School: Killyconnan (C.)
- Location:
- Killyconnan, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: M. Ní Ghabhann
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0979, Page 199
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: Killyconnan (C.)
- XML Page 199
- XML “Hallowe'en Night”
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
- On this night, the old people used to have colcannon, boxty and tea for supper. Colcannon was made by mashing boiled potatoes and adding new milk. Boxty was a kind of bread made from potatoes and (bread) flour.
On this night the young people used to "dress up" to prevent their being known. The boys used to be dressed as girls and the girls as boys. The would go into some neighbour's house and steal the cake of boxty. Then they would go to some other house, make tea and eat the boxty.
The souls in Purgatory were supposed to be let loose on this night so as to return to the homes of their living relatives. Many of the old people would not bolt the doors on this night. The hearth would be cleanly swept, a fire left burning and a supper left ready for the dead.(continues on next page)
