There is a holy well in Eagle Hill, it is a little bit above the lane which goes up to the hill and it is on the left side going up. This well was called "St John the baptist's well. In olden times St John the Baptist's day was kept as a festive day in Hacketstown. Later on, a fair was held in this town on that day instead. That has all died away now, but the well is there still and many people go to Mass and Holy Communion on that day in honour of St John the Baptist.

Many years ago there resided in Hacketstown two nailers named Michael and Thos. O'Reilly. Michael was the better nailer, he used to make six nails while his brother made one. He made them out of a nailrod which was the same thickness as the back of a scythe. First he put the rod into the fire, and when it was red, he cut off some of it according to the sized nail he would want. Then they would be sold to the shops who would sell them at different prices per lb, according to the sort of nails. This was a great benefit to the shops. Now they have to buy them in, from foreign countries. Sometimes when you would go in for nails he would have none and you would have to wait for him but other times he would have some put away in a box. He generally sold them for twopence per lb.

On the march to Hacketstown, some say from Arklow and the highlands of Wicklow, the rebels bore down the slope of Sleereagh (Slievereagh) onwards to Highpark (a mansion occupied by a Mr Wesby (Westby)) and found the Park deserted. The cellars or the place known as the vaults then contained, as was the custom, casks or kegs of liquor. Thirsty and hungry they drank freely at the fount of Bacchus; thereby adding dutch courage to the undaunted bravery which was ever theirs. There were groups and representatives from various centres constituting the rebel army. Amongst them a company from the Queens County. These it was said were disputing the chances of future battles and it appears were not very enthusiastic and at this

There was a farmer living near Hacketstown. This night he had a cow sick, he went down to see it. For the field he had to go down a lane which was said to be haunted. When going down he lost his whip. On returning he saw a man with the whip in his hand. He asked the man for it but the man told him he would have to fight him first. The clock struck twelve and the man told the farmer he would have to fight him on another night

Years ago about a mile from Hacketstown some men were mending a house. They took down one part of the house and left up a room in which they could sleep. But in the middle of the night the contractor who was sleeping with the caretaker was wakened by the sound of tramping of feet. He asked what it was and was told the house was haunted. Shortly after this the carpenter who was sleeping in a room by himself called and said something was looking at him which had got in through the window. They examined the window but a fly would not have got in. They sent him home and he died that day. The noise became worse every night after he died.

One time a man came to live in Hacketstown. He bought a piece of land on which there was a rath, and the man did not know. One day the man was ploughing he saw a little man going towards him. The little man went into the other man's ground. The man was raging and he went home to his dinner. He brought down a saw and a spade and built up the style where the little man had got in. The little man went again and knocked down the style and got through it. The man built it up three times and every time the little man would knock it down. Then the man had to go home and go to bed and he died. His horse died in the stable, and every animal he had died.

We are told that not far from Hacketstown many years ago men were building a Protestant church. There came a shortage of stones. There were the the ruins of an old Catholic Church nearby. The men got stones out of this. Some of these were arched and would do for going over doors. It would take two or three men to lift one of these stones. As they ... drawing these stones a little ... appeared and took one of the stones. It is not known what he did with it: he said you wont have them all. The men put another stone in its place, but, no matter what colour the stones were painted, this stone was never the same colour as the other

There was a man named Sam Codd who used to make rings and nails. He always had a nail shop in the Mill Lane. He shod horses about the time of ninety eight. No matter who came in, he had his hammer, and was ready to shoe his horse. No matter what people told him he would not stay in Hacketstown, he went off to the castle in Clonmore at night. But it was said that no one could ever find him during the night. After a time it was found out that he went in under the castle at night through a tunnel. He came out at the bridge in the morning.

At the back of a house in Hacketstown there is a rath. One day the man living in the house asked the workman to fell a tree but he refused knowing a rath was there. The man told him he would fell it himself and to go. So the workman went off. The man felled the tree but that night as himself and his wife and child were in bed, the child started crying. It could not stand and kept making faces. The fairies were taking it because its father had taken a tree belonging to them. To this day even though it is now a grown man it has a lame leg and crooked mouth.

Not far from Hacketstown two tramp cobblers were staying. They were told about a house down in the bog where music of the fairies was heard at night. These men did not believe in fairies so they made a bet with some local people that they would go to the house and stay there all night. They started and arrived before dusk. They settled themselves in a corner of the house and stayed there. But after a while the fairies came in each armed with cobblers tools and started working. If ever one fairy asked another where a tool was, he would answer, "I don't know" and he'd name one of the men in the corner and say he had it last. The two men were shivering in the corner. At the stroke of twelve the fairies or good people began to disperse and as they went each one pegged whatever tool he had into the corner at the two men and said You've lost your bet take this. Next day the 2 men went away and never were seen again.

For years after the rebellion of 1798 many strange things were seen and heard. There is a hill just outside the Hacketstown district, along this road or path the people often saw in the twilight a funeral pass. Or at other times it might be a wedding party. The people never feared for they always thought it was some of their own kindred either being buried then if they had lived their natural spell of live and had not been killed in battle. If it were a wedding party that was seen it was believed that that same party would have been married that day and would be passing that way had they now been murdered.

One night an old woman was sitting at the fire. Some men were after going in to talk to her. There was an old face of a clock hanging on the wall. This clock never had gone for years. It came on for one o'clock and at one o'clock all of a sudden the clock struck one. The old woman rose up and said Pat is dead. Pat was her grandson who lived in Dublin. She also said that she knew when the clock would strike one it was a sign that Pat was dead. The next day she got word that Pat had died the night before at one o'clock. One of the men that heard the clock still lives in Hacketstown.

One night a man was travelling alone. As he was about a yard from a gate leading to a gentlemans house he heard a foot coming across the road but he could not see anything. When he was opposite the gate the foot was beside him. It accompanied him about a furlong up the road and then crossed the road and got over the stile on the other side. The man saw nothing at all. But after a while he met a man who told him all. The only thing that was ever saw was a black dog and anybody saw it died. The man who heard the foot lives in Hacketstown.

When Mrs Doran was a child of six years her great grannie and grandmother who lived in Bridge Lane in Hacketstown were saying the Rosary before going to bed. In a room also were two aunts and two uncles. Her great grannie was sitting up in her bed opposite her was a mirror. She saw an old woman a friend she knew well on looking at the mirror. She was not frightened but said to all at the rosary, "Offer all your prayers this night for Mrs Smee, she has looked at me" and she wants your prayers to shorten her time in Purgatory. RIP

Some years ago before reaping machines were plentiful the harvest was taken up by reaping hooks. On one occasion a man had four or five men employed reaping and late in the evening when the reapers and binders had left the field the farmer was gathering up the scattering straws with a rake, when a little man dress in red with a staff in his hand appeared on the ditch and said to the farmer, "Leave the straws alone you've got your share", so the farmer said "I'm going to get the rest". "Well" said the little man, "Others want it as well as you, you will never get as much again"> After three or four years the man was broke. This happened in the neighbourhood of Hacketstown.

advice and change to the other end" and then she left. The man worked away and completed the room. One evening the old woman appeared again and said "See you have your room completed". "Yes" answered the woman we expect to be sleeping in it any of these nights". "I am sorry to say" said the old woman "you'll never sleep a night in it" and at that she left. Sometime during the night they heard a terrible racket and next morning the room was levelled to the ground so the people said it was built on the path the fairies used to go. The old woman never was seen by anyone except the old woman of the House. The above happened outside of Hacketstown.

There was an old Fiddler who lived in Hacketstown about the time of Ninety eight. He was great for playing a fiddle. He always went every night to visit houses around the town. He also got money for playing the fiddle, from the people. They used to dance, and he would play fiddle for a good while of the night. At last the poor old fellow had to give up playing the fiddle as he got ill. He died during the illness. After that great crowds came to his wake. But some of the play boys got the fiddle, as dark came on. One of them got in under the bed and started playing the fiddle. The people took to their heels and got out as hard as they could

There was a man and he was working not far from Hacketstown. A cow strayed into a field of their neighbours and at about ten o'clock the workman went to look for the cow. He went into a field of Darcy's who live at the back of Eagle Hill. He did not find the cow and he came up to Darcy's house to ask about the cow. When he was at the door he saw a big white dog. He did not bring home the cow and when he was going up the lane he saw a white man and a gun in his hand and that man was often seen there.

In Hacketstown there lived two men who never went to Mass on Sunday, but while Mass would be going on they always went to hunt. One Sunday they went to hunt, they had a lot of dogs with them. When they got into a field they saw a hare. The dogs started to chase the hare. The hare ran over a stone wall, turned around and bit all the dogs and disappeared. The dogs all died, and the men went home and went to Mass every Sunday after. The hare was supposed to be the devil.

There was a man one time who had a grandmother dying, and she asked him to go to the Priests house coming up by the short-cut on the way to Hacketstown. It was about twelve o'clock midnight, he saw a light and a white woman sitting on the short-cut. He stopped and knelt down on the road and said the Rosary. No sooner had he said the Rosary when the white woman vanished. Then he got bravely and went on his way to the Priest. When the Priest heard his sad story he put on his overcoat and went to the woman's house. On his way to the house he told the man that there was no use of going because the woman that he had seen on the short-cut was his grandmother and that proved she was dead.