'There forever more' - Ghostly tales of Laois town immortalised in book

The legends and tales of Abbeyleix have been immortalised in a new book which is coming out this October.

Author and local historian Noel Burke has compiled the stories and memories which have shaped Abbeyleix through the years in his latest book ‘Abbeyleix Folklore: Halloween & Winter Tales.’

Noel published his third book at the end of last year, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Abbeyleix.

Speaking to the Leinster Express, he said that was supposed to be his last book but inspiration soon came to write a book about the ghostly tales of Abbeyleix.

Noel’s work is grounded in the community of Abbeyleix, collecting and sharing stories of some of the town’s oldest residents to preserve its traditions and tales.

“It has been going on for a number of years now there with my old pal, James G. Carroll, a photographer. When we retired we had plenty of time on our hands, so when we weren't delivering grandkids to school and one thing or another, I'd go around and talk to the older people in the community there and sit down and chat to them and ask for the stories of their childhood and this, that and the other,” Noel explained.

“And they loved what we were doing. We were recording and documenting the stories they were telling. That's gone on a number of years now. And that was the result of three of the books that we wrote, that we published.”

Again, it was the older people in the town which inspired this latest book.

“There's an old man that lives near us and he's in his 90s now. He loves all sorts of spooky Halloween stories. And he says to me, ‘When are you going to write your next book?’ I said, ‘I'm not writing anymore.’ But he kind of put the thought in my head,” Noel said.

Another local man living at the foot of the Black Hill Woods also helped set the idea in motion.

“The Black Hill Woods is a scary place to be in the first place. There are lots of stories there about where he actually lives. We have a number of those type stories in it and that was the idea for it.”

Noel said that there was a “huge amount of material” from the town, given its rich history since it was first established in 1775. The book details a variety of different local tales from Abbeyleix.

“There was one in particular that stands out in my mind. It was like a great shark in The Mash story. That's kind of a classic.”

The Mash is a roughly 300-acre tract of land near the River Nore on the outskirts of Abbeyleix where a shark was supposedly spotted in 1985.

Another famous story Noel mentioned was the Gortanaclea Banshee. In the lead up to Halloween, he has been sharing local ghost stories on Facebook.

“One woman tells me now she passes by that way every day and now she won't walk it. After reading the story, she won't walk in the evening because she’s afraid the banshee will come out from the walls,” Noel said.

Although the book provides a great source of entertainment, preserving the long-passed-down stories of the local community is invaluable.

The woman whose story echoed that of the shark in The Mash has since passed away.

“So when we spoke to this old woman we got the whole details of this particular story, and this is a story that actually took off around the whole county at the time and even nationally it was referred to as well. Not long after that she contracted dementia and her memory went and the woman has died since. She gave us this whole lowdown about her childhood and what have you,” Noel shared.

Another woman who contributed her stories to the book has also died.

“And then there was another woman that was in her 90s as well actually, and she gave us her story and since that she actually passed away.

“Now, their stories are actually saved and they'll always be there and they made it all the way into a book. It’ll be there forever more.”

‘Abbeyleix Folklore: Halloween & Winter Tales’ will be available to buy on Friday, October 23.

The launch of the book will also be celebrated in Morrissey’s Pub.