School: Inis (B.) (roll number 15042)
- Location:
- Ennis, Co. Clare
- Teacher: Proinnsias Ó Fionnmhacháin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0610, Page 022
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- XML School: Inis (B.)
- XML Page 022
- XML “Customs on Feast Days”
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- There are many old customs carried out at the present day, particularly on feast days and other important days. St Patrick's day falls on the seventeenth of March. The day before this great day, people go out the fields and crags picking shamrock. On St Patrick's day they wear this shamrock on their coats and hats. They do this in honour of St. Patrick. The young children wear badges in place of shamrocks on St Patrick's day.
St Brigid's day falls on the first of February. On that day, the people put crosses on the walls and on the doors, in honour of St Brigid. In the night when the people go to bed, they leave the door unlatched, to welcome St Brigid to their house. They would also leave food outside the door. On St Brigids night boys go round to all the houses, dressed up as Miss Biddy and they sing an old rhyme "Here's Miss Biddy dressed in white, give us a penny in the honour of her night. If you have not a penny a half-penny will do. If you have not a half-penny God bless you."
St Stephen's day falls on the twenty-sixth of December the day after Christmas day. On this day boys go out in the wren. A very old custom of the wren boys is to get a bucket of white(continues on next page)
- Collector
- William Shanahan
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Clare Road, Co. Clare
