School: Doire na Cathrach, Dúnmaonmhuighe (roll number 13543)
- Location:
- Derrynacaheragh, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Risteárd Mac Gearailt
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0306, Page 047
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- In the Penal days there was a class of men in this part of the country known as body-snatchers. When a corpse was buried these men were not much afraid of ghosts for they went in the dead of night and took the dead body up from the grave and sold it to the doctors or young students for experimenting on it.
So there was a man who got into a trance and apparently died. He had a wife and young family and he was in very poor circumstances. As the landlords were very cruel then, there was a decree pending over him for his rent. However he was buried and in the dead of night the body-snatchers came to take away his body as they thought, so they opened up the grave until they got to the coffin, they took up the lid and one of them said to the other "you lift him up." He was after getting out of the trance and he said "there is no need I can get out myself," and daring and all as they were they absconded and left all their belongings behind them. So he got out and they left(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Mary Teresa Hurley
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Derrynacaheragh, Co. Cork
- Informant
- Mr Patrick Hurley
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 50
- Address
- Derrynacaheragh, Co. Cork
