On Sunday night, January 8, 1839, Ireland was swept by the worst storm in over 300 years with gales at wind speeds of 115 miles per hour, killing hundreds of people and causing widespread destruction of property. Hay and corn were blown away resulting in severe starvation among livestock in the following months.

Murty Kelly’s house

In Lack, Murty Kelly was spending his first night in his unfinished new house. He slept through the storm undisturbed due to fatigue from the heavy work of recent days and the sheltered location of his new house

His parents and sister spent the night in great fear and worry that the incomplete house would collapse and that Murty would lose his life. Their house was rather exposed, located at the rear of John Sheehan’s house. As the storm eased in the morning, they rushed to the house to find Murty fit and well, after what he claimed was an excellent night’s sleep, unaware of the storm while the house was undisturbed.

Murty Kelly’s grandson Michael and his wife Margaret

At that time Murty’s parents had decided to divide their farm between him and his sister. Murty was building the two roomed house on his portion of the farm.

Murty’s sister married a Mr Honan who came from Kilmihil. They had 9 sons and all married locally bringing the name Honan to the locality. All of the Honan’s in the Lack are decedents of this couple and consequently are related.

Seventy years later, on the 1st January 1909, the old age pension was introduced in the British Isles, for persons of seventy years and over. In Ireland, where few births had been registered up to the 1850s, it was not possible to produce the required birth certificate. The authorities decided that the applicant would satisfy the age requirement if he/she could remember ‘the night of the big wind’. Alas, Murty did not live to qualify for the pension. However, his house went on to provide three generations of Kellys with a home. His son and grandson had seven children each. The house remained occupied for over 100 years when the family moved into a fine two storey house in the late 1940s.