School: Faughalstown (roll number 9622)
- Location:
- Faughalstown, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: Bean Mhic Gabhann
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0719, Page 481
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- (continued from previous page)Paddy" and was supposed to be supernatural.
One night he gathered up all the cats of the country and went hunting rabbits. On his way home he felt thirsty so he bored a hole in the thatched roof of a farmer's dairy nearby. When the farmer got up in the morning he was enraged to find all his cream gone.
Next night the farmer put a sack under the hole and the cats came again to feast. They went in one by one and got trapped in the sack. When the sack was full the farmer carried it to the top of a hill at the back of the house. He started threshing the sack with a flail.
This was at daylight. The men were passing by going to the bog and they wondered what the farmer was at. They thought he was beating his wife and going up they asked him what he was at and all he would say was "bats."
They prevailed on him to sack out all the cats. There were dead cats, half cats, others with legs or backs broken. But out jumped "Honest Paddy" from under the lot and went down the hill as strong and as well as ever he did in his life.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Brigid Boyhan
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Faughalstown, Co. Westmeath
- Informant
- John Boyhan
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Faughalstown, Co. Westmeath
