Barely able to move – and his only ‘toilet’ was a trapdoor in the coffin
16:28, 06 Nov 2025Updated 17:16, 06 Nov 2025
Michael ‘Mick’ Meaney in the coffin he spent 61 days in underground(Image: TG4)
It’s the craziest true story you’ve never heard of – where a Cork man buried himself alive under a builder’s yard for two months for “fame and fortune.”
Documentary Beo Faoin bhFód airs on TG4 this month – covering the fascinating tale of ‘The Coffin Man’ Mick Meaney, who lived in Mitchelstown but was originally from Ballyporeen village in Co. Tipperary. He was put underground in Kilburn, London, on February 21st 1968, in a bid to earn the Guinness World Record for the “Longest Time Spent Buried Alive.”
It came as part of a competition being held in the city, and the local Irish community turned up in droves to see him ‘laid to rest’ at the launch. As he lay underground, barely able to move for 61 days, countless more locals stopped by to cheer him on, and his story was told in papers and broadcast on TV and radio around the world.
Mick sits in his coffin after completing 61 days underground, embraced by his sponsor Butty Sugrue(Image: TG4)
At the time, the previous record was held by an American man fittingly named Digger O’Dell, who had spent 45 days buried alive. Throughout the competition, the Tipp native had access to air the whole time and was given plenty of food and water. All the while, his only ‘toilet’ was a trapdoor that opened to a pit underneath the coffin. Mick’s long-awaited ‘resurrection’ occurred on April 22nd, and huge crowds turned out to welcome him and congratulate him on his achievement.
At that stage, by all accounts, he should have earned the Guinness World Record. Reports say however that no Guinness judges were present at the event, so Mick wasn’t awarded the title.
You can check out a sneak peek at Beo Faoin bhFód below:
After the competition, there were claims that Mick’s sponsor, publican Butty Sugrue, swindled him out of profits. In an interview in Beo Faoin bhFód, Mick’s daughter Mary even went as far as to say that he came home to Mitchelstown “without even the price of milk in his pocket.” The Tipp native did achieve his goal of becoming famous, however, earning the nickname “The Coffin Man.” And he lived up to his new title, becoming known as a ‘burial artist’, and held his final performance at the Kilworth Festival in North Cork in 1990. He passed away in 2003.
Mick raises his hand through his coffin as he is paraded through the streets of Kilburn(Image: decades/PCD0209/074 Getty Images)
Speaking in an RTÉ interview in 1974, Mick said he “didn’t know who to blame” for not making the Guinness Book of Records. But he did say the organisation “wasn’t fair to him” and he should have been made the record holder.
He said: “I don’t know who to blame. But if there’s one thing, the Guinness book of records has not been fair to me. It could be hard to blame them, because I didn’t write to them. But the Guinness Book of Records could have clearly seen at the time, 61 days was hard out…
“Under worldwide radio and television. The crowd there, there was nearly a 100,000 people there. There was a massive crowd. It went all over television, all over America, all over Australia, Germany. And outside of Germany, they hail me as one of the greatest underground men of all time.”
During the interview, he also issued a public challenge to another burial artist, Cobh man Tim Hayes, who reportedly made light of Mick’s record by saying his coffin was ‘like a bungalow’. Hayes reportedly spent 100 hours underground in 1967 in Ballymore, Co. Cork.
It’s a fascinating story that most people have never heard of. And now, you’ll have a chance to learn all about it in a documentary airing on TG4 this month, featuring an exclusive interview with Mick’s daughter, Mary Meaney.
Mick’s daughter Mary Meaney(Image: TG4)
The film Beo Faoin bhFód (literally meaning ‘Alive Under the Sod) premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in July and was also screened at the IFI Documentary Festival and the Kerry International Film Festival. The Irish language doc was funded by TG4 and Coimisiún na Meán and delves beyond the bizarre story of a man being buried alive – also delving into Mick and Mary’s father-daughter relationship and the desire to be remembered.
You can check out a preview of Beo Faoin bhFód at the top of the article. It airs on TG4 Wednesday 26th November 9.30pm. Beo Faoin bhFód is produced by Black Lobster Productions.