IN JANUARY 1821, Waterford postman Mr Huddy bet a pal that he could ride from Lismore to Fermoy, Co Cork, in an oyster tub pulled by a pig, a badger, two cats, a goose and a hedgehog.

Newspaper reports reveal that a large crowd turned out to see him complete his epic feat and collect his winnings.

PROOF that age is no barrier to love came in November 1964, when tailor Bagnel Bentley, 97, tied the knot with Catherine Sheppard — a 99- year-old who had already been widowed three times.

MURDERER James Reilly has the dubious distinction of being born and meeting his death in the same prison. He came into the world in Kilmainham Gaol, where his mother was banged up for theft — and 32 years later, in September 1893, he was back in a cell for his hanging.

IT’S not unusual to see multiple brothers lining out on Gaelic football teams. But a team from Porthall in Lifford, Co Donegal, made history in 1935 with 15 players all named Crawford. All of the men were related — and the referee and linesmen were called Crawford too.

IRISH-BORN Hannah Witney was so desperate to serve as a British Royal Marine that she disguised herself as a man.

She spent five years working on different ships and only revealed her gender in October 1761, when she was picked up by a press-gang in Plymouth. She was set free immediately after disclosing her secret.

MARRIAGE fan/masochist Patrick O’Neill was 112 when he wed for the seventh time in September 1760. The vegetarian and teetotaller walked into the church in Tipperary without the aid of a stick.

A DOG saved an abandoned newborn baby near Newry in April 1813. The child was left in a pigsty and was found the next morning surrounded by pigs.

Miraculously, the tot was unharmed as the farmer’s large mastiff had stood guard over him all night, keeping the pigs at a distance.

IN JULY 1973, a man beat his wife with a cabbage stalk during a domestic row.

In retaliation, the woman’s female friends gave the thug a taste of his own vegetable-based brutally — and he died from his injuries the following day.

THE bizarre case of Jane Bern was recorded in 1790 when a local vicar wrote about visiting her school in Co Offaly.

The 11-year-old could only read books by turning them upside down and reading upwards, from left to right. Her eyes moved perpendicularly, but she couldn’t look upwards or see any object above her eyes.

While she could read perfectly, she couldn’t write or perform basic household tasks.

A CORK man named Howard demonstrated his strong stomach in August 1895 by swallowing six dozen raw eggs. He had made a wager that he could achieve the feat in just 15 minutes — and succeeded in wolfing all 72 down with time to spare.

l Foster’s Historical Irish Oddities, Gill & MacMillan, €14.99.