Death Coach at Maryfort (Co. Clare)

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death coach

Lismehane, under its later name of Maryfort, afterwards became the residence of the O’Callaghan family, its present occupants. On the night of April 29th, 1821, two servants, one of whom was ‘Matty Halloran’ who died not long ago at an advanced age, and the other was a butler named Richard Burke, were sitting up to receive a son of the family, Cornelius O’Callaghan, who had travelled for his health in vain and was returning home. Halloran, who told the tale with fearless faith and weary frequency, said that the heavy rumble of a coach roused them. Burke stood on the top of the long flight of steps with a lamp, and sent Halloran down to open the carriage door. He reached out his hand to do so, saw a skeleton looking out, gave one yell, and fell in a heap. When the badly-scared Burke picked him up, there was no sign or sound of any coach. A little later the invalid arrived, so exhausted that he died suddenly in the early morning. The present generation seems to have got the story from Halloran alone. Westropp ‘Clare’ 193

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