School: Pallaskenry (roll number 12631)
- Location:
- Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick
- Teacher: Tomás Midheach
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0504, Page 357
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- XML “Festival Customs”
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- There are certain customs on certain feast days of the year. On Christmas Eve the houses are decorated with holly and ivy, and lighted candles about two feet high are placed on the windows. On Christmas Day everyone tries to have something special for the dinner, and every person eats his dinner at home. On St Stephen's Day the boys and girls go "hunting the wen". They dress up in old clothes and masks on their faces and go around the country from house to house asking for something to "bury the wren". They sing the following rhyme, "The wren, the wren, the king of all birds. On St. Stephen's Day he was caught in the furze. Up with the kettle and down with the pan, Give us our share to bury the wren.
Long ago it was a custom on New Years Eve to make a cake and throw it against the back of the door to keep out poverty and hunger.On Shrove Tuesday night long ago the people used to have a great feast of pan-cakes on account of the severe fast during Lent. On Easter Sunday the people(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Barry
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 12
- Address
- Ballymartin, Co. Limerick
