A long time ago, near the mountains of Slieve Beagh (Sliabh Beagh) that straddle the border between Co. Monaghan and the counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone, there once lived a widow and her only son John. They lived on the Monaghan side of the mountain and were very poor and knew not what to do to keep themselves from starving.
They really didn’t want to sell their only faithful cow, but they knew that if they were to stay alive, they would have to.
On the fair day, John set out with his cow before him.
When he reached the town, he met a man with three dogs.
‘How much do you want for the cow?’ John was asked.
‘Twenty pounds,’ said John.
‘I can give you something worth much more than that,’ was the reply.
‘What is it?’ asked John.
‘My three dogs,’ replied the man.
‘And what use would your dogs be to me?’ said John.
‘Well,’ was the reply, ‘here is Speed. He can run so fast that nothing can catch him. Not even the wind can move so fast. Then there is Guess. He can tell you what you are thinking and inform you of future events. And this here dog is Strength. He is so strong that nothing can resist him. He is so strong that he can snap iron bars with a stroke of his paw.’
John stood in amazement.
‘And now,’ said the man, ‘isn’t that a fair exchange for your cow?’
John agreed without hesitation and they separated, one with the cow and the other with the three beautiful dogs. John now felt that he could not, without the cow or the money, return home to his mother, so he was determined to set out and seek his fortune.
With his three beautiful dogs in tow, he headed towards a forest. It was a cold winter’s evening and darkness was about to fall like a black sheet over him and his dogs. John reached the forest and found shelter under some tall trees. He thought about having a wee sit-down, but in the distance he saw a light flicker in a castle, so he followed the light.
He made his way to the door of the castle and knocked. He could hear heavy footsteps approaching. The door swung open and all he could hear in a huge bellowing voice was, ‘Who is there?’ He was terrified because what he saw was the stuff of nightmares. Before him was a giant, a huge figure that made poor John freeze on the spot. He could feel the dogs pulling on the leads, trying to make their escape. He explained to the giant that he was tired and needed a room for the night.
The giant said, ‘Yes, you can come in because you will taste delicious as breakfast in the morning.’
John continued to walk in, followed by his dogs. The dogs somehow made him feel protected.
The giant said, ‘Where do you think you are going with those?’
He demanded that John leave them outside, but John said he would not enter without them.
The giant was angry, but when he heard a snarl from Strength, he soon changed his tune and said he could bring them in.
The giant, John and the dogs entered the dining room and began to eat the feast before them. John was delighted and, being a poor boy, he would never have seen such beautiful food and treats. John demanded that the dogs be fed at the table. The giant said they could be fed outdoors, but again he changed his mind after John persisted.
After they had eaten, John said he needed to rest and asked the giant if he could be brought to his room. The giant said yes, but he said he would need to put the dogs outside first. John again demanded that the dogs be treated exactly as he was.
The giant gave in to his wish once again. They entered the most luxurious room John had ever seen. He climbed up on the big bed and up jumped the dogs behind him. One at his head, one at his side and one at his feet.
John and the dogs had a peaceful night’s sleep and awoke refreshed and ready for the off. The giant asked John if he would like a tour of the castle before he went. The giant said that if he agreed, he would need to tie his dogs up first. John agreed this time and he left the dogs behind to go and look around the castle. The castle was magnificent and John was so impressed.
When they had almost finished the tour, the giant turned to John and said, ‘You have seen all of my rooms but two. One is private and you cannot enter, and the other you can. Come and you can have a look.’
The giant opened the door and what John saw filled him with deep terror. Right in the middle of the floor was a huge block covered with blood and an axe beside it on the floor. On the walls hung the bodies of dead men.
‘What do you think of this?’ asked the giant. ‘I am sick of your cheek and demands. This is where it ends. You will join these men very soon.’
He smiled at John and said, ‘Kneel down, sir, and I will cut your head off. I don’t think you will miss it as it’s nearly useless.’
John asked to be left alone for a few minutes so he could come to terms with what was about to happen and the giant agreed. When the giant returned, John lay down and the giant cut his head off.
John was buried the next day. Guess, the dog, caught wind what was going on and said to the other two dogs, ‘Do you know what happened to our master?’
‘No,’ they said.
‘Well, the giant cut his head off and now they are on their way to bury him.’
Guess told the other two dogs that there was an enchanted well in the forest that had healing powers and if they got to it, the healing water would be able to restore their master to life.
Strength hurled himself against the cage that the three dogs were locked inside and, without exerting much effort, the three dogs were set free. Off to the forest they went in search of the healing well. They found the well and Speed immersed himself in the water and ran back to the castle as fast as he could.
By this stage, the procession had reached the graveyard. Just as they were about to lower John into the ground, Speed came out of the forest as quick as a flash.
The dog said, ‘Open the coffin so I can see my master one last time.’
The giant said it was too late to do that. The gravediggers lowered him into the ground and began to cover the coffin in clay. Just then, out from the forest came Strength. He seized the giant by the neck and demanded that they open the coffin. The men did what the dog said and opened the coffin. Speed jumped in and rubbed himself all over the wound on John’s neck. Guess entered the coffin and did likewise. Lastly, Strength jumped in and because his coat was shaggy and held more water, he rubbed his master’s neck as best he could and to everyone’s amazement John woke up and got out of the coffin.
John demanded that the giant walk back to the castle and take him to that horrible room with the dead bodies hanging on the wall. He told him to kneel down so he could cut his head off. The giant agreed, but said that he hoped he would allow him to have one last request. He asked if he could enter the private room and John agreed.
After a short time, the giant returned and kneeled down and allowed John to cut his head off. The giant was buried the next day in the grave that had been meant for John.
John was anxious to know what was in the private room. When he entered, he was surprised to see a beautiful girl sitting in an armchair. He looked at her and asked her why she was there. She told John that she was a princess and that one day while she was out in the forest a thick black fog had descended. She said that when the fog had lifted, she had no idea where she was. She was lost and on her own and frightened. The giant captured her and brought her back to the castle. He kept asking her to marry him, but she wouldn’t and kept telling the giant to let her go home.
John asked her what the giant had asked her when he entered the room. The girl said that the giant told her about the enchanted well that could bring people back to life. She also told him that the giant said he was going to be beheaded and that she was to go to the healing well, fetch some water and bring him back to life. She reassured John that she was not going to do such a thing and that she couldn’t care less about what came of him as long as she was free.
John asked the princess what she wis
hed to do now.
She replied, ‘I would like to go back to my people.’
So the next morning, John instructed Guess to help guide them back to where the princess belonged. Together with the other two dogs, Strength and Speed, they made their way to where the princess had once dwelled. The journey was long.
When they reached their destination and said their goodbyes, John took one last look at the beautiful princess and then embarked upon the long journey back to the giant’s castle, which he now took for his own.
Some time passed, until one morning Guess spoke to John and said, ‘Do you remember the princess?’
John replied, ‘Yes, how could I forget her?’
Guess told him that she was in terrible danger, that a ferocious lion was going to come down from the mountain and devour her unless they saved her. Guess went on to tell him that the butler from her castle promised that he would save her (because she had promised to marry her rescuer), but he would not because when the day came he would be too cowardly and he would let her be killed.
On the day the lion was to appear, John and the three dogs made their way to where the princess dwelled. When they eventually arrived, there were droves of people gathered outside to witness the happenings.
The princess was sitting next to the butler, waiting on the lion, and John and the dogs could tell from her face that she was terribly shaken and frightened.
The butler did not have an air of confidence, as expected. He looked far more afraid than the princess herself.
Just then the lion came from the mountain. He meant business. His jaws were wide open, ready to attack, and his eyes were firmly set on his prize. The crowds gasped in sheer fright and terror at what was about to happen.
When the lion pounced on his prey, the butler ran away and hid. Strength leapt up onto the lion and caught him by the throat. With one bite, he killed the lion and the creature fell dead on the ground. The crowd gasped once again, this time with utter relief for finally the princess was free. Just as the lion fell to the ground, the butler appeared again and stuck his sword into the lion, claiming that he was the one who had killed him. His intention was to make it look like he was the hero, so he would be the lucky man to marry the princess. As the princess had fainted with fright when the lion had pounced, she could not tell who had saved her and so the date for the marriage was set.
She did not love the butler, but accepted that it had been him who had rescued her and so she felt that she had no choice but to take his hand in marriage.
The wedding day arrived and this time the crowd was full of laughter and joy. Even John and the three dogs were present, but John stayed at a distance, for his heart was sad and low. He was about to witness the woman he was falling in love with marrying another man, knowing he was not the right person for her.
Just before the marriage, the princess was thinking and happened to look out of her window. Strength was sitting outside. His presence brought everything back to her and she was able to fill in the gaps and remember exactly what had happened on the day she had been rescued. She remembered the lion, the butler running away and the dog stepping in. So the princess demanded that she marry the owner of the dog and not the butler, who had pretended to be brave. What use was a man who pretended to be a hero? Anyway, she did not love him, so her heart was not true.
The butler, still lying, protested that he was the man who had rescued the princess, but Strength held him tight until he finally told the truth.
John and the princess married that very day and they lived happily ever after in the castle.
One day, while John and the three dogs were walking through the forest, they came by a block with an axe.
Strength said to John, ‘Cut my head off.’
John was shocked and refused.
The dog said, ‘If you don’t, I will cut yours off.’
John said, ‘I would rather that than have to kill you.’
Just as Strength was about to kill John, Guess stepped in and put his paw on John’s neck. Guess told John to arise and do as Strength commanded. He told him not to be afraid and said that he would be surprised by what would happen. Strength knelt down and put his head on the block and, with closed eyes and a heavy heart, John cut the head off one of his most faithful friends.
When John opened his eyes, he saw that Strength had turned into a beautiful prince. He commanded John to cut the heads off the other two dogs, Guess and Speed. John did what he was told and they, too, turned into beautiful princes.
John gasped in astonishment.
They then told John the full story. They had been subjected to magic by the ghastly giant and taken away from their father, who was the king of Oriel. They told him how they wished to return to their father. They thanked John for his friendship and loyalty and for never giving up on them. They waved him and his new wife a sorrowful goodbye and off they set in the direction of Slieve Beagh. They were never seen again. But they say that on moonlit nights you can hear the sound of howling from the three dogs carried on the night wind.
15
HEY JOE!
This is a classic murder story which took place at the turn of the century. This story has become part of the fabric of Monaghan folklore. There was also a murder ballad written about it which is included in this volume.
If you were to look back at the brutal murders that took place on Irish soil, this one may be up there amongst the most gruesome. It took place in 1903 in Clones town, Co. Monaghan. There are some similarities between the crime and The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe, which is set in Clones town.
The man who was murdered was an egg-dealer called John Flanagan and he was visiting Clones on market day to buy lots of eggs to sell on in Belfast. The man who would eventually be convicted of killing him was a butcher based in Clones and his name was Joe Fee. It is said that Flanagan had £80 in cash, and that he somehow came into contact with Fee and was lured to the slaughterhouse on Jubilee Road owned by him and his brother George.
Flanaghan took two helpers to the market with him, Patrick Moan and Joseph Connolly, and when he did not return, they searched the place. It is said that there were queues of farmers waiting to be paid by Flanaghan for their eggs and his family had to be called so they could settle the debts. While they were there, they searched every public house in Clones, thinking that as he liked a little drink, maybe he had got side-tracked and found a drinking partner and forgotten about the eggs altogether. Little did they know that the poor man was no longer on this earth.
In an article entitled ‘A murder cover-up most foul’ in the Irish Times (2014), Frank McNally states that at the trial it came out that Fee struck his victim with a ‘pole-axe’ and then cut his throat, like ‘a pig’s’, before burying him in a shallow grave under quicklime. But the peaty soil at the slaughterhouse had counteracted the lime so the body was remarkably well preserved.
It took eight months for his body to be discovered.
On the day that Flanaghan went missing, Joe Fee bought a spade from a local shop. It was said that he paid off debts and was buying better-quality livestock. I suppose it would have been said that he had come into money and this was suspicious, to say the least!
It was April when Flanaghan went missing and it wasn’t until December that his body was discovered. There was a huge dung pile up outside the slaughterhouse and neighbours started to complain about its sight and smell, so Joe Fee got two local men, Albert McCoy and John Farmer, to clear it away and, lo and behold, they found a boot sticking out of the pile. They ran for the police. Head Constable McKeown came to the scene and when he tried to catch up with Joe Fee, he found him busy trying to make his escape.
Despite his escape attempt, Fee said that he was innocent and he must have been convincing because there were three murder trials before he was sentenced to death. Monaghan jurors had failed to see that he was the murderer and so the case went to Belfast, and within an hour the majority found him guilty of the murder of John Flanagan: he was s
entenced to death.
During the trial, it was explained how the victim came to such a tragic end. The gruesome details were shocking and animalistic. Flanagan was treated no better than a pig.
In an online collection of ‘Brutal Irish Murders’ (John Baker, 2011), it states that Flanagan was stabbed with a wicked-looking pig-sticker’s knife which had fallen from the corpse as it was being exhumed from its makeshift grave.
Even in the hours before his death, Fee pleaded his innocence. Just a second before he was about to be executed, he shouted ‘Guilty!’
He was hung two days before Christmas in 1904 and it is believed that he had a slow, painful death because the coroner’s report stated that he may have been hanging for twenty minutes, slowly choking to death.
16
THE BALLAD OF
JOE FEE
This is ‘The Ballad of Joe Fee’. The author is unknown.
You feeling hearted Christians, come listen unto me
While I relate the awful fate that did befall Joe Fee.
He paid his last dread penalty; words were of no avail.
He was hanged upon the scaffold high that day in Armagh Gaol.
The murder was a cruel one, no worse since time began;
The victim was an honest man, his name John Flanagan.
He came to Clones market with goods to buy and sell,
Upon a Thursday morning; the truth to you I’ll tell.
He changed a cheque that morning of eighty pounds or more;
’Twas known that he had money, as he often had before,
But when the market did commence, ’twas near two, I allow,
Fee walked up, saying to Flanagan, ‘I have that for you.’
They both walked off together, to Fee’s house they did go;
When they entered in the slaughterhouse, Fee struck a cruel blow.
With an awful cry, poor Flanagan, he reeled unto the floor
And then the murderer cut his throat and laid him in his gore.
Monaghan Folk Tales Page 8