Crossroads intrigue me. I'm always wondering what's down the roads I choose not to travel. However, in recent times in western Inniscarra, I find myself seeing the other roads and seeing how they are all connected up. In a sense, it seems that each place I encounter is part of a network that connects places together in a chain.

Berrings Cross is a crossroads of contrasts. I enjoy looking at contrasts, seeing a satellite on the side of an old building. I think change and continuity are important threads for a living settlement. At Berrings Cross, Reen's Bar, the local church, the school and modern housing are signposts of the past, present and future.

Front garden memories, Daniel Horgan with an old 'ringing out machine' for wet clothes at Berrings Cross.

On the southern side of the cross, the modern housing is brand new and stands out untarnished by time. They seem to be waiting for a past. They seem to await the impact of memories. Their drystone stone walling offers attempts by us citizens of County Cork to integrate ourselves into the countryside seemlessly.

Across the road, Berrings Hall stands as the contrast to the new, a tin ruinous structure but with a rich past. Berrings hall was a parochial dwelling. It belonged to the Parish for the people of the parish. It was known far and wide. Dances were held weekly in decades gone by, some in preparation for the annual Farmer's Union ball in the Arcadia in Cork. Master Driscoll, the local national school teacher in the 1950s, held drama classes and public speaking competitions there. It was a tremendous meeting place. Buses came out from the city. Reens Bar became popular as a consequence.

At Berrings Cross in the 1860s there was a forge and the site of the old forge is called the Forge yard. The smith who worked there was named Collins. When he died, his family left the district and little is known of them. It would appear that the old forge was a meeting place for the local boys, where many a prank was played and story told. The forge in the twentieth century was re-opened by Timmy Lane. Timmy Lane's Aunt Margaret Mary Lane worked in Leicesters Chemist for many years (now Quill's, on St. Patrick Street). Local people got their horses shod at Berrings Cross forge.

Travelling shows stopped at the site and tended to the shoes of their horses. The forge, Pat Reen of Berrings, remembers was a hive of activity. Cooking utensils were made there such as tin dishes for baking. Gates were created for the farming community. There was a second forge owned by the Cooneys in Ballyshonin, a mile east of Berrings next to a creamery.

On the northern side of the cross are the ruins of the second Berrings National School with a plaque on the wall stating '1846-1979'. Inside the building, the only memories left are a map of the world dated to 1961. Looking at it, it shows how much the countries of the world have been re-jigged in more recent years. One can explore Education in Berrings back three hundred years with the help of the Irish Folklore Commission in 1938.

In the local townland of Gortatrea, in the 1730s, there was a low thatched building. The old teacher who taught there was remarkable for the beautiful style of writing. His name was Looney. His pupils many of them came from places five mile distant from the school. There were no desks or benches but the pupils some grown me sat on large stones and on their knees placed large copies or sheets, which acted as benches. The ordinary subjects, writing, composition, grammar, geography and mathematics was apparently taught there. It was passed down that both languages, English and Irish were taught there. As far as was known, the school continued for many years and continued working during summer and winter months. Each pupil paid a certain sum per quarter to the teacher.

At Berrings Cross, was another old ruin part of which was at one time used as a school. It was conducted on the same lines as the old school at Gortatrea but of an earlier date. The teacher who taught in the school was named Pat Herlihy and when a new school was built at Berrings in 1846, this same teacher was appointed principal teacher of it. A school was held at the home now occupied by John Hennessy of Kilblaffer, Berrings. This school, which was in the house or barn, was more or less for the Hennessy family and in the immediate neighbours and was held during the winter months only. The modern school is a late twentieth century construct.