School: Baile an Ghaorthaidh, Cluain Meala

Location:
Ballingeary East, Co. Tipperary
Teacher:
Seán Ó hAodha
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0569, Page 034

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0569, Page 034

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  1. XML School: Baile an Ghaorthaidh, Cluain Meala
  2. XML Page 034
  3. XML “Pishogues - or Piseoga”

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  1. Pishogues (or Piseóga) [Ballingeary N. S. 1938]
    Pishogues were very common in Ireland before, and even at the present day. Pishogues were commonly set:
    (1). To injure others in their property or in their person.
    (2) As a protection against witchcraft, and injurious pishogues laid by others.
    May morning is the morning for the pishogues. People used to get up early in the morning before daylight and bury eggs in other peoples’s crops. Then they would have treble their crops, and their neighbours would have bad, poor crops.
    Other people get up before daylight on May morning and skim the water from the neighbour’s spring well. Then they would have all their neighbour’s butter.
    People also go their neighbours house and borrow something belonging to the butter churn, to make their butter.. Then they would have twice the amount of butter, whilst the neighbour would not have any.
    On May morning other people used to pull grass from their neighbour’s field and throw it into their own field. Then they would have twice as much grass, and their neighbour would have only little.
    There is a little story told about how one person set the pishogue and another got the benefit of it.
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. genre
      1. belief (~391)
        1. folk belief (~2,535)
    Languages
    Irish
    English
    Informant
    Mr William Tierney
    Gender
    Male
    Address
    Chamberlainstown, Co. Tipperary