School: Star of the Sea, Glengivney (roll number 12334)
- Location:
- Glennagiveny, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Brian Mac Giolla Easbuic
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1118, Page 231
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- (continued from previous page)ben-weeds for horses. In olden times the children would have to have salt and meal on their hands to keep the fairies from harming them. Fairies were supposed to take people away to their forts and sometimes left "changlings" in place of the child or person taken. People believed that the tongs should be placed over the cradle when the child is sleeping alone as a precaution against fairies harming the child. It is also believed that if the tongs is put over the "irons" by the fire, the fairies cannot enter the house. Red ribbon around the cow's horn keeps the cows safe from fairies. When we bless ourselves with holy water the fairies cannot harm us.
Also we are told that fairies used to shoot cows, when the cows would "graze on a "gentle" spot. We call a place "gentle" when it is supposed to belong to fairies. A "shot" cow became weak and would not eat. There lived in this district a man named Denis Kelly in Belure, who could cure a "shot cow". He was always sent for when this happened. When Denis came he measured the cow and found where she was "shot". The cure was the "coom" (or black) off nine pots and nine grains of shot from a flask (ammunition holder) for a muzzle loading gun. This shot drove out the fairy shot and the cow became well again.
There is a fairy fort in Dan Mc Laughlin's land in Glenagivney and very often fairies were heard singing, clapping, drilling and churning un this place. William Mc Laughlin is supposed to have seen the fairies here quite recently. This(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Brigid Harkin
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Dan Mc Laughlin
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 75
- Address
- Glennagiveny, Co. Donegal
