A NORTHSIDE storyteller has published a new book detailing the history, folklore and location of Mass Rocks.
Used as altars in mid-17th century by Catholic priests to celebrate mass during penal time, Mass Rocks were often made from stone taken from a church ruin and relocated to an isolated rural area.
The new book,
‘Were you at the Rock?’, was written by Tony Nugent who was born in 1943 and reared in Arbour Hill.
The author, who is a member of storytelling group Dublin Yarnspinners, attended St Gabriel’s National School and St Pauls Secondary School, North Brunswick Street, before starting work aged 14 and moving across the Irish Sea.
He spent the next 13 years working at many occupations in many locations including, Sheffield, London, and the Channel Islands. On his return to Dublin in 1968 Nugent found work with the Dublin Gas Company, from where he joined the staff of Dublin City Council in 1970.
In 2004 he took early retirement from the council to study at UCD for a Higher Diploma in Irish Folklore and in 2005 was awarded a degree on completion of a substantial thesis and the passing of three exams.
In 2005 he was awarded an MA at Saor-Ollscoil na hÃ?ireann where he completed a major thesis,
‘Legends of the Dispossessed’ in 2007.
In 2009 Legends of the Dispossessed, a compendium of legends, poems, songs, official documents, observations and diaries of the Penal Times, was published in cooperation with Choice Publishing & Book Services Ltd Drogheda.
During the course of his studies Nugent became aware that the history, folklore and location of Mass Rocks were in danger of being lost to posterity and set out to rectify this situation.
The fruits of his efforts are contained in
‘Were you at the Rock?’ which was published earlier this month and is available in Eason’s and Veritas. The book is the product of his efforts and is the end result of many years of academic research, site visitation that included the climbing of many hills and mountains and interviews with members of the public who knew the location of some of these sites.
It’s the only book published on the history of the Mass Rocks and will be of interest to anybody with a love of Irish history.