{"id":19146,"date":"2021-11-16T10:42:58","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19146"},"modified":"2021-11-16T10:44:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:44:39","slug":"episode-467-irish-stories-again-the-cow-in-the-adit-and-memory-of-john-fleming-and-barney-dwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19146","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 467 IRISH STORIES AGAIN: THE COW IN THE ADIT AND MEMORY OF JOHN FLEMING AND BARNEY DWAN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE467    IRISH STORIES\u2026THE COW IN THE ADIT\u2026AND MEMORIES OF JOHN FLEMING AND ANDY DWAN<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
oct. 2021<\/div>\n

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RUMOUURS\u2026FOLK TALES\u2026.WERE OFTEN BASED ON FACT AS WE PROVED<\/div>\n

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JUST found a picture I took of the Mystery Adit we excavated in Bunmahon in 1960,<\/div>\n
I have told the story earlier but must tell it again if only for Aden Coffey.  The location of this excavation was<\/div>\n
north of the main mine shaft, near the home of Rina Casey I believe.<\/div>\n

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While doing the surface geophysical survey with the Turam we picked up a strong<\/div>\n
anomaly some distance inland from Knockmahon.  By pure chance a story was told by<\/div>\n
one of our employees about a local farmer who, around 1900, had lost a cow in an adit that he closed with<\/div>\n
 landfill surmounted that was now covered by a patch of Gorse.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe old adit is right under your anomaly.\u201d  said Barney Dwan as he told the story of the lost cow.<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe we could open the adit and see if what we found with the Turam.\u201d I retold the story to Dr. Stam.<\/div>\n
\u201cGood idea.  Let\u2019s hire a man to see if the adit even exists.  Won\u2019t cost much\u2026just give<\/div>\n
him a pick, shovel, axe and wheelbarrow.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBarney, can we pin point the exact location of the adit?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe story had been told over and over\u2026I think the adit is under that patch of<\/div>\n
gorse in the little valley below us. (I think the Irish term was \u2018boreen\u2019 meaning \u201clittle valley\u2019\/<\/div>\n

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So we set the man at work. All alone.  After a couple of days digging<\/div>\n
his pick or shovel penetrated the old adit which had been filled with<\/div>\n
water over the decades. Water under pressure.  Once opened, the water blasted<\/div>\n
out in a gush.  That happened So suddenly that the excavator had to run or be engulfed.  Some said<\/div>\n
he was terrified.  We had discounted the story\u2026did not expect to succeed.  But the story was true, an<\/div>\n
adit was there.   What about the cow?<\/div>\n
So much  water escaped that we had to wait a day or so before entering<\/div>\n
the place.<\/div>\n

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Guess what we found?<\/div>\n

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Right\u2026there was the skeleton of the cow about a hundred feet from the entrance. Maybe her<\/div>\n
hips got stuck in the narrow passage.  A  terrible death.  Or maybe her body had been hauled into<\/div>\n
the adit already dead.  A grave. <\/div>\n

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What really attracted geologist John Hogan and geophysicist Dr. John Stam were the<\/div>\n
stains on the walls.  <\/div>\n

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Ireland made such a deep and lasting impression on me that my 3 months there seem like<\/div>\n
only yesterday\u2026but the adventure happened in 1960\u202661 years ago.   And there seems<\/div>\n
to be no end to the memories  which I believe have universal appeal.  Hope so anyway.<\/div>\n

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You have met Barney Dwan before.  He was my main man.  Always had a grin on his face and told<\/div>\n
me stories that were sometimes true and sometimes outlandish.  we had a great time together.<\/div>\n
I wish I could have paid him more money\u2026a pound a day was cheap\u2026but I tried to spread<\/div>\n
the money over as many men as I could.   All had roles that were necessary.<\/div>\n

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Bones and bodies of dead animals were often found\u2026especially at bottom of cliff faces.<\/div>\n

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In places the adit walls were shored with old timbers \u2026 crooked timbers.<\/div>\n

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And there she is..the cow…<\/div>\n

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These stains had meaning to John Hogan.  I had no idea what they were except proof of mineralization.<\/div>\n

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This patch is proof of the presence of copper.<\/div>\n

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SHORT NOTE ABOUT ONE MAN IN PARTICULAR<\/div>\n

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I Think his name was John Fleming.  His name came to me last night.  Seems my brain was going in to overdrive to find the name.<\/div>\n
He is the older man with hands on his hips while posing on a very narrow bridge<\/div>\n
across the Mahon River.   John was much older than others and regarded as a leader.  A very dignified and friendly<\/div>\n
man who kept out staking crew going even when the weather was terrible.  As a matter of fact he even tried to continue<\/div>\n
staking after nightfall in a storm.   Working by compass and flashlight was impossible but somehow John kept the line<\/div>\n
straight.  <\/div>\n

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His home was on a small plot of  land where he grew a big garden and was able to keep a few animals\u2026one of which<\/div>\n
was a horse as I remember.  Every square inch of his 1 acre (!) lot was in use.  I think he had both children and grand children<\/div>\n
\u2026seem to remember that but it was a long time ago.  I do know that all the men respected John and asked advice of him.<\/div>\n

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Barney is carrying John Fleming on his back as we criss crossed the Mahon River.<\/div>\n
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This was our trenching crew who dug down to bed rock once I detected a conductor with<\/div>\n
the Turam.  We called these high readings \u2018anomalies\u2019 because we had no firm idea why<\/div>\n
the readings blipped.   <\/div>\n

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Pigs were very curious.  They could also be dangerous\u2026especially the boars.<\/div>\n
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The job of trenching was dangerous the deeper the trench got as seen here.  If the soil loosened and collapsed how would this<\/div>\n
man escape?  Thankfully, WE had no accidents.  Today there would be safety rules such as shoring of the walls.<\/div>\n

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Our job attracted widespread interest. The Waterford newspaper even sent a reporter and photographer to do an interview<\/div>\n
which appeared on the front page.  I have tried to get a copy\u2026seems to be available but have hand no response.<\/div>\n
(Note to Aden Coffey: perhaps you can get a reprint from the Waterford newspaper. It is available)<\/div>\n

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\u201cDo you need help?\u201d asked this sow<\/div>\n
\u201cSure\u2026keep digging.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGrunt\u2026grunt\u2026grunt.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIs there any truth to the story I was told by Barney about your friends?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat story?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBarney says a nun disappeared while taking a short cut through your field.  All<\/div>\n
that was found of her was a shoe with her foot in it.  Could that be true?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust watch your step, Alan, truth is sometimes stretched a bit but you never <\/div>\n
can tell.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGrunt\u2026grunt\u2026grunt.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE467    IRISH STORIES\u2026THE COW IN THE ADIT\u2026AND MEMORIES OF JOHN FLEMING AND ANDY DWAN alan skeoch oct. 2021 RUMOUURS\u2026FOLK TALES\u2026.WERE OFTEN BASED ON FACT AS WE PROVED JUST found a picture I took of the Mystery Adit we excavated in Bunmahon in 1960, I have told the story earlier but must tell it again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}