Chapter Seventeen: ‘The Portlaw Legacy’
When the sisters were in their 88th year, they both fell and incurred identical spinal injuries, which greatly affected their mobility thereafter and necessitated their use of walking sticks to get around.
Over the coming years, Portlaw residents fell into a silent conspiracy and kept the power of the two sisters for their eyes and ears only. As long as Portlaw villagers continued to benefit from their presence and touch, few cared too greatly, what occurred beyond the parish boundary! Besides, no villager wanted to start another stampede of miracle chasers, Unionists and Orange Protestant marchers swarming to their quiet country village and upsetting the tranquility of the Portlaw pubs.
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Over the coming years, Portlaw residents fell into a silent conspiracy and kept the power of the two sisters for their eyes and ears only. As long as Portlaw villagers continued to benefit from their presence and touch, few cared too greatly, what occurred beyond the parish boundary! Besides, no villager wanted to start another stampede of miracle chasers, Unionists and Orange Protestant marchers swarming to their quiet country village and upsetting the tranquility of the Portlaw pubs.
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When the sisters were 99 years old, both foresaw the ending of their lives. This revelation came to them through a vision of a shared dream. Indeed, their Guardian Angels told them as they slept, where, when and how their lives on earth would end.
They were informed by their Guardian Angels that the date of their departure from this life would be Thursday, May 14th, 2015, ‘The Feast of the Ascension’. The place of their death was identified as the Holy Mountain of Croagh Patrick, which overlooks Clew Bay in County Mayo.
They were informed by their Guardian Angels that the date of their departure from this life would be Thursday, May 14th, 2015, ‘The Feast of the Ascension’. The place of their death was identified as the Holy Mountain of Croagh Patrick, which overlooks Clew Bay in County Mayo.
As the day in question approached, the two sisters made their way out to Croagh Patrick and stayed overnight in one of the nearby farmhouses there that catered for guests. This enabled them to get to the base of the mountain for their climb up it at dawn, next day.
The morning of their climb started misty and the weather forecast said that much denser mist would descend around noon. The two sisters, aided by their walking sticks, started to climb the holy mountain. Each sister walked slowly, one holding a walking stick in her left hand, the other in her right. Each sister carried a set of rosary beads and prayed throughout their journey.
The morning of their climb started misty and the weather forecast said that much denser mist would descend around noon. The two sisters, aided by their walking sticks, started to climb the holy mountain. Each sister walked slowly, one holding a walking stick in her left hand, the other in her right. Each sister carried a set of rosary beads and prayed throughout their journey.
A local farmer who was mucking out the cow shed looked through the open doors of the shed and saw the two sisters start their climb up the mountain. After seeing their twisted and aged bones and the snail’s pace of their walk, he could hardly believe his eyes, particularly when he saw the two old women throw down their walking sticks towards the ground and continue walking up the mountain without them. Being concerned for the safety of the two old women, the farmer phoned the Garda.The heavier the fog grew, the more concerned he became for the old women's safety.
There was a climbing ban on the Mountain that day, which ensured that the two sisters would be the only trespassers. As the two sisters made their slow climb up the Reek, (a derivative from the word ‘rick’ or ‘stack’), they each received an instruction from their Guardian Angel to cast their walking sticks to the ground. This they did and then continued to walk the stony path ahead.
Upon touching the ground, each walking stick instantly transformed into a snake. A few seconds later, the two snakes crawled in front of the two sisters up the mountain. It was as though their Guardian Angels had smoothed their passage up the mountain by guiding them through the ever-thickening mist by the sounds of the rattlers at their feet.
It soon became impossible for the human eye to see any farther than mere inches ahead as the mist became denser than it had ever appeared in the past two hundred years. By now, the two sisters could no longer see the crawling snakes, so they followed the path of the rattlers by the sound of their hiss.
As the sisters slowly climbed, they thought about the holy ground upon which they walked and sensed it would be their last walk upon this earth. Croagh Patrick has reputedly been a site of pagan presence since 3,000 B.C., but became a site of Christian Pilgrimage after Saint Patrick had fasted on its summit for forty days and forty nights in the fifth century A.D.
Both sisters soon dropped out of sight of the watching farmer below and as the mist thickened, they even lost sight of each other. It was as though a cloak of thick fog had engulfed them and swallowed them up. They were never seen again!
Both sisters soon dropped out of sight of the watching farmer below and as the mist thickened, they even lost sight of each other. It was as though a cloak of thick fog had engulfed them and swallowed them up. They were never seen again!
For the next fourteen hours, dense mist concealed the Holy Mountain. Throughout that night, residents who lived in the farm dwellings and cottages below at the mountain base heard a constant hissing of snakes. The snake noises were so loud that one thousand rattlers could not have produced such sound.
After the mist had cleared the very next day, a search party climbed the mountain looking for the two old sisters, but they were nowhere to be found; not even their walking sticks, which the watching farmer had seen them cast to the ground in the distance.
All manner of story began to spread about the mysterious disappearance of the two sisters on Croagh Patrick in the immediate years that followed. Some thought that the snakes of St. Patrick had swallowed the two sisters for having violated the site by climbing it on the feast day of Holy Thursday (Ascension Day). Many held the view however, that like the Ascension where Jesus, the son of God, had been lifted into heaven, so too had the angels raised up the two sisters to their rightful place!
None knew what had happened on that day to the two sisters, none ever would. All anyone ever knew for fact was that Nellie and Nora Fanning had both started to climb the mountain and had not come down; nor was any trace of their person ever found by the search party. The mystery that remained was that two sisters aged 99 years had climbed up the mountain that Holy Thursday, but only two rattlesnakes were to descend in their place!
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After the mist had cleared the very next day, a search party climbed the mountain looking for the two old sisters, but they were nowhere to be found; not even their walking sticks, which the watching farmer had seen them cast to the ground in the distance.
All manner of story began to spread about the mysterious disappearance of the two sisters on Croagh Patrick in the immediate years that followed. Some thought that the snakes of St. Patrick had swallowed the two sisters for having violated the site by climbing it on the feast day of Holy Thursday (Ascension Day). Many held the view however, that like the Ascension where Jesus, the son of God, had been lifted into heaven, so too had the angels raised up the two sisters to their rightful place!
None knew what had happened on that day to the two sisters, none ever would. All anyone ever knew for fact was that Nellie and Nora Fanning had both started to climb the mountain and had not come down; nor was any trace of their person ever found by the search party. The mystery that remained was that two sisters aged 99 years had climbed up the mountain that Holy Thursday, but only two rattlesnakes were to descend in their place!
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While it’s often remarked that places never change to the eyes of those born there, if such places do exist, Portlaw is certainly not one of them! No one born in Portlaw, who immigrated to England before the ‘First World War’ years and returning in the year 2016, would recognise the place today!
The Village Square remains to mark the centre of the town, but the Tannery closed down long ago, leaving Portlaw residents with a future of unemployment and idleness to look forward to, unless one travelled to Waterford and beyond in search of work. Despite there being no employment, much house building took place to cope with an ever increasing population; making the current Portlaw look a much different place, less quaint and more mundane!
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The Village Square remains to mark the centre of the town, but the Tannery closed down long ago, leaving Portlaw residents with a future of unemployment and idleness to look forward to, unless one travelled to Waterford and beyond in search of work. Despite there being no employment, much house building took place to cope with an ever increasing population; making the current Portlaw look a much different place, less quaint and more mundane!
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The day after the death of the two sisters, over four hundred Portlaw residents died of old age; all being centenarians. For the next two weeks, the village had over forty funerals daily. The Department of Health had to employ a Doctor’s Surgery with three doctors to cope with the increased demand as the usual pattern of illness and death gradually returned to the village.
Having had no use for an undertaker or coffin maker for almost sixty years, the village joiner took on three apprentices and they worked overtime for the rest of the year, along with the two new undertakers from County Kerry who'd been persuaded to offer their professional services.
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Having had no use for an undertaker or coffin maker for almost sixty years, the village joiner took on three apprentices and they worked overtime for the rest of the year, along with the two new undertakers from County Kerry who'd been persuaded to offer their professional services.
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After the mysterious disappearance of the two sisters, on the Holy Mountain, the villagers of Portlaw bestowed upon Nellie and Nora Fanning a reverence, more usually reserved for those having lived saintly lives like Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Portlaw Village became one of the most famous and talked about places in the whole of Ireland and attendance at Sunday Mass tripled, as all the lapsed Catholics took up their faith once more and the few number of Protestants remaining in the village converted to Roman Catholicism.
The parish priest could no longer cope alone with his enlarged church duties and massively increased congregation and so the Bishop of Waterford appointed a second parish priest. His name was Father Joseph Flaherty, whose grandfather, Monsignor Flaherty, had once been parish priest of Portlaw, as well as having been the blood father of Mary Fanning’s partner, Doris.
Indeed, the Village of Portlaw became so pious that confessions were now heard on four evenings per week instead of the previous frequency of once fortnightly. To cut down on the rapid growth in alcohol consumption, the Town Council banned all public houses from opening their doors on any Sunday of the year! Some of the village heavy boozers could not stomach the sudden restriction in licencing hours that they moved to live outside the town completely!
Portlaw Village became one of the most famous and talked about places in the whole of Ireland and attendance at Sunday Mass tripled, as all the lapsed Catholics took up their faith once more and the few number of Protestants remaining in the village converted to Roman Catholicism.
The parish priest could no longer cope alone with his enlarged church duties and massively increased congregation and so the Bishop of Waterford appointed a second parish priest. His name was Father Joseph Flaherty, whose grandfather, Monsignor Flaherty, had once been parish priest of Portlaw, as well as having been the blood father of Mary Fanning’s partner, Doris.
Indeed, the Village of Portlaw became so pious that confessions were now heard on four evenings per week instead of the previous frequency of once fortnightly. To cut down on the rapid growth in alcohol consumption, the Town Council banned all public houses from opening their doors on any Sunday of the year! Some of the village heavy boozers could not stomach the sudden restriction in licencing hours that they moved to live outside the town completely!
Following their mysterious disappearance, it became widely accepted by the Portlaw community that the two sisters had been born blessed and had died blessed. Talk soon spread of getting them widely recognised by the Vatican and a campaign grew up supporting the beatification and sainthood of Nora Fanning and Nellie Fanning.
During the years ahead, the Catholic Church was to examine numerous alleged miracles, performed by the sisters during their lifetime. Many gave testament to actually having seen the two sisters perform miraculous healings and restoring life to the dying by the laying on of hands. Many other villagers attested to the miracles that their parents and other family members had told them about before they had been born.
A civic order by the Parish Council was made stating that the home of the two sisters be preserved for future generations to visit. Towards this end, the ‘Portlaw Town Council’ bought the house on 14, William Street. In addition, Portlaw residents paid to have a second grotto erected close to the Village Square, near to the entrance of the old tannery works.
‘The Grotto of the Two Sisters’ now stood alongside ‘The Grotto of The Blessed Virgin’, a shrine which had graced the village for many years, and which no Portlaw Catholic ever walked past without blessing themselves with the sign of the cross or kneeling and saying a prayer!
Often today, the Catholic villagers would pray at both grottoes. At ‘The Grotto of The Blessed Virgin’, a statue of the Blessed Virgin stood at its centre, four feet high. At ‘The Grotto of The Two Sisters’, there stood two statues, each three-foot high, one statue to represent each of the two sisters.
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‘The Grotto of the Two Sisters’ now stood alongside ‘The Grotto of The Blessed Virgin’, a shrine which had graced the village for many years, and which no Portlaw Catholic ever walked past without blessing themselves with the sign of the cross or kneeling and saying a prayer!
Often today, the Catholic villagers would pray at both grottoes. At ‘The Grotto of The Blessed Virgin’, a statue of the Blessed Virgin stood at its centre, four feet high. At ‘The Grotto of The Two Sisters’, there stood two statues, each three-foot high, one statue to represent each of the two sisters.
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In the winter of 2016, Ireland, England and the whole of Europe experienced a greater rainfall than had ever visited them since records were kept. Nowhere in the whole of Europe did it rain so hard and so much as in the Village of Portlaw. For forty days and forty nights, the heavens poured down rain non stop.
Though the rain that poured was concentrated within an area of one square mile, the storm that carried it could be heard sixty miles away. It was even rumoured by the people of County Mayo, that the underground seepage of flood water from Portlaw had created disturbance on the holy mount of Crough Patrick, waking the nest of snakes that Saint Patrick is said to have cast into a deep sleep way back in the fifth century before burying them beneath the mountain base
Though the rain that poured was concentrated within an area of one square mile, the storm that carried it could be heard sixty miles away. It was even rumoured by the people of County Mayo, that the underground seepage of flood water from Portlaw had created disturbance on the holy mount of Crough Patrick, waking the nest of snakes that Saint Patrick is said to have cast into a deep sleep way back in the fifth century before burying them beneath the mountain base
The forty-day storm was so ferocious that it kept all residents inside their houses for most of the entire period, venturing out only in dire emergency. When the storm weather eventually abated and the villagers emerged from their homes and resumed their daily functions and traditions, the village witnessed something that they could only describe as ‘miraculous’.
They visited the grottoes above the Village Square to pray and give thanks for their continued safety and for having emerged through the bitter storm they'd just experienced. There they found ‘The Grotto of The Blessed Virgin,’ exactly as they had last seen it, but as to ‘The Grotto of The Two Sisters’, that was different from before.
In the spot where previously a statue of each sister had stood, now stood a newly sculpted statue! The two new statues were now twin-headed and were more embryonic masses than human shaped. The faces of all four heads were of two sets of twins, similar in likeness, yet not identical. The strange thing was, that each embryonic body contained the head of one twin from each set of twins. The twin sisters to Nellie and Nora, who had left them at birth and whom had remained their guardian angels throughout their life times had miraculously re-joined them in death.
In the spot where previously a statue of each sister had stood, now stood a newly sculpted statue! The two new statues were now twin-headed and were more embryonic masses than human shaped. The faces of all four heads were of two sets of twins, similar in likeness, yet not identical. The strange thing was, that each embryonic body contained the head of one twin from each set of twins. The twin sisters to Nellie and Nora, who had left them at birth and whom had remained their guardian angels throughout their life times had miraculously re-joined them in death.
The End.
Text Copyright William Forde: September 2016.
Text Copyright William Forde: September 2016.
