School: Bullach
- Location:
- Castlerea, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Máire Ní Fhlannagáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0244, Page 026
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: Bullach
- XML Page 026
- XML “Superstitions about Birds”
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
- (continued from previous page)and crows loudly it is believed that he is warning the people of the house against some coming danger.
The usual superstition about swallows is that when they fly low it is a sign of rain while if they fly high the opposite is expected.
When wild geese are seen for the first time during the Harvest bad weather is expected. Some people say that when flying they usually make the initial letters of the kind of weather which is to follow.
If a swan flies directly over a house a death is supposed to occur in that house.
If the cuckoo comes early a fine summer is expected. An old belief of the people in my locality is that wherever they are looking when they first hear the cuckoo that they will go there before that time next year.
- Informant
- Josie Gurren
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 44
- Address
- Brackloon, Co. Roscommon
