It was a story from Cathal Poirteirs compilation of Folk Memories entitled "Famine Echoes" that directed this research. The story concerned a Moycullen Parish Priest in Famine times who anointed 19 people on the roadside and later witnessed the struggle of a dying man outside the church gate on a Sunday morning. That priest was Francis Kenny.
The stories in this book "Famine Echoes" were collected by the Irish Folklore Commission in 1935 and 1945. Questionnaires were sent out to all the schools in 1945 to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Famine. The result of this important work is now in book form, and for the very first time we are allowed to listen to the silenced voices of our ancestors.
A search in the Diocesan Records revealed that there were two parish priests in Moycullen during the Great Famine.
Rev. Patrick Fahy P.P. 1840-1848
Rev. Francis Kenny P.P. 1848-1897
Laurence O'Donnell was Bishop of Galway at that time.
