School: Borris (C.)
- Location:
- Borris, Co. Carlow
- Teacher: Bean Uí Loinneáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0904, Page 459
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- (continued from previous page)and drifted to the towns where there was a chance of getting something to eat.
In a neighbouring district, at the other side of the Barrow, people died in such numbers that they were not coffined at all - they were collected by "Body-Lifters" paid a few shillings for every corpse and buried together in trenches. One of these "Body-Lifters" was over zealous: one day he entered a house where a man was prostrate with famine fever; he hoisted the invalid on to his shoulder & was rushing out to the death cart, when in a weak voice the poor invalid said "I'm not dead".
The Body-Lifter's answer was "Damn you: Do you know better than the doctor?" - he would have thrown the poor creature among the corpses only that a neighbour heard the remark.
- Collector
- Eileen Neill
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Borris, Co. Carlow
