School: Monknewton (roll number 9696)

Location:
Monknewtown, Co. Meath
Teacher:
Maighréad Ní Mhurchadha
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0713, Page 369

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0713, Page 369

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  3. XML “Halloween”

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  1. There is a lot of difference between the games played on Hallow Eve now and long ago. My mother told me that when she was young the people would not throw water out after dark on November night for fear they would throw it on the good people.
    There was another old custom. In every house before the people went to bed there would be a clean hearth-stone and a little grescin (?) left in the fire grate and a crock of clean spring water left on the floor. That was for the souls that were out on November night. There was another custom. Young people went around stealing heads of cabbage and hanging them on the latches of the doors and they went to the family they knew was most easily aggravated. The people would be out in the garden watching the lads taking the cabbage. A few lads went to a garden one night and the old man was sitting down watching the cabbage
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. events
      1. events (by time of year) (~11,476)
        1. Halloween (~934)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Olive Taaffe
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Sheepgrange, Co. Louth