A manuscript from a village no one has heard of
The Book of Leinster
Around 1151, the abbot of Terryglass monastery began compiling one of the most important medieval manuscripts in the Irish language. Áed Ua Crimthainn — described by the bishop of Kildare as the chief scholar of Leinster — wrote in his own hand on f. 32r: "Áed Húa Crimthaind wrote this book and collected it from many books." The Book of Leinster runs to hundreds of folios of history, mythology, genealogy, and poetry. Terryglass monastery was burned in 1164, which is why the manuscript was finished elsewhere. It is now in the Library of Trinity College Dublin, where it has been since the 17th century.
Not the Iona Columba. A different saint entirely.
St Columba — the other one
There are at least three important Irish saints named Columba, and the confusion is permanent. The Columba of Terryglass — Columba mac Crimthainn — was a disciple of St Finnian of Clonard and is counted among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He founded the monastery here around 548 AD and died of plague in 552. His headache well is still in the village. People still visit it. The well for headaches is dedicated to the saint who died of plague, which is either appropriate or troubling depending on your disposition.
National Tidy Towns, 1983 and 1997
Twice the tidiest
Winning the national Tidy Towns competition once is unusual. Terryglass won it twice, fourteen years apart. The village keeps a standard that most places three times its size never reach. This is not accidental — it takes the kind of collective effort that only works in a place where everyone knows exactly who is and is not pulling their weight.