SCOTTISH footballer Jordan Moore could not believe his eyes when he first arrived across the water to play for League of Ireland side Limerick FC.
The Glasgow native took the decision to go to the First Division side in order to gain first team experience but it’s fair to say the experience wasn’t exactly what the Scot was hoping for.
"Bruff is the weirdest village ever" he concluded when assessing his short time in Munster, although he later took to Twitter to apologise for any offence caused to the people of Limerick.
The odd traditions of Bruff locals, the Limerick town in which Moore was staying, appears to have left the footballer a little overcome if these quotes from an interview with The Scottish Herald are anything to go by.
I stayed in a village called Bruff, about 30k from the city and on every second lamppost there is a horse tied up. There must be 20 horses in every street you walk down. But if you tried to cut the horses loose they would kill you – supposedly.
The locals would jump on the backs of horses and just ride along. There were no cars. Or at least there was more horses than cars.
One day the police came and moved all the horses away. The next day it turned out the guys who owned the horses had smashed up every shop and put all their cows in the actual shops and the schools as well. This is true. It was crazy.
The farmers who had cows in their fields also put them in the shops, the Spars and supermarkets, for revenge. The police gave them all the horses back and told them to watch what they were doing.
Staying in a hostel, Moore also claims to have experienced the dark side of an Irish nun’s spirit, who had apparently committed suicide in the very room he was staying in.
“I stayed in an old convent, the front garden was a graveyard,” he added. “The other boys were all local and so I lived there myself. I just had a room in an old chapel, the room was at the side of it, and it was scary at night because of all the ghost stories.
“A nun had committed suicide in my room and her gravestone, and this was in the garden, was overturned. One of the things it said was ‘room 106’ and that was the room I was in!
“I did hear stuff all the time. There was the sound of scraping on the walls inside the room every night.”
My comments in today's newspapers have been taken out of context and I apologise profusely for any distress caused.
— Jordan Moore (@jordanmoore44) June 14, 2016
As if it could get any worse, Moore alledgedly had trouble even receiving his wages.
He said: “I found getting my money a lot harder than the rest of the guys. I’d ask where the money was and they would say ‘ah, you’ll get it next week after the game.”
However, Limerick City FC have since refuted the comments of Moore in a statement and say they are hurt by his words about the village of Bruff.
"Limerick FC are hurt, angered and dumbfounded by these comments which we totally and utterly refute. We are aware that the community of Bruff has been left understandably distressed by the said article.
"A representative for Jordan Moore contacted the club earlier this year and informed us of Jordan’s background and his recovery from cancer. As a community-driven club, we offered Jordan a short-term deal to assist in his rehabilitation and provided him with accommodation and remuneration.
"The club, our staff and players have been welcomed with open arms by the community of Bruff and have been treated tremendously.”
Moore subsequently e-mailed the club in a bid to cool the situation, saying: “The people in the town were extremely nice to me during my time there and I am sorry for any offence and distress I have caused.”
