Speaking of athletes puts me in mind of Patrick Meade of Ballingaddy Kilmallock. Several of the old people gave me tales of the great strength of this man.
The present account is given by Mr David O'Connell Ardpatrick Kilmallock (farmer).
On one occasion Meade came for the loan of a rolling stone to Bohernagore to a farmer named Thomas Lillis.
The stone weighed nearly 5 cwts & lay in a field near by. Meade walked out to the field & to the astonishment of all uprooted (?) the stone, put his shoulder under it & walked away over the fields towards his home which lay about ¾ of a mile away. On his journey he had to pass over several double ditches.
Tis also said that on arriving at his home & seeing one of his boys trotting a horse which was being inspected by a buyer, & not liking the way the animal was being led, he himself seized the reins & took two turns up & down

the yard before proceeding to the tillage field where he cast down the roller.
The roller still exists in Bohernagore Ardpatrick.
Mr David Lillis, son to the Tom Lillis of the tale, has lately died aged about 70 years.
Of another occasion my informant relates that while a building was being constructed (Mr D. O'Connell thinks it to have been the present church of Ballingaddy) Pat Meade performed remarkable feats with some of the weighty stones used in the building.
A handy barrow laden with stones, was being removed by two men & it was so heavily laden that the men failed to move it. The two best men in the place now tried their powers but failed also. Meade happened to come along & seeing what was going on went over & taking a hold of the two handles at one end easily tossed the load off at the other end.

18-10-'38
On another occasion the strong man Pat Meade previously referred to was taking a cartload of stuff from Kilmallock. The cart was heavily loaded & in passing over the road bridge which leads over the railway close to the station, the horse, frightened by the smoke from a passing train, backed down the rather steep roadway & when it stopped at the bottom of the incline refused to budge. The horse was what is locally called a 'sulker'.
Meade unharnessed the animal, got between the shafts & without the help of anyone drew the loaded cart over the bridge, and, having replaced the horse, proceeded on his way.
The weight on the cart was such that few among the onlookers could even move it sideways by pulling at the shafts not to speak of drawing it up such a steep incline.
Pat Meade lived in Farran, Ballingaddy, Kilmallock & I got the tale from

Fireaway [?] O'Donnell was a landlord he owned Moorstown and Cush and Ballingaddy and had tenants there also.
John O'Donnell's grandfather was another landlord and he owned David Hennessy's farm and Tim Suiblinlan's [?] farm also.
Captain Gibbons was one of the last landlords in this district. He was the owner of 500 acres of land in Ballinalacken and Griston including Bog hill and mountain. He had 20 tenants to whom he was kind and generous, he also had a big estate comprising about 1,000 acres. In his early life he joined the British army and rose to the rank of Captain. On one occasion when he was at home on furlough he accidently shot his brother when loading his rifle. This tragic event so worried him that he resigned from the army before his term had expired with the result that he received no pension, so he had to fall back on the land for his living.
He kept his dairying farm in Ballinalacken & Griston. In both places there were about twelve farm labourers employed, also a milkwoman to see after milk. There were (twelve) six domestic servants as well. He relinquished the dairying business in 1907.

The Headless CoachOne night two girls whose names were Mary Treacy and Nora Treacy, were walking the road which leads from Kilmallock to Ballingaddy.As they approached Ardvullan, which is about a mile from Kilmallock, it was nearly twelve o'clock so they said they would walk a bit quicker. When they had walked a couple of perches Mary stood still on the road, and Nora asked her what was wrong and Mary asked Nora had she heard the queer sound, and Nora said she had not, so they walked on another couple of perches.Then Nora heard the queer sound too, so they walked still quicker. But the sound became louder and louder, and the they discovered that the sound was coming out Ardnullan passage. So they said they would run across the passage gate. As they were passing the gate they saw a big coach coming out

Old GraveyardsThere are four graveyards in my parish. One is situated in Kilmallock, another in Ballingaddy, Kilmallock, another in Tankardstown, Kilmallock, and another in Kilbreedy West, Kilmallock. All these graveyards are in use except Kilbreedy West's one.In Kilmallock graveyard stands the old Protestant Church. Before the year 1594 this church was a Catholic Church but when Sir. John Perrott suceeded Sidney and came to Kilmallock, it was handed over to him, and, ever afterwards it was called the Protestant Church. About two years ago this church was burned.Also in this church stands the tomb of the Knight of the Golden Spur. The slab covering the tomb

Fairy-FortsThere are not many fairy-forts in my district.There's a fairy-fort about two and a quarter miles south of Kilmallock. The fairy-fort is owned by Michael Dolan, Ballingaddy Kilmallock Co. Limerick.The are not many trees growing around it because a number of them were cut down.I have heard that one day this man went to the fort to cut down a tree. The morning after when he awoke from his sleep his eyebrows and the hair of his head had fallen off. Ever since bad luck always upon him.

the fact that the houses were more firmly build thirty-six ago than they were ninety-eight years ago. The storm played havoc with all the county. It knocked down a house belonging to Mr Carney a erd who lives in Ballingaddy. Thanks be to God there was no one in the house when the accident occured. The storm blew down trees and the roads were blocked for a couple of days. The day before the storm was very calm and warm and it was a great surprise to all the people when the storm came so suddenly. Four years ago there was a very big flood on the river Inagh which runs through Ennistymon. There was so much water in a garden near the station that the crops were swimming about and they were swept out on the road. The sea flooded Lahinch about two years ago. The golf links were completly flooded for about three days and the boys made rafts with which they went boating. Another time the sea dashed over the promenade and ran down Main St. after that flood the old people said that the sea would cover Lahinch within the next hundred years.

A great storm took place about twenty-four years ago. In the district a lot of houses were damaged and several trees were knocked. One person was killed. It was a woman. She lived in Ballingaddy. Her name was Mrs. Boohan. The storm took place at night time. The sky was dark and angry for some hours before.
The big of 1839 is spoken of often by the old people in the district. They said they heard it was the biggest storm ever known. Many houses were blown away and trees were torn up for miles around.
About thirty years ago a great thunderstorm took place. It lasted fiercely for four hours. In a nearby village two men were killed by lightning in a meadow. Some horses were also killed. It was the midsummer of 1910.
About forty years ago a terrible snow storm took place in the district. The snow was piled up about six feet. People could not come out of their houses. Cattle could not be fed and many died. Birds died thickly. The storm lasted for twelve hours. The snow stayed on the ground four or five weeks. Roads were blocked for a long time. It was the 23rd of February 1898.

Old GraveyardsThere are four churchyards in the parish namely, Kilmallock, Kilbreedy West, Ballingaddy, and Tankardstown. Kilbreedy West is not in use.The churchyards are rectangular in shape. There are ruined churches in the four churchyards. All the churchyards are level.There are old tombs, monuments, and crosses in all the churchuards. People are buried in the ruins in the churchyards.Trees are growing in all the churchyards. Local families still use distant graveyards.In Kilmallock graveyard is the

"Old Ballingaddy Team"
(50 years ago)Dan Murphy. (Ballinahown) Captain.
Ned Murphy. Do.
Eddie Murphy.
Din Murphy.
Ned Murphy.
Tom Murphy.
Tom Howard.
Jack Howard.
Thomas Griffit.
David Burke.
Thomas Clarkson.
William O Shea.
James O Shea.
James Treacy.
James Moloney.
Paul Barret.
John Callaghan.
Dan Connell.
David Connell. (Gap man)
Jack Buckley.