Sean Quinn’s dramatic fall from grace as Ireland’s richest man is down to the fairies – and his decision to move a megalithic tomb, according to a neighbor.
Now down to just $15,000 in his bank account, Quinn has lost a business empire worth billions and is officially bankrupt.
Experts believe his decision to gamble on Anglo Irish Bank shares brought about his financial downfall.
But one neighbor in the Cavan town of Ballyconnell believes that Quinn’s problems can be traced back to his removal of a megalithic burial tomb 20 years ago.
Publican Toirbhealach Lyons believes Quinn’s $8billion empire was doomed when he interfered with the Wedge Tomb which had stood for 4,000 years in the Aughrim townland, two miles outside Ballyconnell.
Quinn Concrete applied to move the tomb in 1992 as they expanded a massive quarry.
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The Aughrim Wedge Tomb was moved stone by stone to its current resting place in the grounds of Quinn’s Slieve Russell hotel, also in Ballyconnell.
“I’m a big supporter of Sean Quinn because of what he has done for this area but that tomb should never have been moved,” Lyons, the owner of Molly Maguire’s pub in Ballyconnell, told the Irish Independent.
“There would be a lot of people who would think you could never have any luck after moving an ancient tombstone.”
University of Ulster folklore expert Seamus MacFlionn told the paper that such beliefs are common.
“Cavan is full of ancient sites like these and therefore many people there would be more superstitious about moving any ancient rath, tomb or fairy tree,” said MacFlionn.
“People do genuinely believe that to do so brings bad luck. It’s part of our ancient Irish history.”
Ballyconnell butcher Gerard Crowe refuses to buy into Lyons; theory however. “It’s a load of auld rubbish, simple as that,” Crowe told the Independent.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.rebean1 | Jan 28, 2012, 04:26 PM EST
I would not touch a fairie free or fairie fort for love nor money. I am an educated man and well read but I would advise anyone not to meddle with the supernatural. My mothers uncle tried to dig a piece of sacred bog in Mayo against advice from others.He became mad almost and disorientated as a resultand did not proceed. There are 7 hawthorne trees in a ring in another field and will remain untouched.
sidhideach | Jan 21, 2012, 01:27 AM EST
auld rubbish, my arse
LacarourSeanB | Nov 24, 2011, 11:49 AM EST
Mhichill, although I'm not entirely familiar with the items mentioned, seems to have some legitimacy to his/her posit. A healthy skepticism on matters such as this (not to mention much else) is a both necessary as well as a prudent approach. Nonetheless, throwing the baby out with the bath water is equally inappropriate. Does this episode sound crazy? Maybe. Does that notion necessarily render a metaphysical explanation without any validity whatsoever? I think not. It's an interesting and I daresay a plausible potential. There's more to Creation than any of us at all know.
kinvara7 | Nov 24, 2011, 11:00 AM EST
StanJames: I know that in your simple world people Like Sean Quinn are evil, but did you ever stop to think about all the jobs he created in Ireland? You say you are the 99% as if your suffering is equal to that of people in Somalia -you're probably the 7% wishing you were the 1%!
Ernesider | Nov 24, 2011, 01:02 AM EST
What happened my defence and advice to Sean?
mamaginnty | Nov 23, 2011, 06:32 PM EST
This man is still laughing, dozens of so called billionaires are doing exactly what he did, changed everything they had into the wife and families names. They are definitly not stupid, they know the law cannot touch a cent of the wife's money. The law should be doing what they do with big time drug dealers. Grab all family assests unless they can prove they did not get them from Quinn/drug dealer.
stanJames | Nov 23, 2011, 01:47 AM EST
who cares about the fairies, true or false. Another billionaire bites the dust. Given that the rich have been trying to turn the middle class over to poverty, maybe the guy will be so distraught he will do us all a favor = and commit a grave sin in the eyes of the church. In the USA we call these people the 1 percenters - the people making millions and billions, while the other 99% - many have lost every cent they had due to wall street bank scams. Will some priest pls send a message to the devil to turn up the heat for this creep.
deburca | Nov 22, 2011, 10:19 PM EST
The FAIRIES made me do it!
eiregirl | Nov 22, 2011, 09:16 PM EST
So he has fifteen grand in the bank and is bankrupt. Wonder what that makes the rest of us?? What would the fairies have to do with a tombstone? They should have kicked his arse years ago before he brought so many people to ruin...phew.
MontRoyalle | Nov 22, 2011, 08:07 PM EST
Officially Ireland's richest man is Mr. Galen Weston husband of Hillary frayne who owns Brown Thomas; Holt Renfrew and Loblaws to name a few
tombegs | Nov 22, 2011, 06:59 PM EST
My sainted mother believed in and feared the "fairies." On my first trip to Ireland with her, she showed me a field that supposedly contained a "fairy ring," and told me of a prior owner who plowed it in; died suddenly and then the ring returned. Truth?? I don't know. Mom never lied and I, for one was not going to kick that soil
Daytonavejim | Nov 22, 2011, 06:07 PM EST
How could anyone so stupid amass such a fortune. Losing is all served him right.
CitizenWhy | Nov 22, 2011, 03:16 PM EST
My well off uncle in Ireland would never touch the fairy fort on his land. And check out the history of the land on which the Witch of Clare had her cottage. Scary.
sidhemajik | Nov 22, 2011, 03:01 PM EST
I agree with Taraskryne, you don't mess with the Sidhe or any other ancient invisibles. Show them respect and you will be blessed, show them scorn and you better watch out.
Brolaur | Nov 22, 2011, 02:37 PM EST
FIST OF ALL THE MAN IS A PHILISTINE. The council that permitted this to happen should be investigated. on another level I would not mess with "The Síógaí" Or "Sídhe". "There are more things in Heaven and on Earth etc". But most of all the arrogance and ignorance of this ignoramus is breathtaking. He never had CLASS and all his money(OUR MONEY) couldn't BUY it.
Tooreenagrena | Nov 22, 2011, 01:37 PM EST
It may be superstition but to move such an ancient monument for profit is to my mind deeply disrepectful.
tocon1941 | Nov 22, 2011, 01:04 PM EST
Whenever my mother couldn't find something she said the fairies moved it. She wanted us to think she was kidding...but she wasn't
mandrake | Nov 22, 2011, 12:13 PM EST
I don't believe in fairies or leprechauns either, but dont tell them that!
Taraskryne | Nov 22, 2011, 11:43 AM EST
Dont mess with the Sídhe :)
mhichil | Nov 22, 2011, 11:39 AM EST
these beliefs are becoming science fact when you read up on unified field theory and 5th dimensional reality. All these things are proven historically real.
merefalow | Nov 22, 2011, 11:00 AM EST
these beliefs have always been in ireland,i personally would not mess with places like these,why take a chance..they are steeped in thousands of years of legend and mystery,,whooo x files stuff..
Portia777 | Nov 22, 2011, 10:33 AM EST
Totally true. He was warned. Never mess with the Sidhe and Dragon energy. The Fairy way is- they will allow you to plunder and become rich - then when you are big enough, they will pull the rug from under you and make you penniless. They are after all the Guardians of Mother Eire and her wealth.
biggles008 | Nov 22, 2011, 10:30 AM EST
One doesn't believe in faries until it happens to them
michaelidaho | Nov 22, 2011, 09:51 AM EST
This does not surprise me. Beliefs in fairies were still quite common in Ireland in the 1970s, 1980s and through the 1990s (my last visit was in 1996). My grandfather and his neighbors (East Mayo) would never touch a fairy tree even if it was growing in the middle of meadow. When I asked my Dad about it (b. 1932, Leitrim), he said, in all seriousness, that cutting down a fairy tree would turn a person's hair white and they would die shortly thereafter. By the way, the grove of fairy trees still stands, in my late grandfather's meadow. Apparently, these beliefs are still prevalent.
muirisobric | Nov 22, 2011, 09:39 AM EST
Easy on the "Load of ould rubbish". My father told me that a man in our village unearthed a lovely sized flat stone to use as a hearthstone in his new house. But the stone was near a lios, (a fairy fort) & when they were about to lay the stone @ the fireplace a stream of blood appeared to flow from nowhere. They weren't long returning the stone to its original spot & it's still there. I know exactly where.
Saoirse9 | Nov 22, 2011, 09:38 AM EST
He shouldn't've been permitted to move the tomb on historic grounds alone. That said, I wouldn't mess with the sidhe. Moving a 4,000 year old tomb? Eejit.
jdelaneyh | Nov 22, 2011, 09:26 AM EST
Do not mess with the Fey!