Heard some interesting bits and pieces about a Father James O Reilly who was Parish Priest in Shannonbridge in the early 1900s. The family of Reids lived in what has been known in recent years as Mary Margarets. Mister Reid used to hunt for rabbits and fish for pike which he sold.
While fishing out on a boat in the winter he was drowned in the bay upstream from the bridge
leaving Ma Reid with a young family. One of her essential assets was a cow and soo n after her husband's death Ma Reid found her cow dead in the field. Crying on her way home she met Father James who asked her what was wrong. She told him about the cow and he asked her to take him to see the cow.When they got to the animal Father James prayed over the beast and blessed it saying Father Son and Holy Ghost. The cow got up and lived for years afterwards.
Once there lived an Anderson man in a house that was later to become Hugh Kelly's Garage.
This Anderson man owned a lot of the good land in the area including The High Field. One year on August 15th he set out with his horses to plough the field and he was struck blind. He was brought to Father James who prayed for him and he got the sight back in one eye.
More recently the late Father Donal O Lehane had an enquiry from doctors in Saint Luke's hospital in Dublin. Apparently one of their patients from Nenagh was very sick with cancer. Some family members came to Clonmacnois and took stones from Father James O Reilly's grave and rubbed them on the man with cancer. He was cured and the doctors in Saint Lukes were seeking information on the priest as they were prepared to put his case to Rome for canonization. His grave is inside the door of The Cathedral and has a graveslab measuring 40 x 30 Inches approx.