Grange, County Roscommon, is approximately three miles south of Boyle
and is on the east side of the main Boyle/Frenchpark road. On the west
side of this main road is the half parish of Killaraght which is in
County Sligo. I, Frank Conry, was born and reared in Killaraght.
In August, 2002, Grange celebrated the centenary of its National School (1902/2002). Part of this celebration was the publication of a book with the title "A Hundred Years of Memories".
One of the many interesting articles in this book was "Snapshots of the School and the Community" which was written by Padraig Cregg, Ex Ballymore. This particular piece of writing reflected the collective culture of Grange and could apply to Killaraght, or indeed to any rural area in Ireland, by simply changing the placenames. The article is positive and open in its depiction of rural culture. Through an obvious acute awareness, along with the absence of sentiment, the writer has developed very clear snapshots of Irish culture for the period 1902 until the seventies.
I am glad that Padraig Cregg has given me his permission to share his snapshots with you and, I am sure, that you will in turn share with me an appreciation of his very clever style of writing.