School: Mercy Convent
- Location:
- Belturbet, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: The Sisters
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0972, Page 073
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- XML “Festival Customs”
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- (continued from previous page)or a violin. The fire which is made of turf, straw, or whins is lighted shortly after sunset. When the fire is worn down the people go away, each one carrying a fragment of the smouldering fire and this they throw into the tillage fields, at the same time invoking the saint whose feast is approaching to pray for God's blessing on themselves and their crops.
On Christmas Eve it is customary to light three candles and to place one in each window and to leave the front door open. This is to prove their hospitality and their welcome for the Infant Jesus and the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph. On this night all the animals get an extra supply of fodder. It is generally believed that the ass and the ox go on their knees at midnight as they did on that first Christmas Eve long ago when they saw Jesus in the manger.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Maura Mc Kenna
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Belturbet, Co. Cavan
