School: Tobar Pádraig (roll number 4764)
- Location:
- Patrickswell, Co. Limerick
- Teacher: Anraoi Ó Broin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0527, Page 231
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- XML “How Crecora Got Its Name”
- XML “The Origin of "God Bless Us"”
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- Stories told by the late James McCarthy (Age 50 years).How Crecora Got Its Name.A boy and his mother were walking from Mainster to Limerick. They were very poor. At Crecora the woman got sick and the boy waited there with her. They waited there for three or four days, and then the mother died. The boy buried her there, and he put a branch on her grave 'as a token'. This branch grew, and from it Crecora got its name, i.e. Craob Comarta. Another explanation of the name gives it as Craob Cumra, i.e. the sweet-smelling branch.
- At the time of St. Patrick, a witch lived on Carrigogunnell i.e. The Rock of the Candle. A candle was to be seen after a certain hour in the evening shining from the rock. Anybody seeing this light would be stricken with a certain disease which was prevalent at that time. The first symptoms of this disease was sneezing and the person afflicted with it rarely recovered. St. Patrick came from Limerick towards Patrickswell, and when he was on the hill where Martin Shearman now lives, he saw the light. He at once said "God bless us," and the light disappeared. From that day to this, when a person sneezes he himself or somebody near him says "God bless us" so that he may be protected from the disease of the candle.
- Informant
- James Mc Carthy
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 50
