Many old customs concerning festivals are preserved throughout the country to this day. St. Stephen's day is perhaps the greatest example. Young boys and sometimes men gather together and they sing and dance outside houses and then they collect money.
St. Patrick's Day, being National day, is a great in Ireland. The people go to holy wells and these visits are called patterns.
Chalk Sunday is the Sunday after Shrove and anybody that does not get married they break bottles outside his door. On the last Sunday in July the people climb Croagh Patrick. The people kill fowl on St. Martin's day and they sprinkle the blood in the four corners of the house. My Grandfather told me this story about St. Martin. Martin was supposed to be a very fat man and he was also a miller. Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin went to him for a meal and he refused it to them. As they were going