ARV-B-10-12041995 Local Folklore and Customs - Helen King 12april1995

Bynum McLoughlin talks about visiting Altafjörgur Graveyard, known as the only graveyard in the country without worms. The graveyard is located in the Mem Valley area and is the oldest graveyard since the time of St. Patrick. Many old people, including a man who lived to be 117, are buried there. The graveyard is still in use, but the walls and gate need repairs. The graveyard is significant because it is believed that the saint who blessed it ensured there would never be worms. Helen attends a mass in the cemetery and learns about the historical stories associated with the graveyard and the people buried there. Bina sings a song about the Manchester Martyrs. Well, we have Bynum McLoughlin, who is well known to you all, Bynum is from Leenan, and some time ago we went on a visit to the Altafjörgur Graveyard up near Kilmilken, and it is supposed to be the only graveyard in the country that doesn't have any worms, so we went there and massed there, the children and Father Durkan celebrated mass, and he spoke to us as well about it, so I hope you'll enjoy it, and we had a few songs as well. We are here present in Altafjörgur Graveyard, it's about two and a half miles from Leenan, and it's in the Mem Valley area, in a beautiful surrounding, and it's the oldest graveyard since the time of St. Patrick, St. Altaf was here, and it's the graves supposed to have never a worm in it, and the old generation was all buried here from Glen O'Gimlach and Leenan, and around all the surrounding areas of Seanna Faraghan, Breenan and Mem, and some also that came from Rynmawld to be buried here, and Glafran, and we have one especially man I would like to mention, God rest his soul, he's the old Geist man from Glen, that's buried here, he's 117 years, when he died, 117 years he was when he died, so we have very very old people beside that, there were some of them 100 years and 99, you never had many young people except the kind boy of Leenan, the twins, the kind two brothers, Pather and Eamon, God rest their souls, Eamon was a lovely visitor, I remember him well coming to our home when we were children, what's the name of the graveyard again? The graveyard is Alta Bugha, it's the saint's graveyard, and what's the name of the saint? St. Altaf, and when did he come here? He came here in the time of St. Patrick, oh I see, and did he have a monastery or a friary? Well he had another church out on the inside there, he had no monastery, and it was mostly you see the people in the olden times, I don't think, we cannot record the money buried out on the hills and the tops of hills, or in other different places, but he made it a nice graveyard here, and now I'm asking Tom Leaven, and I'm asking John Stanton, to come here with Fosk, and to repair the walls of it, and put on a new gate and do something for it. Good woman, how long has this graveyard been out of use? Oh it's not out of use at all, it's all the time gone, yes we have the Joyce's buried here and we have the Welch's and Wincher own, and there's an aunt and uncle of me buried down there, where all the children of Glen that died, the flu, they're buried down there at the trees. We have everyone nearly here around the place, and we have the Wallace's, and the Wallace's have Torrey Cross, you know, for the father Wallace's people, well his father is buried down there, and their mother, that'd be their grandmother now, that'd be more than any Wallace's people, they are buried there. But you don't bring, people are not being buried here now? Well they want to, there's no closing on it, but what we'd like now is to give another call to Tom Leaven, to come out here and see it, and to build the walls and get the road done now down into it, and to repair there down at the well, there's a well down at the very bottom, and I also ask the same thing of John Stanton, for the sake of the dead that's here, they'll do something for us. We had the great Fenians buried here, and most of them came from Brinvale, and most satisfactorily they had, they wanted to be buried here because there was no worms ever in this graveyard, because in the olden times the people was often afraid of worms, and the saint that blessed this, he blessed it that there'd never be worms in it afterwards. And is that true? Oh dear, it's really true. Yes. No matter what graveyard you dig, there's no worms. Good morning Helen, I'm very thankful that you came to assist us with this mass in the cemetery of Ulster Velga, near Moontree Rowan. Now you were asking about the history, and we sort of came here today with the school children, your own crowd, to learn about the historical things, you know. And all the people who live here have wonderful stories to tell about the individual, their own families, and who are buried here, the circumstances. For instance now, the graveyard there that I was standing on, there's a man called Meehan, and he had only one arm, it was bitten off by a sow, is that correct? Yes. And when King Edward VII came to visit Leenan in 1903, not 1904 now that you see on the paper, it was July 1903, he rushed forward to shake this man's good hand, because he had the belief that he had lost it in the army, he had jumped to that conclusion, in the Boer War. So he went out to make a gesture to that particular man. Anyhow, his wife, she is from my own place, Lewisburg, her name was McGreel, and her nephew is a distinguished historian too, David McGreel, who taught in Lewisburg all his life. So each family, if you could see them, they have those wonderful things, Bina has mentioned there that there are no worms here. Yes, I thought so too. It is. Well, when they were digging a grave for this McGreel woman, or another person, her body was quite incorrupt, isn't that right? Yes, Father. That woman, no worm, nothing too. It was preserved by the bog, or whatever, or maybe by her own holiness, because she was considered a very holy person. But so much to speak about, you know, and I'm only sort of beginning to learn it now, and I hope you'll get more from the different people around. Well, Bina said she's going to, in honour of the wonderful day and the wonderful occasion, she's going to sing a song for us. Can you sing me more? Well, I think about, one of the men of the 19th, you know, the Manchester Martyrs, was supposed to visit this grave, yes, and so I think the Manchester Martyrs, would that do? That would be brilliant, yes. Perfect, perfect. It's in November, I will remember, two noble heroes to Manchester came, it was their intention as I'll now re-mention, to free all thy land from our tyrant's chain, thy police they viewed them as if they knew them, and to pursue them they did not fail, they did surround them with handcuffs bound them, they marched the prisoners to the county jail, when Alan heard that these men were taken to O'Brien and Larkin he quickly flew, saying, Convert Kelly, my heart is breaking, of noble heroes what shall we do, they went together like loyal brothers, like loyal brothers they were fond and true, saying, let every man go up to the van, set them free, but now, kind friends, what followed after, these men were taken, as you may see, with judge and jury, they found them guilty, they died to martyrs for our country, it was said upon their faithful mourning, when their friends assembled to bid farewell, the choir chanted of noble heroes, they all joined chorus in the prison cell, the clocks took eight and their friends departed, the wicked court crafter he did appear, saying that, eh, court crafter he did appear, they raised their heads and they kissed each other, they knew their time, it was drawing near, on the scaffold high, they looked around them, not a son of Eden was to be seen, although in miles came those and thousands, to see our martyrs died for the green, their beds are made in the heights of heaven, the holy angels around them stand, Saint Patrick made them with his crown of glory, saying a welcome comrades, to our happy land, lovely by now, that was absolutely lovely, thank you.