School: Aghakee

Location:
Aghakee, Co. Cavan
Teacher:
Mrs Mc Govern
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0994, Page 018

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0994, Page 018

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  1. XML School: Aghakee
  2. XML Page 018
  3. XML “Local Marriage Customs”

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  1. The fortnight before Lent is usually the time when most marriages take place.
    In Ireland the unlucky time for marriages was between the scythe and the hook and the luckiest day of the week was supposed to be Wednesday; there is a rhyme about the days of the week which people get married.
    Monday for health.
    Tuesday for wealth.
    Wednesday the best day of all.
    Thursday for crosses.
    Friday for losses.
    Saturday no day at all.
    The way matches were made is some gabby old man or woman goes to the house of the parents and asks them to give their daugher in marriage to some particular man. If the parents give their consent, the following night the intended husband and some friend go to the house of the intended bride and generally bring a bottle of whiskey with them. The bargain concerning the dowry is made and the marriage day is arranged. The dowry is generally money and is called a fortune but sometimes cattle are given also.
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
        1. rites of passage (~573)
          1. marriage (~4,283)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Shaun Briody
    Gender
    Male
    Address
    Rockfield, Co. Cavan
    Informant
    Mr John Mc Cabe
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    86
    Address
    Latnadronagh, Co. Cavan
    Informant
    Mr Philip Lynch
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    80
    Address
    Rockfield, Co. Cavan