School: Baile an Doire (roll number 16410)
- Location:
- Ballinderry, Co. Galway
- Teacher: Tomás Ó Maolmhichíl
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0021, Page 0279
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- XML “Horseshoes”
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- Irishmen show great respect to horse-shoes and why they do so we do not know. When you ask an Irishman why he believes so much in horse shoes he cannot tell you. If they see a horse shoe on the road or on a field they pick it up, bring it home and hang it over the door of his kitchen or some other out-house. He says that the horse-shoe brings him luck. When you go into a house you may see a horse[shoe] hung over the door of his dwelling house.
An Irishman will not believe in a piece of iron until it is shaped into a horse-shoe and why they say this we do not know either. He says his father's told him and that his father's father told him and so on.
Irishmen faithfully believe in horse shoes. Whether it is an old Pagan custom or not we cannot tell. When they see a horse shoe anyplace they pick it up and hang it over their door so as to have good luck. Some families believe very much in this.
- Informant
- Mr Patrick Freaney
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Ballynastuckaun, Co. Galway
