By 
STRABANE has many famous names attached to it – John Dunlap, Annie Maunder, Flann O’Brien – and much is known about them. Two names of the infamous variety with local connections, grave robbers Burke and Hare, are about to become the subject of a talk as part of NI Science Week.
‘Burke and Hare: Body snatchers, Serial Killers, Ulstermen’ is a gruesome, creepy, yet humorous talk given by Belfast self-styled ‘dark historian’ Andrew Johnston. Following a career in journalism, Andrew transferred his research skills towards tour guiding and exploring the more sinister side of life – or, in most cases, death. Alongside his skeletal sidekick Willie, Andrew is set to terrify and transfix punters at Dicey’s next Thursday, February 12, with the macabre tale.
Speaking ahead of the talk, Andrew said, “I’ve always had an interest in the darker side of things, like horror and true crime, and with these kinds of talks you’re utilising the same journalism skills of researching so it seemed like a good transition.”
Initially taking the presentation to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it sold out, Andrew felt he needed to ‘bring it home’ as it were, given the origins of the two men.
“My home of Belfast has also had cases of body snatching and, when researching that aspect, I hit upon Burke and Hare as both worlds overlapped and the more I read, the more fascinating the story became.
“There’s a tendency for the Scottish to ‘claim’ Burke and Hare – originally called O’Hare but he anglicised his name due to anti-Irish sentiment – but I needed to get the word out there that these two men were actually Irish, only in Scotland a few years – which is why I wanted to take it to the Fringe. That fact actually surprises a lot of the Scots who attended the talk.
“Burke was originally from Urney and Hare from Scarva (Co Down) and I wanted to extend into their Irishness. Without giving too much away, the 90-minute presentation delves into the men, their wives and extended families with plenty of interesting facts along the way that many people won’t actually know.
“I’ve had people named Burke and Hare come to the show and have wondered whether they might be descendants of the pair, and in one case, the woman who cleans Burke’s skeleton at the Edinburgh Medical School came along.”
Asked how he feels about bringing Burke’s story to Strabane, Andrew said, “I’m very pleased to be doing this in Strabane so close to where William Burke came from and I know there are Burkes still being buried locally in Urney to this day.
“The organisers of NI Science Week approached me about doing a talk and I knew that Burke and Hare was the perfect choice for Strabane. I’m delighted Diceys have agreed to play host and I hope in the future to bring it to Hare’s hometown of Scarva.
“The presentation – told through PowerPoint – is filled with gory, brutal details but a good deal of entertainment and humour too so as not to completely gross anyone out.
“I don’t go into my talks assuming everyone knows about the subject but there’s plenty in there for people who thought they knew a story.”
‘Burke and Hare: Body snatchers, Serial Killers, Ulstermen’ will take place next Thursday in Dicey Riley’s at 7:30pm, and admission is free.
