School: Páirc Íseal (B.) (roll number 295)
- Location:
- Lowpark, Co. Mayo
- Teacher: Seán Ó Caiside
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0117, Page 61
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- (continued from previous page)to the home of the bride where the wedding was to be held. When the musicians were heard in the distance preparations were made to welcome them back. A sheaf of straw was lighted on a hill and as the bride entered the house an oat-cake was broken on her head as a sign that she would never be hungry for the rest of her life. The feasting began which usually consisted of cabbage, bacon, potatoes and jugs of porter and punch. After the wedding the bride was left at the home of her parents for a week before the dragging home. Anyone who did not get married during Shrove, that is from New Year's day till Shrove Tuesday, was said to be on the shelf and was salted on Ash Wednesday to keep for another year. Half of the fortune was paid over to the bridegroom on the day he was married. This was known as the "first gale" of the fortune and the remainder which was called the "second gale" was paid when they were married a year.
