Helen Meehan, noted author and historian, was our guide for the first Field Day of 2025 in Frosses and Mouncharles for the County Donegal Historical Society.
Our tour began in the cemetery of St. Mary’s Church in Frosses where we learned of two notable people buried here; Seumas McManus (1868-1960), the last great seanchaí, or storyteller of the ancient oral tradition and his wife Anna (1864-1902), poet, balladeer and publisher under her pen-name Ethna Carbery. Seumas and Anna lived in Mountcharles after they were married in 1901.
Helen led us into the St. Mary’s Church to hear of the history of Frosses, a chapel village, a village built around the chapel. From the original Mass house in the 1700s, whose exterior wall can still be seen in the cemetery, to the start of the present chapel in 1808 through to the completion of the distinctive bell tower in 1892.
Our tour then moved on to Christ Church, Mountcharles, where Helen gave us a flavour of her deep knowledge of the area from Tamhnach an tSalainn (the Field of Salt hence Salthill) through the growth of Mountcharles and its connection with the Conyngham family with the title Earl of Mount Charles.
Our group in Christ Church and a study of the roof, not one nail used.
Our final stop on our tour was at the pier at Salthill (Mountcharles Pier) to hear of the trade carried out here, from the salt trade through to the trade and shipment of Drumkeelan stone.
We would like to thank those at St. Mary’s Church, Frosses, and Christ Church, Mountcharles, for their hospitality in welcoming us on our Field Day.
Helen has authored two books which you can investigate for more information than we have space for here:
Ethna Carbery: Anna Johnson McManus
For news of our next Field Day at Buncrana, click here.