Cooley
Taken from A History of Moville and its Neighbourhood by Rt. Rev. Bishop Henry Montgomery 1847 - 1932

Let me take you back even to prehistoric times, then to early Christian ages. The oldest relic we possess is, of course, in Cooley, a short mile from Moville. Yet short as the distance is, many a visitor, after passing a month with us in summer, goes away without even hearing of one of the most remarkable of Irish antiquities. I hope this article may help to make the treasures of Cooley better known.

One of our experts told me that he had no doubt Cooley was the site of pagan worship. In that case, it is impossible to put any limit to the time when the inhabitants first gathered there for their solemnities. It is the cross and the flat stone upon which it rests which brings us first to non-Christian ages. There can be no doubt I think, that these two stones were used in pagan rites. Both of them are "holed stones," and the holes are roughly made. Probably they stood as near as possible to their present position, both upright, with the holes near the top. Holed stones are well known in different parts of Ireland, and though we have no actual record of the use made of the holes, it would appear more than probably that they were used for the making of vows. For example, couples about to marry joined hands through the hole. So any two people would thus solemnly clinch an important bargain. Again, a prayer would be made more assured if after it had been said a stone were placed in the hole as a memorial. When Christianity began to permeate the country, chiefly after the permanent coming of St. Patrick, about the year 432 A.D., the advise given to missionaries was "Do not destroy pagan symbols. Transform them into Christian objects, and use the same sites for Christian worship." It would appear that this was exactly what was done at Cooley. The site was kept for the Church; about two stones were taken, one to act as a base, the other to be cut into the shape of a cross, and both were placed upon a little raised bank. If you will examine the recumbent stone you will see the old pagan hole at one end. Apparently the stone, now a cross, was once as broad as the stone on which it stands. This was cut down until it became what it is to-day. The work of the mason is distinct. He has carved out four semi-circular holes in order to mark the arms of the cross. But above them is the old pagan hole still preserved. You can see that it is not part of the cross as fashioned later. It is not in the middle, it is not round, it is barbaric. If there is truth in this explanation it surely makes our Cooley cross somewhat unique. Is there any other cross in Ireland which is in this manner composed of two pagan holed stones? Votive stones are, of course, still placed in those holes, and it seems to me that the most difficult hole to reach the old pagan hole, is the one most generally used. There could be no better way of transforming a pagan object into a Christian one.

No certain date can be supplied for this cross, but experts say it is certainly "very ancient." One likes to think that the transformation was made in the days either of St. Patrick or St. Columba. In that case, accepting St. Columba's time as more probable, you have an ancient cross preserved carefully for something like fifteen centuries There it has stood beside the old track, unguarded by any fence, yet safe in the care of all who dwell near or pass by it. Let us now turn to the ruin of the old Cooley Church and its enclosed graveyard. It was probably part of the pagan site. The old books say that it was St. Patrick who spent forty days in our pa t of Inishowen, founding in that time three churches, at Donagh, Bocan (Cloncha), and Cooley. For myself, I question whether St. Patrick ever had time to come to Inishowen, whereas St. Columba, Donegal bred and loving every bit of it, is the rightful founder of our old churches. It means moving the creation of our churches from the 5th century to the 6th. St. Columba was born near Lough Gartan in 521 A.D. I exercise my right, therefore, in spite of the old books, to asert that somewhere about the year 560 A.D. St. Columba founded the three churches of which Cooley is one. I am also going to assert that after leaving Bocan he came down the left bank of the Bredach River surveying the two sides, and making up his mind where he could best plant the third church. Probably the right bank, the Cooley side, held the more farms. Moreover, there also was the pagan site placed on that hill for the same reason - namely, that there were more inhabitants close by. St. Columba moved down the left till the brae became less step. It has been carved out, of course, in the glacial period. That would bring him to where Gulladuff now stands. There he crossed the river on stepping stones, and actually where the old bridge was afterwards erected. Here, however, he had a mishap. As he was crossing he espied a nice white stone and stepped upon it. But it was a salmon, and the saint had a fall, He was angry, and it is just this fact that makes me believe it was St. Columba and not St. Patrick. The former had a very distinct temper, the latter had not. The story proceeds to say that the saint rebuked the river, "No salmon enter thee again." It is certain not salmon has, but perhaps no salmon ever did ascend. The saint then passed on to the Cooley site and founded the church; beside it on the further side there seems to be the ruin of the house for clergy.

Below the two ruins there stands the little building which seems to puzzle antiquaries. Was it a hermitage? If not, what was its object? They say it is as old as anything on that site But a question may be asked. Is the present ruin part of the original church? All the experts say that perhaps nowhere in Ireland was a church of stone build before the tenth or eleventh century, they were made of wood: and all stone ruins of churches, even at Glendalough, are mediaeval. The sites, however, are the old sites. Therefore, we must be content with our sites and not name the ruins as "very ancient," We have, at least, our cross to which we can apply that term. It may also be as well to say that our Moville is not the Moville where St. Columba, in his youth, sat at the feet of St. Finian. Our Moville did not then exist. St. Columba and St. Finian lived beside Newtownards, in County Down. The cemetery close by is called Movilla Cemetery. The ruins visible there, albeit sadly engulfed among modern graves, is the site of the old church, though the remains as seen to-day are certainly mediaeval.

Before I pass away from Cooley I set down some details worthy of record. About the year 1840 Lord Caledon, living at Armagh, bought land at Cooley and transferred several families from his estate in order to plant them in Cooley. Without doubt, he built their houses too close together, and the farms were too small. The names of two of those families are still known there - namely, Mercer and Braden. But it was the manner in which the land was bought which will create the most interest. It was bought by "auction by half-inch candle." After the property had been fully discribed, the auctioneer lit a half-inch candle, and bidding began. The last bid before the candle went out secured the land. I am told that the Alexander (Caledon) bid was almost too late, but the light flickered up and saved the bid. I asked the late Mr Robert Nolan whether he had ever heard of this strange method and he assured me had met with it in old documents.

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