The church of Berrings was built c.1808 on or near the site of the church, which did duty as a church before that time. That older church was a long low building with a slate roof. Fr. Lane, a native of Inniscarra Parish was involved in building the present church. Local man Eugene Lane in the 1938 Folklore study of Berrings area narrated a great story about the priest. When a young student, Lane walked to Cork City from Cloghroe, a distance of seven miles. As he was going to the city one morning along the Lee Road or The Asylum Road before the present Carrigrohane Straight Road, he saw before him in the road a poor man travelling barefooted while his boots hung from his shoulders. As the road was bad and wet the poor man was keeping to the dried portion of it.

Suddenly a horseman appeared coming from the City direction. He too was keeping to the dry portion of the road and would not leave it with the result that he drove his horse right against the poor man and knocked him to the ground and rode on as if nothing had occurred. Young Lane who saw what had happened prepared to meet the bully of a horseman as he approached apparently intent in treating him as he treated the poor feet man. The horseman held the road as did young Lane but just as he was almost directly on him, Lane side stepped and with one blow of a walking stick which he carried he brough the horseman flat on the ground where he gave him a few further severe blows. Young Lane then jumped the fence, went across the fields as fast as he could and did not enter the city that day as he was aware that the horseman he had knocked down was 'gentleman of importance'. Next day yeoman were scouring the countryside in search of the young man who had knocked down the high sheriff of Cork whom young Lane had knocked down. Young Lane disappeared to France and returned after some years as Father Lane!

To be continued…

Comments (1) »

!!!!
written by Katie, September 22, 2008

I live in Berrings, and I never heard of that! Neither would me parents, they came from Adrigole.

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