School: Ráithín (B.) (roll number 9304)
- Location:
- Raheen, Co. Kerry
- Teacher: Diarmuid Ua Cróinín
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0456, Page 417
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Ráithín (B.)
- XML Page 417
- XML “Coileach na Maidhme”
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
- The "maidhm" a circular hollow in the farm of John Cronin Knockyshehane Headford Killarney is 200 yards in diameter and 30 deep. Within this hollow and old woman lived alone in a miserable hut. She had one cow - a very peculiar one as she never went to dairy and yet her owned had more butter than all the townland together. She was believed to be a harmless poor woman and badness was never dreamt of from her.The big quantity of butter continued with her summer and winter and finally the local people became suspicious. A poor man bent with years visited the district one day and some few neighbours told him of the uncanny cow and her mistress. He advised them watch her and their cattle. They did, and discovered that a fox came and sucked each cow in the several herd in turn. They frightened the animal off and later told the story of the fox to their strange little man. He assured them there was some relentation between the fox and their woman neighbour.They beset her little cabin in the maidhm another night and watched through a small window to find out what she was engaged at. They saw her in the cabin pulling at a hair spancel hanging from the rafter of her low little home and cans of milk filled the floor all over(continues on next page)
- Informant
- Pádruig Ó Donnchada
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Lisbabe, Co. Kerry
