School: Cill Chothrach, An Sciobairín
- Location:
- Kilcoe, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Tadhg Ó Spealáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0294, Page 157
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- Long ago an old man and his wife lived in a small little house in a field in my fathers farm (John Donovan) now known as Pickeys field. He was called Pickey. He had the grass of one cow and he was very poor.
One day when he was minding his cow he saw a rat come out of a hole in the fence. He looked around him and then he disappeared again into the hole.
After a few minutes he returned again with a gold sovereign in his mouth and placed it on a flat stone close to where the old man was sitting. He looked around him and again disappeared. Soon he returned with another sovereign, placed it on the stone, looked around him and disappeared.
He continued like that until he had forty sovereigns on the stone. Then the old man could have patience no longer but when the rat went in again he ran and took the forty sovereigns.
When the rat returned and saw that all his gold had disappeared he fell dead on the ground.
The man took the money home to his wife and they lived happily ever after.
- Collector
- Mary O Donovan
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Mrs Mary O Donovan
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 84
- Address
- Skeagh, Co. Cork
