1. dúchas.ie
  2. The Schools' Collection
  3. Mullingar (Pres. Convent)

School: Mullingar (Pres. Convent) (roll number 934)

Location:
Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Teacher:
Sr. Brigid
Browse
Mode:
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0736, Page 031

Archival Reference

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0736, Page 031

Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

See copyright details.

Download

Open data

Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

  1. XML School: Mullingar (Pres. Convent)
  2. XML Page 031
  3. XML “Old Customs”

Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.

On this page

  1. Old Customs

    Share Share Post
    players sat on a plank seat erect under a hedge and played together and in turn while the people danced. "Single turns" were danced on boards thrown on the road. (The barn door was often used for this purpose)
    Competitions in jigs and hornpipes were quite common. For refreshment men drank poteen and the women milk (?) with oaten cakes.
    Girls wore shawls and red petticoats. Milk was drunken from noggins.

    HANDSEL MONDAY (1st Mon in Feb.)
    No one liked to pay out money on Hansel Monday, because if he did it was believed that he would always be in want o money during the year. Every (one) wished to get money on that day - reason obvious.

    WHIT MONDAY
    No one would dream of going to swim on that day. It was the belief he would be drowned.

    CANDLEMAS DAY
    The candles blessed on that day were kept and lighted for protection during thunderstorm, or wind.

    MARCH 1st
    Crows begin to build their nests - but if that date occurs on Sunday, they do not begin until Monday.

    ST STEPHEN'S DAY
    A wren was caught and killed and carried in a bush by "straw-boys" who went from house to house. They collected money - usually spent that night on drink.
    A Rann was said at every house:-
    The wren, the wren, the King of all birds
    St. Stephen's day was caught in the furze
    Tho' she was little her family is great
    Rise up lads and lasses and give us a "trate"
    Up with the kettle, Down with the pan
    A penny or two-pence to bury the "ran"
    (Wren killed because it was supposed to have discovered St. Stephen's hiding place to soldiers)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    History Edit
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Cora Donnelly
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
    Collector
    Rita Gillick
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
    Informant
    Mrs Donnelly
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
    Informant
    Mrs Gillick
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Mullingar, Co. Westmeath