School: Curratavy

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1. Festival Customs (continued)

   

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   rich people and cut a creel of it. Then they would throw a few heads of it at the door of every poor person, shouting at the sase time time, "here's a charity for hallow Eve".

   There is usually a duch or hen killed for the eleventh of of Nov. This is in honour of St Martin. The blood of the bird is spilled in the hen-house, and is supposed to keep diseases away from the rest during the year.

   On Xmas Eve candles are left lighted in each window. The youngest person in the house usually lights them. Each day of the twelve days of Xmas represent the twelve months of the coming year. For instance if the first day is wet. January will be wet also.

   During lent, long ago there was what was called the "Black fast". The people would only take one meal a day, and this was taken after twelve o clock. The meal consisted of potatoes and "gruel". Gruel was a drink made from oatmeal and salt to taste. Fasting was the only penance. A woman in this district fasted the forty days, and when she was recieving, she fainted. The priest said she only committed sin by this fasting. Bread was not eaten unless it were wet with water. Recieved from James McGovern.

   
   Róise Ní Shámhrain
   Rang á séacht

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

2. Festival Customs

   

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   As the old people is dying the old customs is also dying. On St. Stephens it is a custom for a band of young men to go out to mumer. They all gather to some local house. There they make caps out of cardboard. These they cover with cloth. Then they sew green white and yellow ribbons on the cap which hides the face of the person which it is on. They also sew ribbons on their clothes. There is a name put on every

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. events
      1. events (by time of year) (~11,476)

   Languages

   Irish

   English

   Collector

   Seosainn Ní Giolla Padraigh

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Thomas Fitzpatrick

   Relation

   Unknown

   Gender

   Male