SEAN McCABE, OLDCASTLE, BORN 1944

Eight generations of McCabes precede Sean McCabe in farming the land at Ballinacree. The place is steeped in history and, on a walking tour on his land, he recounts his family history and relates the story of the Crossdrum chalice discovered on the land in 1750. Sean emigrated to America in 1963 where he remained for five years and where he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He is proud to have had the opportunity to shake the hand of Martin Luther King. He talks of the Loughcrew estate which covered hundred of acres, the aftermath of the Famine, landgrabbing, Land Annuity purchases in the years 1903-1909, and his own family’s purchase of their farm from the Naper family.