Ballyferriter – Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in Irish – sits at the far western tip of the Dingle Peninsula, one of the most archaeologically rich landscapes in Ireland. Prehistoric promontory forts, early Christian oratories, and ogham stones crowd the surrounding hillsides. The dead have been buried in this part of Kerry for a very long time.

The account attached to this graveyard is brief but striking. In the nineteenth century, a man from outside the area was buried here. Shortly after his burial, a procession was seen moving slowly across the graveyard towards his grave – the figures of his ancestors, come to accompany him to his resting place. They were not living mourners. Those who witnessed it knew the difference.

The procession of the dead is one of the oldest and most widespread motifs in Irish folklore – the idea that the spirits of those who have gone before will come to meet the newly deceased and walk with them. It is not always seen as frightening. In this tradition, it is understood as the dead fulfilling an obligation to one of their own, regardless of how far from home he had ended up.

No further details about the man, his family, or the witnesses have been preserved. The account survives as a single entry in the folklore record of the area.