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Remembering Margaret Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Cuilcagh: The cache owner is not responding to issues with this geocache, so I must regretfully archive it.

Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for unarchival.

Cuilcagh - Community Volunteer Reviewer for Geocaching HQ (Ireland)

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Hidden : 3/26/2011
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A quick cache and dash in a layby near an long forgotten area that was once known as Margaret`s Grave.
Cache is small tablock box.Room for small swaps.

The following is a reply to a question in a local newspaper published in 1959.

A reader wrote to us regarding the possible origin of the placename Margaret's Grave, on the Magherafelt-Moneymore Road. The reader was prompted to write after reading in our Focus On Local Topics column that work was to start on a new stretch of road which would cut out the dangerous corners at Margaret's Grave.

The letter reads: "The tragedy of Margaret happened about 60 years after the killing of John Farrell, a weaver and small farmer, whose murder while returning from Magherafelt market one night in the year 1790, created consternation and alarm throughout South Derry and further afield.
Margaret was a woman of the roads and like all the women of her class had her favourite houses to call, where she usually was well received and spent the night. It was a wet and stormy night as she was travelling towards Magherafelt. She was hungry and pretty nearly exhausted, but she was sustained by the thought that when she reached 'William F's' there would be a welcome for her, supper and a bed. It didn't work out that way. She staggered up the short lane and lifted the latch of the door. To her surprise the door was bolted. She knocked loudly, but there was no response. In desperation, she lifted a heavy stick and hammered on the door until a voice shouted: "Go away, this door will not be opened tonight, not for anyone." This refusal was the last drop to fill her cup of misery to overflowing. In the morning, when the storm had blown itself out, 'William F' went out to see what damage had been done. He went into a byre and got a most severe shock to see the body of Margaret hanging from one of the rafters. At the Coroner's Quest, an order was made that the body should be buried at the nearest crossroads. The body of the unfortunate woman was interred at the road end at Coolshinney School, but afterwards raised and finally found a resting place at the three-road-ends junction of Megargy Road with the Magherafelt-Moneymore Road, and the spot has been known since as Margaret's Grave. The story of John Farrell and Margaret are legendary. There is however, a considerable amount of evidence of their foundation in fact. The wallsteads of both the house where John Farrell lived and that of 'William F' were standing less than 30 years ago. The two tragedies happened not more than 400-yards apart, and the number of tragic deaths which have occurred within a quarter mile radius in the last 25 years is nothing less than remarkable."

Parking right beside cache.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Qba'g trg OBNEQ bs gur VASBEZNGVBA

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)