text:  Forty years ago (of which period we are about to write ) when roads were not as good travellers as adventurous and markets as abundant as at present Clogheen was a smart or as the _Itinerary_ of that day has it "a thriving place with a decent church " boasting a comfortable inn and several hucksters' shops where every variety of merchandise from brandy and bandle-linen to hand-saws and halfpenny whistles was procurable