“Like a sack of potatoes he fell.” It was one of my great
grandmothers favorite stories, ( family name Mama Dear ) From the memories of her childhood in Ireland.
Her uncle was returning from the fair in county Cork, the path was
busy with people, horses and buggy’s. A heated political discussion between her uncle and
a stranger erupted in a flare of Irish tempers. The man punched uncle in the nose,
and uncle struck him with his shillelagh to the side of his head. “The man fell
like a sack of potatoes!” And lay motionless in the ditch. Fearing he had killed someone, uncle
jumped back and began shouting........”Murder, Murder! Who killed the man?”
As if it were someone other than himself! And it must have worked, he was happy
to get away. The stranger revived, and Uncle got to tell the story at Christmas and
St. Patricks day every year. And Mama Dear told us the story with a look in her eye as
if she was far away and a child again.
memories of Mama Dear
Ron Francis
