School: An Pasáiste Thoir (C.), Port Láirge

Location:
Passage East, Co. Waterford
Teacher:
Clare, Bean Uí Eachthigheirn
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0652, Page 243

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0652, Page 243

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  1. XML School: An Pasáiste Thoir (C.), Port Láirge
  2. XML Page 243
  3. XML “Local Traditional Stories - How a Dead Man Hanged a Live Man”

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  1. About a hundred years ago the terrible practice of "body snatching" was carried on in this locality and in Crooke Churchyard. The local body-snatcher was a disreputable character who lived across the river in Arthurstown, Co. Wexford. This man was a notorious bad character and was on one occasion denounced publicly by the Curate in Duncannon Church. This he resented fiercely but as the Curate was of remarkably giant stature he contented himself with scoffing openly at the Curate's reproaches. Thereupon the Curate declared that before long this creature would meet with a sudden and horrible death.
    Events proved the Priest a true prophet, and the manner in which the body-snatcher met his death gave rise to the expression "The dead man who hanged the live man."
    A man named Williams died in Dromina House, Woodstown
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. agents (~1)
      1. supernatural and legendary beings (~14,864)
    Language
    English
    Location
    Crooke, Co. Waterford
    Collector
    Brigid Donnelly
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Passage East, Co. Waterford
    Informant
    William Baston
    Relation
    Unknown
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    c. 60
    Address
    Passage East, Co. Waterford