School: Tagoat (roll number 5990)
- Location:
- Tagoat, Co. Wexford
- Teacher: Pádraig Coilféir
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0879, Page 111
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- XML “St Stephen's Day Customs”
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- In this district, many customs are observed in a special manner, as they occur each year, one of them being the procession of the Wren Boys on St. Stephen's Day.
The procession consists of about six or seven grown-up boys and young men. They disguise themselves by blackening their faces with soot and dressing in some peculiar clothes and bright colours, mostly of a rag nature. They wear bright colours to attract attention. They carry with them musical instruments, which they play on their journey. Before they start on their journey they pick a furze bush, which they decorate, and on top of it they put a dead wren.
They go from house to house singing the wren song and playing the mouth-organs, melodeons, and fiddles. There is usually a good dancer in the party and he dances to the music, which the other members of the party play. The words of the wren song are:
"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Meta McCormack
- Gender
- Unknown
- Address
- Drimagh, Co. Wexford
