School: Mountbellew (roll number 12352)
- Location:
- Mountbellew, Co. Galway
- Teacher: William Hans
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0046, Page 0327
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- XML School: Mountbellew
- XML Page 0327
- XML “Local Marriage Customs”
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On this page
- In olden days the bride and bridegroom wend to the chapel on horseback.
It was the custom long ago when the bride came in to her new house to throw oaten meal on her head as a sign of good luck.
There is an old belief that whichever of the couple goes out the door first after the marriage will be the first to die.
The bride should be there before the bridegroom.
When they came home from the chapel the dinner they had was bacon and cabbage.
When coming home from the wedding the horsemen that used to accompany the bride and those that would accompany the bride used to race their horses to see which of the couple would win.
During the dinner the neighbours used to come in the house and they dressed up in straw and take some thing and go out again.
These were called ban-beggers or straw-boys.[In the page margin] After all was over the married couple went to a blind man to judge their land and house. A married pair went one day to a blind man and he brought them to a house he thought was available. When they reached the house the blind man said "Bring in your horse and tie him to a thistle" "I cannot answered the man "for there is no one here". Well you can go home so. For the land that cannot grow a thistle can grow no crop.
- Collector
- William Hans
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Teacher
- Address
- Mountbellew, Co. Galway
- Informant
- Anne Milands
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 84
- Address
- Fohanagh, Co. Galway
