Barra Coogan's Story

We have agreed to withhold the man's name but for the purposes of narration we have named him Barra Coogan. The Coogan family has lived and farmed in the Glen of Cloongallon for one hundred and fifty years. In 1997, the eldest son, Barra Coogan at the age of 39, inherited the family farm of 200 acres. Mr Coogan, worked as a solicitor in Dublin, and employed a neighbour, Cornelious Boyle, to work as a full time farm manager and look after the land. As soon as he inherited the farm, Coogan radically altered the usage, concentrating on growing potatoes and barley; he invested in young bullocks and sold off the large stock of dairy cattle. He also bought and reared a herd of 15 young dairy cattle.

He tore out the hedges which separated his fields and created an area of wide, open land. The land was ideal for crops. The only obstacle to one perfect, green sweep of land was a ragged fairy tree which stood in the middle of one of the fields. It had to be cut down as Mr Coogan did not want anything in his way. He left instructions for the tree to be torn down but his farm manager did not touch the tree. It was left to Mr Coogan himself to saw down the tree.

He was angered by the superstitious dismay of his family and neighbours. They had all warned him against touching the tree. His mother pleading that the tree had to be left standing, because cutting it down would incur the wrath of the fairies who owned the tree. As a boy, Coogan had probably believed the notion that fairies would avenge anyone who interfered with the tree. As an adult, he scorned the very idea of fairies and actually wanted to prove how untrue and unreasonable the superstition was. He tore the tree down one Sunday. In the late afternoon, he appeared in the kitchen to eat dinner with his sisters and mother, and informed them that the tree was gone. His mother had shaken her head and left the table. His sisters had said nothing, but looked at him with concern.

Within a month, Coogan had lost his job in Dublin. The firm had prosecuted a number of high profile cases which had all along had looked to be in their favour. In all of the cases, the judgements were against them. Clients became bankrupt and were unable to pay legal fees to Coogan.

Coogan returned to live on the farm and began to encounter a series of setbacks. The tractors would not start. The mower did not work. Different mechanics came and worked for hours, but they never succeeded in fixing the tractors or the mower. The mechanics who came were experts but they could nothing with the tractors. Coogan immediately bought a new tractor and set off to plough but as soon as he drove into the field, the engine stopped. The dealer came and took the tractor away.

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