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mained some time without molestation ; but the green sandy 
surface above them being the usual place for the herring fish- 
ermen of the Cove to spread their nets out to dry, the vermin 
soon began to gnaw and tear their nets to such an extent as to 
force the boatmen to abandon the place altogether, though at 
a great inconvenience. ‘The sudden disappearance of the rats 
from Kilferagh, and their equally sudden appearance at Querin 
Head, soon became the talk of the country far and wide, and 
it was then remembered by several persons, who were present 
at the funeral at which Father John O’Mulconry officiated, that 
he had said on that occasion, that the rats should soon depart 
from Kilferagh ; nor did he deny, when talked to on the mat- 
ter, that they had been satirized and banished by him. In the 
meantime men crowded from all parts of the country to see the 
extraordinary rat-burrows at Querin Head. But the vermin 
soon took it into their heads to try their teeth on the bottoms 
of the boats in the creek, and their depredations of this kind 
became so serious that there was a meeting of the men of the 
parish held on the chapel-green of Dunaha on a Sunday even- 
ing, to consider what means should be taken to get rid of the 
nuisance. Here it was determined, that after mass on the 
Sunday following, all the young and able men of the congre- 
gation should go in a body to Querin Head, with spades, 
sticks, hurlies, &c., dig up the ‘ Head,’ and kill and totally 
extirpate the colony of rats. The day came, and about one 
hundred active men, with a large crowd of spectators, re- 
paired to the ‘ Head’ and forthwith commenced operations. 
It was some time before they started the game, but suddenly, 
as if by concert, the enemy maile their appearance amidst 
such a suffocating, blinding cloud of sand and sea-fowl fea- 
thers as stunned the besiegers for a moment. Soon, however, 
sticks, hurlies, spades, and feet were at work, and thousands 
of the vermin were left sprawling and crushed on the field of 
battle. Still their numbers appeared to suffer no diminution, 
and after their first surprise was over, they began to crawl 
