Turlough O'Carolan, also called Terence Carolan (born 1670, near
Nobber, County Meath, Ireland, died March 25th, 1738, Alderford,
County Roscommon), was one of the last Irish harpist-composers and
the only one whose songs survive in both words and music in
significant number (about 220).
In 1684, John Ó Cearbhalláin, a blacksmith, moved his family to
Ballyfarnon, County Roscommon to take employment with the
MacDermott Roe family. His son, Turlough, was 14 years old.
Turlough became blind from smallpox at the age of 18.
He was befriended by Mrs. MacDermott-Roe, the wife of his
father's employer, who apprenticed him to a harper and supported
him for the three years of his training, then gave him money, a
guide, and a horse. As an itinerant harper, he traveled widely in
Ireland.
Although never considered a master performer, he was highly
regarded as a composer of songs and improvised verse. His tunes
appeared widely in 18th-century collections.
When Turlough O'Carolan died at the house of his patron Máire
MacDermott Roe in 1738, his former music-pupil Charles O'Conor
recorded his passing in sadness: 'Saturday, the 25th day of March,
1738. Turlough O'Carolan, the wise master and chief musician of the
whole of Ireland, died today and was buried in the O'Duignan's
church of Kilronan, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. May his
soul find mercy, for he was a moral and religious man.'
In 1750, O Carolan's grave as opened to receive the remains of a
priest, who last request was to be buried there. O'Carolan's skull
was exhumed, and, as a mark of respect, was decorated with a black
ribbon and placed by the Hon. Thomas Dillon (brother to the Earl of
Roscommon) in a niche over the grave, where it remained an object
of veneration and attraction for nearly fifty years.
In 1796 it disappeared, and turned up many years later in Castle
Caldwell. It was then moved to a museum in Belfast, and eventually
transferred in 1926 to a fitting shrine in the National Museum,
Dublin.
The Cache
How many horizontal bars on the black gate at the posted
coordinates? Let this number be x.
The cache can be found at
N 54 03.(2x – 1) x x
W 008 09.x 2x (x-2)
Please be careful crossing the road.