The daughter of an Irish man who is the subject of a documentary detailing his world record attempt for the longest time spent buried alive, and how he was allegedly swindled out of a promised fortune, has said they will "never know what happened".
In 1968, Irish man Mick Meaney was lowered into the ground in an oversized coffin in Kilburn in London in an attempt at the world record for the longest time spent buried alive.
He had been promised fame, riches and endorsement deals.
But when he arose after 61 days, the fortune did not follow, and there were claims that an organiser had swindled him out of the profits.
Mr Meaney returned to Cork to his wife and family, where his feat was disputed and his reputation damaged.
His story is the feature of a documentary 'Beo Faoin bhFód' (Buried Alive), which will be broadcast on TG4 tonight.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, his daughter Mary said her father wanted to be a famous boxer like his hero, Joe Louis, but when that was not possible, he decided to try breaking the world record.
"Being buried alive then was all the rage, so he decided, I'll do that"
She said he was an ordinary man, hard-working and honest. He was "a good person, the salt of the earth kind of man".
"And he would have been a great boxer because he didn't know his strength. He'd a left hook, and one belt you'd never get up again," she said.
She continued: "But when he was on the building sites, he lost the tips of his fingers, so there goes his dream.
"Being buried alive then was all the rage, so he decided, I'll do that. He had a very imaginative, visionary mind."
Ms Meaney said that her father had tried to do the world record attempt in Ireland, but his family stopped him. "So, he went to England, and it all came together."
The stunt had a huge impact on her father, she added.
"Can you imagine the feeling that you're in the spotlight and all the attention is coming towards you? And for him, he broke a world record...
"And he encapsulates the forgotten Irish at that time. Gave them hope, one of their own."
She went on to explain what happened when her father returned home, saying "he came home with nothing.
"He's a man, that generation that didn't speak, so we'll never know what happened.
Going home with no money "would have hurt his pride", she said. "But going back into normal life, he got a job with the council."
She said that despite her father being promised a lot of money for the stunt, no one knows what happened for him to have been left with nothing.
"There was a committee and they were short-sighted. They didn't realise there was bigger money to be made afterwards with sponsorship," she said.
"Back then, Irish men, they were very honest and hardworking, and a handshake was a contract. Your word was your bond. So, he believed his family would be looked after.
"But literally, my mother went hungry and pregnant. So really, when he came home, I think the guilt of that destroyed him. Because men of that generation were protectors and providers, and he thinks he failed.
"But his intentions were pure, you know, if he could have taken us out of poverty," she said.
The documentary airs on TG4 at 9.30pm.
