School: St Canice's, Aghaboe (roll number 16939)
- Location:
- Aghaboe, Co. Laois
- Teacher: Aine Ní Dhubhlaoigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0829, Page 323
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: St Canice's, Aghaboe
- XML Page 323
- XML “Local Heroes”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- (continued from previous page)sat down to take off his boots and stockings on the bank of the river. He was named a famous hero because of his activity and daring. He enjoyed playing tricks on the police.
Richard Kelly who was a native of Boston was another famous hero. One day when he was in Rathdowney a man bet ten shillings with him that he would not carry a ten stone sack of flour on his back up a long winding stairs to a mill. Richard accepted the challenge and excited laughter by volunteering to carry the man who made the bet, on the bag as well as the bag.
He did so, and the man doubled the money, He could not be beaten in weight lifting contests.
About fourteen years ago a man named Michael Maher of Ballygeehan won the Old Age Pension Race in Ballacolla. As a prize for the two hundred -yard race he got a pound of tobacco.
In his young days in the neighbourhood at threshings the people were delighted to see him jump over the belt of the threshing-machine while it would be working. He was swift in walking and running. He is yet alive and is eighty four years of age but he lives(continues on next page)
