Mick Meaney made global headlines when he beat world record in 1968, but returned to Ireland penniless Mick Meaney made global headlines when he beat world record in 1968, but returned to Ireland penniless They were known as burial artists – people who had themselves buried alive in macabre feats of endurance – and Mick Meaney resolved to be the best there ever was. It was 1968 and the Irish labourer had barely a pound to his name but he believed that if he stayed underground in a coffin longer