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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 ver min 

 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 made 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 



