School: Gaduidhe Dubh (C.)

Location:
Gaddyduff, Co. Donegal
Teacher:
Cáitlín Ní Mhiothagáin
Browse
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1120, Page 462

Archival Reference

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1120, Page 462

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: Gaduidhe Dubh (C.)
  2. XML Page 462
  3. XML “At Wakes”

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. Tobacco and snuff are distributed amongst the people who go to a wake. The tobacco is broken up on a plate and pipes are filled and one is given to each person as he comes in. The snuff is put out on a saucer and it is given usually to the women. The saucer is passed round at intervals and each one is supposed to take some. It is supposed to be unlucky to refuse.
    The origin of this custom is supposed to be that when Our Lord lived He and His Mother were at a wake one night. The people were all sitting round very sorrowfully. Our Lord took pity on them and scraped off some whitewash of the wall, broke it up and told each one take some. This is supposed to be the origin of the snuff. They took a piece of turf and broke it and distributed it also. This was the tobacco. This gave the people something to do and lessoned their sorrow.
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. genre
      1. narratives (~478)
        1. religious tales (~1,085)
    2. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
        1. rites of passage (~573)
          1. death (~1,076)
    Language
    English
    Informant
    Mrs Friel
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Ballyliffin, Co. Donegal