Broadcast on 23 January 1967 ‘Newsbeat’ gets up close to Tim Hayes, the man who was buried alive for over 100 hours.
Some controversy surrounds who holds the record for being buried alive the longest. Many attempts and claims have been made over the years and none more determined than those of Cobh man, Tim Hayes.
‘Newsbeat’ reports here that Tim Hayes has beaten the world record of 100 hours buried alive.
The ‘Underground Endurance Test’ began on Christmas Day 1966 and onlookers in Ballymore, Co. Cork turned out to watch the spectacle and applaud the achievement. He stayed down, linked by telephone and alarm system in a coffin that allowed him room to manouvre. He read by torch a couple of books like ‘The Beautiful Coffin’ and ‘Dracula’.
Bill O’Herlihy talks to Mr. Hayes by telephone as a crowd gathers at the graveside. Hayes describes his happiness at being in the grave stating
I’m that happy that if they put a corpse in down beside me, it wouldn’t worry me.
Bill O’Herlihy also talks to Tim’s mother, Mrs Marguerite Hayes, about the ordeal of having her son buried alive and she states
I have died a hundred deaths since Timothy went down.
When Tim finally emerged from the grave he was met by applause from thousands of onlookers. In 1968, another Irishman but based in London, Mike Meaney spent 61 days in a coffin buried beneath the ground.
Tim Hayes died in 2005.
This episode of ‘Newsbeat’ was first broadcast on 23 January 1967.
Title: |
Buried Alive for Over 100 Hours |
Clip Duration: |
00:05:16 |
Material Type: |
Video |
Information: |
This episode of ‘Newsbeat’ was first broadcast on 23 January, 1967. ‘Newsbeat’ was a half-hour feature programme presented by Frank Hall and ran for 7 years from September 1964 to June 1971. ‘Newsbeat’ went out from Monday to Friday on RTE television and reported on current affairs and issues of local interest from around Ireland. The final programme was broadcast on the 11 June, 1971. |
Local Keywords: |
Tim Hayes, Newsbeat, 1967 |
Coverage: |
Ireland |
Topic: |
Lifestyle and Consumerism |
Contributor(s): |
Bill O’Herlihy (Reporter) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
First Broadcast Channel: |
Telefís Éireann |
Broadcast Date: |
23/01/1967 |
Production Year: |
1967 |
Country of Production: |
Ireland |
Original Identifier: |
P207/00067 |
IPR Restrictions: |
Rights Reserved - Free Access |
Rights, Terms and Conditions: |
Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
Item Type: |
part/extract |
Colour: |
Black and White |
Sound: |
Mono |
Aspect Ratio: |
4:3 |
Language: |
English (eng) |
Original Language: |
English (eng) |
