Con Carey and the Twelve Apostles

April 2nd 2023 marks the 45th anniversary of the death of Con Carey, the only man in Kerry to be buried twice. The story itself goes back to April 1978, when Con Carey, a bachelor labourer, was found dead on the outskirts of Brosna village in Co. Kerry. With no family around, Con’s burial was rushed and unusually quick. Having died in the early hours of Sunday morning, April 2nd, he was buried the following day, Monday April 3rd, 1978. The talk was that Con had not even been properly prepared, washed or dressed for burial. 12 of his friends and neighbours were disgusted that Con could be treated in this way - so they set out to right that wrong - and they'd become known as the 12 Apostles in a story that has become a parable for how to treat our dead (First broadcast 2013).

Credits: Narrated by Mairead Heffernan and produced by Mairead Heffernan and Liam O’Brien. Additional Recordings by Diarmuid McIntyre and Mairead O'Connor. Readings by students from the Diploma in Radio Production run at Radio Kerry Training

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