'I used to know a man who was in the Famine': An extract from John Creedon's new book

In this extract from An Irish Folklore Treasury, the broadcaster and writer salutes the national project that has preserved so much of our vanishing social history

John Creedon with his book 'An Irish Folklore Treasury'. Picture: Larry Cummins

For the most part, my father never theorised much about anything. It was always a narrative, always a story to illustrate his understanding of a subject. I once asked him if he believed in angels. “Mother of God, I don’t know anything about that, but did I ever tell you about the time your grandfather thought he saw a ghost out towards Graigue?”

On this occasion, I pressed him for an opinion. “Do you think the people who suffered in the Famine would be happy or disappointed with us? You know what I mean, winning independence and the Celtic Tiger and all the rest of it?”