The Hanging Rock at Pol na mBroc by Hugh Doherty

The Hanging Rock is not a place where people were hanged for offences that they did not commit, rather it is just what its name says; a hanging rock along the side of the road on a bray. But for many years it had become a dreaded landmark.
The bray known as Pol-na-mBroc (Badger's hole/set) is a rather steep hill leading out of 'Duffy's hollow' on the road from Drumhallagh to Oughterlin Chapel.

In the early 1950s, elderly people used hackney cars to bring them to 11 o'clock Sunday Mass. In those days, cars did not have so much power and when going up the bray to the chapel they used to get as far as the hanging rock and literally, hang!


The reasons for this were varied. Due to the steepness of the climb, it was thought that the petrol ran back down into the tank causing the engine to stall. Gear changing was also a problem. Most cars at that time had only three forward gears and some drivers would take 'a race' at the bray but would 'miss the change' at the Hanging Rock and the car would run back. This was scary because, even if the driver could find the handbrake (problem of overcrowding) it could not be relied upon to hold the car. The road was not tarred at that time, making conditions even more hazardous. To make matters worse some drivers were not experienced in reversing.

The passengers would then have to leave the car and walk up the long steep hill to the chapel. On the first Sunday of each month many of them would have been fasting from solid food and water from the mid-night before so that they could receive holy Communion and consequently fainting in the chapel was not uncommon.

Drivers and their passengers always gave a sigh of relief when they successfully got past the hanging rock. As children we often watched cars going up the bray and were delighted to see them 'hanging' at the rock and running back down the hill. Of course we were not aware of the distress being experienced by the driver or passengers in such dangerous situations.

The new Ford 'Anglia' built in 1959 changed all that. It had plenty of power with a four forward 'synchromesh' gearbox making gear changing easier. Thus the concern of motorists for the 'Hanging rock' became a thing of the past.

What had been a former important and dreaded landmark reverted, once again, to being just a hanging rock along the side of a bray in the countryside. Nowadays it is seldom noticed by anyone and its name and even the name of the bray could both become forgotten about.