{"id":22065,"date":"2022-08-30T13:07:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T17:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22065"},"modified":"2022-08-30T18:51:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:51:34","slug":"episode-620-barney-dwan-and-legends-of-ireland-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=22065","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 620 BARNEY DWAN AND LEGENDS OF IRELAND 1960"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>\n
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EPISODE 620     BARNEY DWAN AND LEGENDS OF IRELAND 1960 <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
August 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:  THIS story about Barney Dwan was triggered by the letter below sent<\/div>\n
to me by his grandson, Jamie Dineen.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Hi Alan,<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was sent a link to your website by a relative recently.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
A number of your articles (links below) talk about Bunmahon in Co Waterford in Ireland and specifically you mention Barney Dwan who is my grandfather.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Barney has unfortunately just passed away and I am currently visiting Ireland to say goodbye from Whistler in Canada (where I now live). He always told us old stories about working with “Canadian miners” back when he was young. It is so great to see some first hand written accounts of someone who spent some time with him in his youth. He was a bit of a character and he seemed to get a kick out of telling stories that you were never quite sure if they were true or not.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Anyway, on your website you have some incredible photos of Barney in his youth that I have never seen before. So thank you so much for preserving them many years later. I was wondering if you had digital copies of these that you could pass on or any other information relating to his life in your archives. I’m not sure if anyone else from my family has been in touch but it would be great if you had anything to share with us.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Again, thanks for preserving this little piece of history that relates to our family and I am hoping you have time to get in touch.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Best wishes,<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Jamie Dineen<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The ruins of the Knockmahon copper mine\u2026closed and flooded in the 1870\u2019s.<\/div>\n
Could it be reopened?  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Barney Dwan, my right hand man in that wonderful summer<\/div>\n
of 1960.  He died in the summer of 2022.   He was a great<\/div>\n
story teller and an excellent friend.  He is standing on the cliff<\/div>\n
face that he knew so well.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MEMORIES OF BARNEY DWAN, IRELAND, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THIS MAY TURN OUT TO BE A LONG STORY<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
BACKGROUND BEFORE BARNEY DWAN ENTERED THE STORY<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
When I was young, a  high school student, I was lucky enough to be hired as a geophysical instrument man.<\/div>\n
The job was exciting, demanding, lonely, sometimes dangerous but always enriching. Not financially but<\/div>\n
spiritually.  I never knew where i was going until almost the day of departure.<\/div>\n
On that day I had time to pack a rucksack with all the things I would need for several months.<\/div>\n
No suitcase of luggage.  Just a Canadian army back pack.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
DATELINE:  MAY15, 1960<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, forget about Arizona\u2026.sudden change\u2026you are going to Ireland.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMy snake bite training\u2026sucking blood from snake bitten flesh\u2026is now useless.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo snakes in Ireland. Should be smooth sailing, Alan, as long as you know<\/div>\n
how to set up and run the Turam.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The Turam is a rather complicated Swedish instrument that is able to find mineral formations <\/div>\n
beneath the ground\u2026 i.e. without excavating.   Here is a simplified description  First thing to do is to lay<\/div>\n
out  single sheathed copper wire ‘base line’ about a mile or more long and<\/div>\n
grounded at both ends.  Then attach a motor generator to this base line which when running will create a electro=magnetic<\/div>\n
field.  If there is mineralization then there will be an anomaly,,,something odd, peculiar… in the readings picked up by  receiver coils<\/div>\n
… two long cylinders of copper coiled wire kept st 100 foot separation.  These blips were called<\/div>\n
are unusual intrusions in background readings.  Rather miraculous machine invented by Swedish engineers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Above is our Turam equipment all crated.  The picture will give readers some<\/div>\n
idea of the complicated equipment involved<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
HOW DID I BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS IRISH INVESTIGATION?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
LUCK!  Napoleon Bonaparte was once asked how he decided promotions in his army: :Give me the lucky soldiers.\u201d was his reply.<\/div>\n
He made instant promotions after battles.  I felt like one of those lucky ones.<\/div>\n
 In the summer of 1959,I was sent to western Alaska with a Canadian seven man survey<\/div>\n
crew,  Three of us were students at the University of Toronto and  the others were professionals<\/div>\n
in mining exploration.   That summer I initially felt like a square peg in a  round hole. Then My partner,<\/div>\n
Bill Morrison taught me how to operate the Turam.  So there were four field men working the<\/div>\n
Alaskan tundra that summer.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The following summer of 1960 I was the only employee of Hunting Exporaton who knew <\/div>\n
the Turam system. I was the lucky one.  All the others had gone their separate ways. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
 \u201cALAN, you will be responsible<\/div>\n
for this Irish job?  Can you remember the Turam system.\u201d, said Dr. Norman Paterson<\/div>\n
\u201cYes!\u201d  I was not as sure as I sounded.  This was a big deal.  Suddenly I was no longer<\/div>\n
the square peg in a round hole.  I was epectred to be there right round peg for the <\/div>\n
round hole.  The Turam.   To indicate a lack of confidence would risk losing the job.<\/div>\n
If Dr. Paterson was willing to give me sole responsibility for the Irish survey then he<\/div>\n
must think I could do it.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Two pictures of Turam in operation in 1960.  One in Ireland as we tramped through a field of ripe wheat much to the anger<\/div>\n
of the local Irish farmer who sought payment.  Bulls, hogs and ticks were problems  The second picture is the same Turam in the wilds of the Alaskan<\/div>\n
perma frost scrubland in 1959 where blood seeking flies by the billions sought flesh wherever exposed and Kodiak bears feasted on<\/div>\n
dead and living salmon in sunken river valleys.  Two places, Ireland and Alaska, same machine\u2026different problems.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
EXPECTATIONS<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SO I arrived in Ireland alone.  One man cannot operate a Turam.  The system needs<\/div>\n
a minimum of two.  Often  more than two. Do not get an inflated opinion of my role.<\/div>\n
My job ws to get data.  Dr John Stam arrived later in the summer His job was the<\/div>\n
really important job of interpreting the data.  And John Hogan, a geologist was sent<\/div>\n
by our client just to keep an eye on what we were doing.  Lots of pressure on me, a 22<\/div>\n
year old student of history and philosophy at the University of Toronto. Like being in<\/div>\n
a goldfish bowl.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Afteer 13 days in Dublin, our crates arrived.  Those 13 days were long days.<\/div>\n
The tedium was broken, however,  by one night at a Dublin movie house watching \u201cThe Quiet Man\u201d,<\/div>\n
a film that romanitcized Ireland featuring John Wayne and Maureen O\u2019Hara.  The movie was<\/div>\n
not full of hatred although filmed in the \u201cTime of the Trouble\u201d when Irish Republicans were killing<\/div>\n
and being killed by English Black and Tan constabulary.  Not a dark film at all.  It was full of<\/div>\n
joy and minimized the violence. Exaggerated the positive.  I loved the film even though I did<\/div>\n
not expect my real experience in Ireland would be nearly as pleasant.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Well, as things turned out, I was dead wrong.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ENTER BARNEY DWAN<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cCould Southern Ireland be anything like that movie?\u201d<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
This is where  Barney Dwan entered the picture.  He was our first<\/div>\n
employee.  I think he just asked if we needed help the daY I arrived in Bunmahon.<\/div>\n
He was hired on the spot.  Paid a pound a day… seven pounds<\/div>\n
a week\u2026.cash.  That was the going pay  in Ireland in 1960.<\/div>\n
My own salary was not much more\u2026$400 per month which amounted to $5 a day.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
 10 pounds in 1960 is worth 271.86 pounds in 2021 terms. Inflation.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Barney seemed about my age, 22 years old.  He had a permanent grin it seemed<\/div>\n
even at the beginning when I could not understand his dialect.  First mistake.  I thought his name<\/div>\n
was Bandy much to the amusement of our growing number of employees. I think we<\/div>\n
hired about ten men all told.  Same pay for all.  They all seemed to laugh every time<\/div>\n
i asked Bandy (Barney) a question.  Eventually I figured out why.  Barney was amused<\/div>\n
as well and accepted Bandy rather than Barney.  Nice chap for sure and very<\/div>\n
smart.  Figured out what I needed when i needed help.  I may have been the boss<\/div>\n
but Barney was the manager.    That sounds a little officious.  Not so.  I tried to keep<\/div>\n
everyone happy as long as they turned up for work each day.  Barney made suggestions<\/div>\n
casually.  I never realized how important Barney was to our survey until midway though<\/div>\n
the job.  He had that very Irish way of making suggestions often using stories that<\/div>\n
may or may have been true.  Such as finding the feet of a nun\u2026feet in her shoes<\/div>\n
but nothing else.  Hogs had got her crossing a farm field.  Hogs rarely kill but they<\/div>\n
can consume meat fast when given the chance.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Barney was a big help on our line surveys.   I was strapped in.  Copper coil hanging from<\/div>\n
belt, console, earphones, batter pack on my back, hooked by electric short to man<\/div>\n
with front coil.  Difficult to move evilly especially in Ireland where the farm fields are<\/div>\n
small and line with Gorse hedge.  Gorse?  Imagine a death by a thousand cuts.<\/div>\n
Gorse may well be beautiful when in bloom..thousands of yellow flowers shielded by<\/div>\n
thongs \u2026thousands of thorns.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Free range pigs were very curious animals.  They investigated our work<\/div>\n
regularly as above\u2026which gave Barney an opportunity to tell as story.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMaster Skeoch, story is told about a nun who tried to cut across a farm field.<\/div>\n
All that was ever found were her shoes with her feet in them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cwhat happened?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo one really knows.  Likely the pigs got her.  She could not run fast<\/div>\n
with those long black clothes.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2019Terrible death. \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cBoars can be violent\u2026hungry..tough.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cScary\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cReason I tell the story is that you are like the nun.  You can\u2019t<\/div>\n
run with all that gear strapped to you.  Boars could get you.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Crossing a thin bridge over the Mahon River was tricky.   I believe that is John Fleming<\/div>\n
on the right.  He was in charge of our linecutting crew and I think our oldest employee,<\/div>\n
A grandfather and very dignified community leader.  In the centre is Barney Dwan to<\/div>\n
whom this episode is dedicated.  My right arm man and the key to my acceptance<\/div>\n
as a member of the Bunmahon mining adventure.  The man on the right whose name<\/div>\n
escapes me was part of excavating crew and I believe he returned to Ireland after<\/div>\n
working abroad.  It must have been difficult for our older employees to be bossed<\/div>\n
by a young 22 year old Canadian.   I never felt resentment.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Barney seemed to have endless stories all of which were based in facts even<\/div>\n
if bloated to make the story better.  A joy to work with.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Perhaps Barney told this Nun story, whether true or false, as Barney\u2019s way of<\/div>\n
alerting me to the danger that could be found in those tiny Irish fields.<\/div>\n
A charging bull was no problem normally.  Fleet footed escape or totally avoiding the field enclosed by <\/div>\n
the bull.  I could not do that.  The Turam harness made running impossible.  And our survey had to be done in straight lines <\/div>\n
in order to form a grid to map out any anomaly.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMaster Skeoch, you need someone to lift you over the fences or to break a path through<\/div>\n
the Gorse.  Someone to keep a sharp eye on bulls and boars.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cBarney, why do all the bulls have rings in their noses.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cControl mechanism, Master Skeoch, imagine you had a ring in your nose<\/div>\n
and someone twisted it.  Make you want to do what the twister wanted, would it not?\u2019<\/div>\n
\u201cI had a high school teacher, Roberta Charlesworth, who lifted me up vertically by the<\/div>\n
ear\u2026like twisting an iron ring in a bull\u2019s nose. \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat did you do wrong?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSeemed I served a detention watching the girls play volleyball in he girls gymnastics<\/div>\n
rather than the detention room.  Nicer place\u2026.but Charlesworth did not think the way i did.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Now just how dangerous are hogs running loose in a farm field?   Do they kill and eat people<\/div>\n
regularly.  Is the Nun story believable?   Such a maladventure is extremely rare.  Likely Barney was exaggerating<\/div>\n
but I am not sure.  There is a list of dangerous creatures that kill humans.  The number<\/div>\n
one killer is the mosquito (malaria), the number two killer of humans is humans.  We kill each <\/div>\n
other  at a rate of 400,000 each year.   Bulls and hogs do not even merit a rating in the list of<\/div>\n
killers.  Lions, Hippos, Crocodiles, snakes\u2026all are killers big time.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201c Barney, That prickly Gorse is more dangerous than any boar or bull.  You have seen me fall just trying to <\/div>\n
through the stuff. Gorse surrounds every field.  Loaded with needles.  Every field is fenced with a million <\/div>\n
needles.   Capable of drawing blood\u2026lots of blood.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Common<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Gorse looks charming from a distance when in bloom.<\/div>\n
The charm disappears when challenged with the task of <\/div>\n
penetrating the gorse.  Surveying grids must have straight lines\u2026<\/div>\n
no way of avoiding those gorse needles which can tear both clothing<\/div>\n
and flesh.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Our lineutting crew preceded us by setting up a grid which means they penetrated<\/div>\n
the gorse before Barney and I.  They smashed holes for us to crawl through.<\/div>\n
Farmers did not want big holes in their Gorse fences so Barney often had to help me through <\/div>\n
the gorse.  I fell sometimes <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"gorse<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Gorse\"Gorse\"<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMaster Skeoch , you need help getting through the Gorse.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201c I agree.  The trouble is that my company boss will  wonder why I need help in<\/div>\n
Ireland when I never needed help in Alaska where Kodiak bears were common.  I imagine the gorse problem seemed funny<\/div>\n
back in Canada..”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Were bulls and hogs really a danger?  In the great scheme of things bulls and hogs were not a dangerous as mosquitoes <\/div>\n
snakes and crocodiles.  The trouble with bulls is that they were unpredictable.  Dairy bulls in particular.  They might seem<\/div>\n
placid then take offence suddenly.  Normally a charging bull could be avoided by jumping a fence.  Not so easy in Ireland<\/div>\n
where many farmers used gorse hedges as fencing often with a stone wall core.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Were hogs really a danger?  Wild boars..yes.  But we never encountered a wild boar.  Domesticated pigs, however, were <\/div>\n
common.   Very curious animals.  Intelligent.   When we dug trenches deep down to bed rock to check our an<\/div>\n
anomaly often the trench was ringed with pigs who basically wanted to see what was happening.  They were big <\/div>\n
but I do not remember a problem.   My harness made me immobile no matter what.  Barney\u2019s precaution was a <\/div>\n
good idea.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Why<\/div>\n
Why DOES this bull have a ring in its nose?  Surely not for a brave person to grab and twist to control<\/div>\n
the bull?  Not at all\u2026but the ring hurts if twisted, therefore the bull can be led to the cow or the prize ring.<\/div>\n
One ting was certain.  I would never be able to grab the ring if a bull denied to attack.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Never feared bulls or boars once we had a man to keep them from charging.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The biggest threat came from one tiny, almost invisible, insect…<\/div>\n
MY BIGGEST WORRY WAS TICK BITES<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NEXT EPISODE\u2026.STORIES IN MEMORY OF BARNEY DWAN<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 620     BARNEY DWAN AND LEGENDS OF IRELAND 1960  alan skeoch August 2022 NOTE:  THIS story about Barney Dwan was triggered by the letter below sent to me by his grandson, Jamie Dineen. Hi Alan, I was sent a link to your website by a relative recently. A number of your articles (links […]<\/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-22065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065","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=22065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}