In 1791,the United Irishmen were set up by 
Wolfe Tone to establish an independent Irish Republic.
In 1796,Wolfe Tone got military aid from France, this 
alarmed the government and they raised an armed force 
called 'Yeomen'.These yeomen were even more brutal 
than the ruthless soldiers.The Rising planned by Wolfe 
Tone for 1798 had little suceess and led to a campaign 
of burning,shootings and hangings by the government 
troops and Yeomen.Kilberry was no exception,as can be 
seen from the story of Brigid O'Heffernen who was 
hanged in Lowstown Lane and buried in Kilberry.Some 
years ago,archaeologists uncovered a headstone at the 
walls of the old monastery in Kilberry,and as 
well as could be established on the defaced stone,was 
the name Heffernen.

        It had a blessed well dedicated to St. Thomas,
a sandpit and two dwellings,in all about seven acres.
One of the last people to live there was called Whelan.
During Penal times,hunted priests hid in the Derries 
while on the run from the Yeomen.On one occassion a 
priest was supposedly betrayed for some buttermlik.

        These Yeomen often flogged people to death.
A local blacksmith make pikes which were often used as 
weapons against the guards.One day soldiers came 
looking for pikes but he refused to tell them where 
they might be found.So,as upturned cart was used and the 
man was tied between the shafts.He was then flogged,
almost to death.He was then revived,only to have the 
same punishment repeated.At the time the pikes were not 
found,but many,many years later,when an old drain was 
being cleared in Cloney,a bundle of pikes were found tied
together with an almost rotted rope.