint faoin teaghlach agus rudaí cosúil leis an nGorta Mór.
‘Deirtear gur tháinig muintir Uí Dubhda thall go go Cuas ón gClochán. Bhí Nell Ní Dhubhda blianta thar an ceithre scór nuair a bhuail mé léi mar bhuachaill óg. Bean bhríomhar a bhí inti agus spraoi maith aici.
‘Thugadh m’athair isteach sa tsean siopa sinn i gCarraig, os comhair an tséipéil. Gaeilge amháin a bhíodh á labhairt ag na sean daoine istigh sa tsiopa. Bhí nath cainte fíor shuimiúil agus scéilíní pearsanta acu.
‘Déarfadh fear amháin, dar liom Tomás Clancy, “éist leis an abhainn agus gheobhaidh tú an t-iasc”. Bhí gné béaloidis leis an mbealach a labhair siad, le tuiscint níos doimhne ar chultúr ná mar a fhaigheann tú in áiteanna eile sa tír.’
‘The O’Dowd family home is in Cill Chúile. We’d be going over there talking to Padraig Dowd. He had a wealth of information going back generations, talking about the family,and things like the Famine.
‘The Dowds allegedly came from Clochán over to Cuas. Nell Ní Dhubhda was in her late 80s when I met her as a young boy. She was a vigorous woman and good fun.
‘The shop up in Carraig — the old shop opposite the church. My father would bring us in there. The old people would be in there talking Irish. They had lovely anecdotes and their figure of speech was very interesting.
‘One man, I think Tomás Clancy, would say, "listen to the river and you will find the fish". There was a folklore element to the way they’d talk, a deeper sense of culture than you’d find in other parts of the country.’