School: Carraigín (B.), Portláirge (roll number 15340)
- Location:
- Corluddy, Co. Kilkenny
- Teacher: Seán Ó Meachair
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0840, Page 079
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- On the night of the feast of St. Martin (November 11th) a custom known as "the spilling of the blood" is still carried out in my native parish of Gowran Co. Kilkenny.
A fowl, usually a young cockerel, is killed and the blood is sprinkled on the hearth and also on the doorstep.
Mills are not worked on this day and it is also considered unlucky to go fishing on St. Martin's Day.
On the night of Shrove Tuesday or "Pancake Night" pancakes in abundance are baked by the housewife and partaken of by the family at supper. In earlier times it was the custom to take one of the pancakes and striking it against the wall at each side of the door say the words"May God keep hunger from this house
From this night until this night twelve months" I heard my grandmother (died 1924 R.I.P.) tell of above custom many years ago. The words quoted were said in Irish by her but as I knew no Irish at that time they were unintelligible to me and I can remember only the translation which she also gave. The quotation was the only sentence in Irish that she knew although she had many other(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Maher
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Múinteoir
