The sign by the waterworks on the Dripsey Cork road says The beautiful Lee Valley. It invites people to partake in its beauty and the scenery and to be inspired. At this point, the viewer can stop and overlook from a height Inniscarra Reservoir. Many times I have stopped at the sign and admired and photographed the sunsets on the way home from fieldwork. In my own opinion, I feel this viewing area is an important site in the Lee valley for the explorer. From a geographical point of view, you get to see the bigger picture of the Lee Valley.

I'm A firm believer that people make places. We all interact and carve a niche for ourselves in society. In a sense, we are all part of the spokes of the wider wheel of life. This article is about an important spoke in the wheel of life in Co Cork, the O'Mahony family who lived in Berrings, Co. Cork.

The road south from Berrings Cross takes one through Ballyanley near the site of Inniscarra Community Centre. The scenery southwards into the townlands of Magoola, Faha and Gurteen is picturesque. The land rolls up and down as it meets Inniscarra Reservoir and reminds me the rolling southern suburbs of Cork City such as Ballyphehane and Turners Cross but without the houses. Ballyanley or Baile Ui Ainle means 'Hanley's Habitation'.

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.

"We're here in Berrings for four generations. My great grandfather was Pat Ring from Codrum and Tierbeg near Macroom. They also had property in Manchester and Liverpool. The name changed from Ring to Reen through a family dispute. Pat became secretary to Richard Barter at the world renowned Turkish Baths at St. Ann's Hill in Blarney. He became a merchant after that and had the Byrne's Mills in Blarney where he manufactured meal and flour. He was known as a general merchant and served the farming community.

I met Jackie Lenihan by referral but Jackie is well known as the sacristan of Berrings Church and in a sense is the first port of call for all church-community related activities. However, Jackie also a great knowledge of the game of road bowls and in a sense grew up with the sport on his doorstep. Interestingly in terms of heritage, Jackie talks about the game, the sense of fun, pride, identity plus the interaction of the local and Cork community with the North Kilmurray road that he played on.

I’m a firm believer that everybody has a story to tell but as I have encountered in my own travels and meeting the people in the Lee valley, we all have different stories to tell.

“In this graveyard [North Kilmurray] is buried a priest named Fr. Dilworth who it appears was a native of the Parish of Inniscarra. While living it is said he cured many people of some ailments and after his death and burial in Kilmurray graveyard, people continued to visit his grave and paid rounds there in the hope of being cured of whatever ailment they suffered from. Some rounds are still being paid especially on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday and it is said that many have benefited by the rounds.

"The stonework of the church was valuable and was seized upon as a ready-made quarry by neighbouring villages. The dust blew along the street and the rain washed down the earth. Weeds and grass grew among the houses and eventually over them. The square corners and sharp sides of stonework have been blurred with a covering of soil and turf" (from Pearson, M., 2006, In Comes I, Performance, Memory and Landscape).