In Search of the Red Beggar
Logline:
An investigation into the truth behind John Keegan’s story ‘The Red Beggar’ and the origins of the name of ‘Poormansbridge’.
Director:
Synopsis:
Though there were relatively few evictions in the Abbeyleix area during the early part of the 19th Century, many of those evicted elsewhere in Ireland drifted towards the Abbeyleix area.
One legend tells of a destitute traveler who came into the area at this time. He gained his name from a large red woolen nightcap which he wore day and night. His name was the Red Badger (Bocough Ruadh) and his tale has been immortalized in the story of local author John Keegan (the People’s Poet).
It appears that he was originally from Ulster, and may years before had gone to sea to seek his fortune. He lost a leg in a fight with smugglers off the French coast, but although fitted with a wooden leg was of no use aboard the ship and was cast ashore. Having arrived at a ford on the river Nore between Abbeyleix and Shanahoe, he settled down on a limestone flag, since known as Beggar’s stone, beside the river to beg from travelers who crossed at that ford.
When he died many years later, it is said that 300 golden guineas were found stitched into his red nightcap, and over £100 in coin under the Beggar’s Stone. This money was however supposed to carry with it a curse and no one was content to take it. Instead the local folk used it to build a bridge over the Nore at that point and incorporated the Beggar’s Stone into structure. To this day the bridge is known as ‘Poormansbridge’.
John Keegan of Killeaney, near Shanahoe, Co Laois was just 33 years old when he died in 1849. During that short life, he wrote numerous tales and poems which give an account of Ireland as he knew it in the first half of the 19th Century. Though his writings are rarely heard in popular culture these days, his legacy in his native Shanahoe is greatly valued for its cultural and literary significance.