by

George Sheridan

George Sheridan was born on 16^th November 1912 at Gortaree in the parish of Killesher, right on the Fermanagh border with Cavan. The Sheridan family had lived in the adjoining townland of Legolagh in Cavan for about two hundred years. George’s father, Robert, who was himself one of ten children, moved to Gortaree in 1906.

George and his sisters walked the three miles over fields and rocks down to Blacklion school. It was an eventful time to be at school and George describes how one day the teacher kept the pupils later than usual as the Black and Tans had earlier fired off their guns in the village. He had a particular affection for Miss Barbour who came from Sligo in 1923. Her appointment coincided with Partition and the school was invested with a new system under a new government . George now learnt Irish. He left school when he was fifteen and as he says himself "put his spade over his shoulder and became a spalpeen farmer."

George’s abiding interest in his locality made him one of the prime movers in forming the Killesher Historical Society in September 1988. He was very much the spirit that kept it going in the early years and was the mainspring that saw the group produce their first little journal A View From the Hanging Rock in 1990. A second volume appeared two years later. He was also a regular contributor to the local history journal The Spark from its first issue in 1991 and contributed to all but one of its first 13 issues. He also contributed to Ulster Folklife and to a Fermanagh reminiscence book Yesterday Once More.

This compilation of George’s work will have a ready sale far beyond the bounds of Killesher and Killinagh. He was known and respected throughout Fermanagh and much further afield. The distinguished folklore collector Michael J Murphy was a caller at his door, as were staff of our national and regional museums. His reputation as a seanachie was acknowledged by both television and radio and this anthology will reach into the homes of the Irish countryside with the direct appeal of its inside knowledge. His friends and neighbours who have waited patiently to see this book in print will not be disappointed. I have no doubt that it will be a treasured possession for all those who loved and admired the gentle spirit that was George Sheridan.