School: Dunmore, Kilkenny (roll number 4331)
- Location:
- Dunmore, Co. Kilkenny
- Teacher: M. Ó Leathlobhair
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0863, Page 218
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- The wedding feast or breakfast is held in the home of the bride and if no honey moon is intended the neighbours are invited and a dance is held till evening time. Then the hauling home takes place. All proceed to the bride's new home and the old custom was the bride and bridegroom went on horseback followed in procession by all the neighbours. The bride was carried in over the threshold of her new home by her husband.
During the dance straw boys came dressed up to disguise themselves. They were allowed in to dance and enjoy themselves with the invited neighbours but they sometimes overstayed their welcome, or became unruly and this gave the custom a bad name in some parts. This custom of straw boys is just dying out here.
Bottle blowing on the home coming of the bride is also practiced here. The end is knocked out of a bottle and then it makes a weird sound at night. Numbers of young fellows gather near the new home of the bride and blow the bottles till a late hour. This is only done now in cases where a girl marries a man much older than(continues on next page)
- Informant
- Laurence Walsh
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 65
- Address
- Dunmore, Co. Kilkenny
