Date of Birth: 18th April 1933

Place of Birth: Tobergal House, Tobergal, Ferns, Co. Wexford

Date Interviewed: 8th April 2009

Summary: Ben Chapman was born in Tobergal House and has lived there all his life. The house was built in 1850 and Ben’s grandfather first came to the house in 1866. Buried somewhere at the front of the house is Ben’s ancestor John Donovan who was killed in an ambush locally in the rebellion of 1798. His mutilated body was brought home but after his remains were buried his wife never revealed the location of the grave. Ben disagrees with some historians’ accounts of what happened and relates the story as passed down through his family. Ben looks back on a lifetime of farming and describes the self-sufficiency of their 127 acre farm. He describes how farm implements were made to last back then and how his grandfather bought a binder in 1897 and it was still possible to buy parts for that machine in the 1950s!