'He was one of a kind': The remarkable life story behind the man killed by a rooster

When Jasper Kraus was killed by a rooster at his home nearly a year ago, the story spread around the world. His daughter Virginia tells Sorcha Crowley of the ‘insensitive’ headlines and reveals the tragedy of his life as well as his Hollywood glories 

Jasper Kraus and his daughter Virginia Guinan. Jaspar had suffered from ill health before he was attacked by his rooster.

Jasper Kraus’ death was pure clickbait gold. Or rather, chickbait. When the international press got wind of a man killed by a rooster in Ireland, it was open season on the headlines.

Lurid variations of the "crazy chicken kills man" news alerts lit up phones from Arizona to New York, to Australia and India. It neatly slotted into the strange but true corners of social media, gobbling up clicks and likes. Funny guys on TikTok chuckled about how ‘hilarious’ the story was.