Beragh, Co Tyrone
From the collection of
From the collection of
Visit the area of Beragh in County Tyrone and explore the history and people.
Joe visits the town of Beragh in County Tyrone. He tells the story of Saint Patrick arriving in the area and being warned there was a giant serpent about. He then commanded a horse to battle the serpent but when the horse went mad after defeating the foe Saint Patrick ordered it to dive to the bottom of a lake and live there until the end of time, a lake now called Lough Patrick.
Seamus Rodgers takes Joe to the nearby abandoned graveyard and then onto a Toothache Tree where it is said that toothache can be cured by driving a coin into the bark of the tree. Martin McGuigan takes Joe to what is left of Lough Patrick which has now almost entirely grown over with bog grass and can be walked on top of. The Reverend Elaine O'Brien shows Joe inside St Patrick's parish church at Cholgherny and tells him of the folklore connecting the area to the saint, with the church still known as the Church of the Horse. She also shows him a bag of human skulls of unknown origin which are kept under a floorboard of the church.
The Kelly family show Joe their techniques for making the potato-based Pearly Pudding. Helen Bullock McFarland shows Joe her paintings including one of the local Toothache Tree. Hamilton and Olive Kee are Joe's guides as they take him inside Camowen Green House which is powered by turbines from the local Camowen River. Local historian, Patrick Joseph McLean shows Joe his historic house in the town centre, the former Royal Irish Constabulary barracks with iron bars over what used to be jail cells. Finally, Joe return to the Kelly's to try out the completed Pearly Pudding.
Lesser Spotted Ulster is a long-running and popular programme that visits the places many of us have heard of but never been to. Presenter Joe Mahon gently explores what makes a place what it is.