Kilcrohane Mass Rock, Dublin

This quiet and peaceful place was once the setting for a terrible tragedy. In 1653 Thaddeus Moriarty was arrested by Cromwellian soldiers. The devoted priest was celebrating mass for a local group of the faithful. It was an act of high treason to practice Catholicism and the Dominican prior was forced to march over 14 miles to his prison in Ross Castle. Moriarty was then tortured for over two months before being hung. The mass rock at Killaclohane Wood is still revered. It is interesting to read more than a century of graffiti scratched into the stone and reflect upon its original function. A few moments here gives a deep sense of history.