Jim Cleary formerly from Heathfield, Shanrahan and living in the USA for the past 50 years or so, remembers his father Johnny Cleary of Heathfield telling him about the Heap in Shanrahan. Jim described the place as next to Catherine Coughlan's cowhouse. (This the shed owned by Maurice Fox on the north-east corner of the cemetery.) Jim recalls his father telling him that you will never see anyone buried here because this is where the paupers from the workhouse were buried during the Great Famine.
Jim writes: I remember asking my Father about the empty plot next to Catherine Coughlan's cow house, and my Dad said that you will never see any one being buried there, and he went on to explain the Heap, where an overflow from the workhouse resulted in a mass burial in the so called Heap area.
(The Paupers cemetery at the Reidh was opened during the Famine but, until it was opened, 'The Heap' was the last resting place allocated to the Famine victims.)
