School: Rathcormac (roll number 8463)
- Location:
- Rathcormack, Co. Sligo
- Teacher: M. Bean Uí Fhéinneadha
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0158, Page 054
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- XML School: Rathcormac
- XML Page 054
- XML “Old Stories”
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- Once upon a time a man caught a beautiful mermaid sitting on a rock. He came up behind her very softly and caught her by the arms and held her fast.
He brought her home with him and married her. He took the tail off her and he hid it in a turf stack and afterwards the mermaid had four children. They were lovely girls and she liked them very much.
One day she went to put turf on the fire, and she found that the man had no turf left in. She went out to the turf stack and she pulled out a sod of turf. The turf stack fell and she found her tail, before the man comes. She came into the house and got her children ready, and put on her tail.
She brought the four children with her, two on one side of her, and two on the other side. The man was coming in a car and by chance he saw her and he got out of the car and went across the fields to try to get before her before she could reach the sea.
She was not able to run and bring the four children with her so she struck them with her magic rod and turned the four beautiful girls into four stones. Those stones are called the “Bracket” stones and on New Year’s Eve night those stones are heard crying after their mother, and nobody ever touches(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Gilmartin
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 14
