Happening at Hungry Hall: Long Read ~Irish Lass~

Hungry hall is an old place name in the town land of Barren and is situated approximately 150 yards south of Balraheen crossroad, and one mile north of Rathcoffey. The name originates from a tragic series of events that took place in the 1880s. The gruesome story involves the disappearance of a number of young boys in the Rathcoffey area. Despite intensive searches and thorough investigations no trace of the missing children was ever found.

One day a man travelling in the Balraheen area close to Rathcoffey was passing by a house and needed to light his clay pipe. The house, in which an old woman had her son dwelled, was a thatched house with a half door. One record suggests that her son was away from the house at the time as he was a solider in the British Army. The traveller was in the habit of getting a light for his pipe from the woman in the house. On this occasion he called the woman’s name, but he got no reply. As the door was open he decided to enter the house and light the pipe himself. There was a large pot over the fire. The traveller bent down to the fire to light his pipe. As he did so, he saw the foot of a young boy projecting from the pot. The unfortunate man got such a shock he immediately ran out of the house screaming.

The woman was arrested and eventually brought before the local magistrate, Thomas Wogan Browne from Castlebrown, now Clongowes Wood. The incident can be dated to the period when Wogan Browne served as magistrate; finally, for some years before 1797 and secondly, for a four-year period between 1806 and 1810. At her trail she was accused of cannibalism. She pleaded guilty to the charge. Apparently she enticed the children into her house by offering them food. Wogan Browne was a landlord in the area. He informed her that he had many fine bullocks on his property and asked why she hadn’t just stolen one of his cattle if she was that hungry. To this she replied, ‘your lordship, if only you tasted flesh of young boys,’ which she described as being tastier than veal, ‘you would never eat another scrap of animal meat again.’ This remark horrified the court and she was sentenced to death.

Executions during the period would usually take place at the scene of the crime. For instance, many highwaymen that were apprehended and convicted of robbery in the 18^th and 19^th centuries were brought back to the scene of their crime and hanged there. The execution of this woman took place close to her house in Barren. There was a large tree beside the house, next to which there was a gate that led to the fields behind the house. A rope was attached to the branch of the tree and she was hanged.

One problem that arose was how to dispose of her remains. As one convicted of eating human flesh, she could not be interred in consecrated ground. This problem was solved by placing a barrel of tar under her body and setting it alight. Her body soon fell into the barrel and was consumed by the flesh. She was regarded in the area as a witch in the locality.

The house where she lived was never again occupied and soon became a ruin. The house and the adjoining division of land came to be known as “Hungry Hall”. In later years a black dog thought to be the witch in disguise was often seen running from Hungry Hall to the roads nearby.

The story of the horrific events at the Hungry Hall was often told to children in order to get them to bed early, which is one of the reasons why the story survived in folklore.