[5] Despite the fact that he had spent some time attending the district school at Magheraroarty, Mac Gabhann lamented that he never knew enough English to understand the teacher.
"[8] During his months herding cattle near Glenveagh, Mac Gabhann befriended many local residents, learned a considerable amount of English, and listened to stories about the mass evictions decreed in 1861 by Anglo-Irish landowner Captain John George Adair.
After spending the night in a ceilidh house and listening to a fairy tale that adapted the concept of the Rota Fortunae from Roman mythology into Irish folklore and which he would always remember,[10] Micí was hired out to "Sam Dubh", an Ulster Scots farmer from Drumoghill Townland, where he lived and worked until November.
Shortly before the battle, the fairies of Ulster had visited a local woman named Curly Mary and told her that, if they were defeated, the water from her well would be the color of blood.
Shortly before St. Patrick's Day, 1880, however, Micí and a young male relative named Conal Eileen made the decision to leave Cloghaneely for Scotland.
At that time, departing for Scotland was very common among the young people of Cloghaneely and both Micí and Conal knew that once they were not found in the morning, it would be easily guessed where they had gone.