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You can keep Obama, we’ve got The
King! |
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By: Brendan Lawrence
Were it not for a dispute over land in 1775 in Hacketstown, Elvis
Aaron Presley might have sung with a Carlow accent and Graceland might
be nestling at the foot of Eagle Hill in Hacketstown. Uh-huh-huh.
Amazing new facts uncovered through the hard work of Carlow local
historian Michael Purcell and his American counterparts reveal that a
William Presley was forced to flee his home close to Hacketstown after
'a band of yeomen and many other evil disposed persons did riotously, routously
and unlawfully make an assault and did beat, wound and ill treat him so
that his life was greatly despaired of.’
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- Image of the original parchment that places the
Presley family in Carlow
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The facts, printed on faded parchment (above) records, show that the attack
took place with swords and sticks and the attackers were of the Morris,
Wilson and Maher families. Shipping records soon after this event show
that William and his brother Andrew Presley left Ireland for New Orleans
in America.
“William sought the protection of the King in Carlow,” explained
Michael Purcell, “so despite his address being in both Wicklow and
Carlow, when push came to shove he considered himself a true Carlovian,”
he added. In 1780, William and his family were living in Carolina and a
son called Dunnan was born to him. A year later, they moved to
Tennessee. William died in 1802 and his son Dunnan married twice. His
third son, also called Dunnan, was born in 1827.
Then in 1863, Dunnan junior’s daughter Rosella was born. Rosella
never married but had several children and one of these was a son called
Jessie Presley. In 1913, Jesse married Minnie Mae and they gave birth to
one Vernon Elvis Presley in 1916.
For those who might not already know, Vernon married Gladys Love
Smith in 1933 and their son Elvis Aaron Presley was brought into the
world in January 1935.
How different would Elvis’s career have been had his
great-great-great-great-grandfather William Presley not fled the
country? Imagine the songs he sang and how different they would have
been. There’s no hotel in Hacketstown so one of his biggest hits would
have been Heartbreak B&B.
Other titles that might have been altered would have been Hacketstown
Garda Station Rock, That’s alright Mammy and Viva Graiguecullen.
Source: The Nationalist Wednesday, November
12, 2008