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Two lookers, two cockers, four standers and a fly bater.
A cow.Betty inside the ditch, Betty outside the ditch, if you touch Betty she will bite you.
A nettle.A man without eyes say apples on a tree, he took no apples off the tree, he left no apples on the tree how can that be.
Answer: He had one eye, he saw one apple, he took one apple and left one apple. What goes to Dublin and Wexford without ever moving.
A railway line. It's black and white and red all over.
Newspaper. I know a thing that stands in the field if you rise his head his nose will bleed.
A pump.As I went out a slippery gap I met my uncle Davy, I cut off his head and left my body easy.
A head of cabbage.

'Twas about a fortnight after
We got the news again
The rebels were burning Belfast goods
Which they raided off some train
We visited the burning
Never thinking 'twas a plan
Till we heard the shout
And the shots rang out
At the Oola Black and TanThe sergeants wound was fatal
With McGriffin by his side
The rifles clicked, McGriffin kicked
And then stretched out and died.Oola is a village in the Golden Vale. It derives its name from the apples that grew there in abundance long ago.
Author of poem is Mr. M. O'Donovan who still lives in Oola.

Tell me, tell me, Captain Gollard
Where the victims are to be,
Is it near Tim Quinlan's castle
So well known to you and me.
Hush my bailiffs, hush and listen
That I cannot let you knowBe ready with your wits my boy
When you get the word to go
Will the police and the soldiers
And the Gold stream guard come through
Will they protect and guard us
I mean myself and you.O yes, our glorious army
Who failed to crush the boards
Are coming to New Pallas now,
To crush the trees and fortsA tree and fort, how are you,
There is no such thing at all
For instead of trees and forts
'Twas that Land League that did it all.

Oh Toher stream, Oh Toher stream,
I often dream of thee,
And of the days when by your banks,
I wandered young and free.
Through pleasures flowery maize,
I never shall forget the bliss I felt
in those days.
II
Often on a Summer's day upon your banks I stood,
With a heart as bounding as the skiffs
That danced along the flood.
But now my youthful days are over
my hair is turning grey.
III
At leisure times I think upon those places we used play.
There stands the castle tall and gay
grey walls and ivy clod.
The lonely river flows below adjoining the Mulchair
The Toher stream fair thee well
may the sun beam on your smile.

One morning just after the milking,
A lorry drove down the boreen,
And the bailiffs and Gardai surrounded
That cow in her field fair and green.
But the cow she was calved on Kilmore's rocky crest
Where the wild winds sweep in from Tramore;
And the spirit of liberty lived in the breast
Of Mick Cassidy's cow from Kilmore.One glance round the home of her cowhood
One glance at Kilmore's rocky height;
And the spirit of liberty calling,
Convinced her the game was to fight
She would break through the cordon or perish
Horns lowered, then a rush and a roar,
The bailiff's are beaten, the Guards are retreating-
Hail, Cassidy's cow from Kilmore.She is safe in her home on the hilltop
But she comes at Mick Cassidy's call
And she hates "law and order" like poison,
And all the lads up in the Dail,
Little thanks she has got from the nation,
For the bouncing , fine calves that she bore;
And the price of a hide has punctured the pride
Of Mick Cassidy's cow from Kilmore.

A poem written after Sarsfield successful ride to Ballyneety.
The night fell dark at Limerick and everything was still.
Twas for the foes in ambush we lay beside the hill.
Like lions we waited to rush upon and prey.
With gallant Sarsfield at our back by the dawning of the day.
II
From Dublin came the foemen with guns and shoes and all,
To gain the walls of Limerick they would want for ten times more.
But little was their dreaming that there to work their doom
We came with gallant Sarsfield all down from wild Sliabh Bloom
III
At the deadly hour of midnight each man lay on his steed
And through the streets of Cullen we dashed like lightning speed
And o'er its hills like thunder.

Preventative for toothache.
1 When a tooth falls out carry it around with you in your pocket and you'll never have a toothache.
2 Fast from meat every Wednesday and you'll never have a toothache.
To cure chillblains.
1 Get the woman of the house to save potato water. Heat it and bathe the chillblains in it.
2 A tobacco spit will also cure chillblains.
3 Heat the tongs and leave it on the chillblains while it is as hot as you can bear it.
To cure pain in stomach.
1 Take three mouthfuls of salt and water in the name of the father, of the son and of the holy spirit.
2 Hot milk with ginger in it.
To cure coughs and pulmonary ailments.
Boil the big blankety leaves of the mullein plant; strain and sweeten. Add whiskey for bottling and preserving.
To cure burns.
A person who has rubbed his tongue to a lizard has a cure for burns. Any burn he licks after that will cure immediately.
How thorns were removed long ago.
Long ago when people had no needles to remove thorns they hunted a fox and killed him and his tongue was used to lick out thorns.
To remove thorns.
A poultice of fat meat and sugar.

To cure hiccough
1 Give the person a fright and it will go immediately.
2 Take nine mouthfuls of water without drawing your breath.
3 Drink water out of the far side of a cup(having the near edge under the chin).
4 Hold the left wrist with the right hand and keep in your breath for as long as you can.
5 Take a pinch of sugar.
To cure Corns: Wash the in the dew in the early morning or else in a bog hole.
To Ensure Good Health: Eat three meals of nettles in the month of March and you'll take no disease for the year. Beware of drinking March water.
To cure ear ache: 1 Get a jug of boiling water. Hold the ear over the jug and the pain will go. 2 Tie red flannel over the ear. Heat the smoothing iron and hold it over the flannel a little bit out from the ear and the pain will disappear.
To cure sore throat: 1 Heat salt. Put it in a stocking and tie round the throat.
2 Hot bran similarly used also cures it.
To cure toothache: Get a man who smokes to chew a piece of tobacco and put the chewed tobacco like a plaster on the tooth.

also;
Fill a paper with small stones and hide it. It is said that if a person finds those stones the warts will leave you and go to him. To cure an ailing cow or calf.
Cut the ear of the animal and let some blood flow and he will recover.
or
Get someone who knows how to make the worm knot to perform it over the back of the animal. If the string comes out without a knot the beast will recover. A Homely Shampoo for hair.
Get the yolk of an egg and put it on the dampened hair. Rub well and it will put up a lather equal to any shampoo. Wash the hair in the ordinary way. To cure a sore lip.
Apply one's fasting spit to it. To cure "Hives" Get a man who is smoking his pipe to apply tobacco spit to the "hives". To cure scabs or sores: let the dog lick them.
To cure "pins and needles" in the leg, wet the back of the knee - in the hand wet the knuckle, in the arm wet the elbow.

There was a woman in Aughrim who had a cure for yellow jaundice. A woman from Woodlawn went to her for the cure and she told her to gather daisies and boil them in milk and then to strain the daisies away and drink the milk. She did so and got cured.
There was a man in Cappatagle who was famous for curing people long ago. His cures were always simple but almost always effective.

After the Battle of Aughrim the chief of this part of the country was a man named Kelly. The Trench's were now the landowners and they wanted to get rid of Kelly. One Trench put something in Kelly's pocked and another Trench accused him of having stolen it and then searched him and found it with him. The result was that they swore against him and got him hanged as they had much power. The tree from which he hung began to wither away and the remains of it can be seen near the holy well at Killaan, Woodlawn.
n.b. The family name of Lord Ashtown is Trench.

Three feet and no legs.
A yard ruler.

it and the man that wore it never saw it.
A coffin.
Under the fire and over the fire but never touches the fire.
A cake.
Under the water and over the water, but never touches the water.
There is a town in Great Britain it bears a great name backwards and forwards it's spelled all the same.
Navan.
As black as soot and soot it is not as white as milk and milk it is not, it hops on the road like a marble stone and a marble it is not.
A magpie.
Headed like a thimble tailed like a rat you may guess for ever but you couldn't guess that.
A pipe.
Spell the red rogue of the

Answer. One faces the powder and the other powders the face.
When is money damp. When it is due in the morning.
A little white, round house, it has no doors nor windows to let me in to eat.
An egg.
Four legs up and four legs down, soft in the middle and hard all round.
A bed.
As I went out a gap I met a little red man, he said he was more afraid of a cock or a hen than all King George's men.
A worm.
What two towns in France are like an ill fitting dress.
Toulon and Toulouse.
Why does a cow look over the wall.
Because she cannot look under it.
The man that made it never wore

Answer. One faces the powder and the other powders the face.
When is money damp. When it is due in the morning.
A little white, round house, it has no doors nor windows to let me in to eat.
An egg.
Four legs up and four legs down, soft in the middle and hard all round.
A bed.
As I went out a gap I met a little red man, he said he was more afraid of a cock or a hen than all King George's men.

Evert man should borrow something such as a handkerchief from another man the morning of his marriage in order that he would be lucky.
When a cat would wash his face and the 18th person he would look at after washing it he would die the first in that house.
If a woman let her purse fall she would be disappointed before the day would be ended.
If there are blossoms as well as apples on an apple tree in the last week of July it is regarded as a very bad omen and betokened death to one of the family before the next spring.
If a button on tape is sewn on a garment while it wore on a person it is unlucky. The shirt petticoat

having heard recited some punishments upon those who had attempted to profane a land that was under St. Senan's protection he dared not himself to go there but he send one of his ministers to compel the islanders to submit to the Queen's will. This minister went to Scattery and immediately had proclaimed in all parts of the island that the next day the islanders should take on the oath of allegiance to the queen. All the people excessively afflicted at this command and they were not disappointed in their expectation for the minister having supper taken went to bed and as he was beginning to fall asleep St. Senan entered the room but without being seen the Saint having left the minister remained

with his prey to Doughmore near Doonbeg and tried again to eat Kihul but failed the second time. After a certain term of years the giant got back to his native Kerry and lived until he was four hundred years old. In course of time he longed to see Doughmore where he escaped the eagle's claws so he betook himself to Cnoc an Thubber near Doughmore where he crewed for hours with excitement until he felt a great thirst. He begged a drink of water from a woman who sold water at an enchanted well to weary travellers. Whether it was that Kihul had no money to pay for the water or that the Clare woman would not give a drink to a Kerry giant. Anyhow the giant became

formed and the people in the house had to go away. Since, the lake is supplied with water from the Bealsha river. There are no fish in the lake.
The other lake is called Steels lake. It was called after Tom Steel a great Clare patriot champion of Daniel O'Connell's. There is a wonderful story connected with this lake - Rehy Hill two miles to the west of Cnoc an Thubber which is a remarkable hill. Legend tells us that it is the place where the eagle laid down the boneless Kerry giant named Kihul and where the same eagle strove to eat him after crossing the Shannon. Owing to the tenacity of Kihul's body the eagle failed. The eagle then flew

There are two lakes in this district. The principal one is called Farrihy lake it is one mile west of this school. Where the lake is now there was a large house the foundations of which can be seen to the present day especially in frosty weather when the lake is frozen over boys can slide out to where the house was. There is a story connected with the foundation of this lake the old people say there was a spring well near the house which had to be covered every time water was taken out of it. One day a woman went to the well for water and left the well uncovered after her. The water flowed out of the well until a big lake was

made a raft and put him out on it. Then when the lady woke up she told the captain that it was you that drowned him. He said it wasn't. When they landed in Spain, the lady told her father that the captain drowned the captain that saved her. The king asked him did he do it. He said he didn't. So the king believed. The captain asked him could he marry his daughter. He said he could. The lady wouldn't for a year and a day. The man woke up in the sea and he didn't know where he was. At last the raft made for an island and he had nothing to eat but wild berries. He was in the island for a few days before he saw anyone. One day he saw a boat and it came into an island. The man brought him to Spain. The wedding was on that night

five pounds and she hadn't it. This lady isn't able to pay five pounds and the beautiful silks she's wearing. O said the hangman she stays here in a hotel every year for a holiday and she brings on money with her. Her father sends the money with for her fee. The captain gave the money and she came down from the gallows. She was very thankful to the captain. The captain told her to go home. She wouldn't. Both of them went to the captains home. She said she would marry him. She gave him a ring. A few weeks passed on and the king sent a captain for his daughter. The captain came to the house and he went in. The kings daughter wouldn't go without the other captain. The three of them set sail to Spain. The kings captain gave drink to the other one and it made him drunk. He

Once upon a time a captain used to come in at Liverpool and he used to sail through the world. He came in one year and he went up to the gallows , he saw a man to be hanged and he went up. He asked the hangman what had the man done out of the way. He said he had to pay five pounds and he couldn't pay it. Well said the captain if any other man gave the money would it do. The hangman said it would. The man came down from the gallows and he thanked the captain, then he went his way. The captain went out into the sea, and he came in the following year. When he came in he saw a lady above in the gallows. He asked the hangman what had she done out of the way. He said she had to pay

her where she got up a shop. She sold groceries, apples, sweets and squares of also "halfpenny dips" that is tallow candles because paraffin candles were unknown at that time. They used to be a halfpenny each.
She had a great trade in biscuits and cakes. She used to make the cakes herself. The people called them tail boards because they used to be as long as thick and as broad as tail board for an ass car.
She had no education. She never spoke a word of English in her life but always Irish. She was not able to read or write

There were four shops in my townland long ago but there is not one now. One of the shops was called the sheebeen shop because the people in the shop used to sell taxable goods without paying any tax on them. The shopkeepers name was Michael McMahon.
The next shop was only one hundred yards from the old school in Balstard. The woman who sold there her name was Mrs. Peggie Gallagher. She was once a servant in the landlords house Mr. Singleton.
When she became too old he built a small house for

specialists in Dublin are taking the labels off the "Cure" bottles and prescribing the stuff for their patients as if it were their own prescription.
The old cure the old people one hundred years ago had was the dandelion especially the leaf with the red rib running through it.
They used to boil these leaves well and strain the juice into a jar. Then they used to mix 1/2 lb of demarara sugar, barley sugar 4 sticks, 4 sticks of liquorice 4 lemons with the juice. Then this jar was corked tightly and placed about two feet under the ground for two months. Then after the two months the jar was taken up and a wine glass full of the mixture taken each morning before breakfast. I am told the chief cure in this was that it used to fire the patient a tremendous appetite and

marshy places. Then he pounds this with a mallet into a powder and mixes it into a plaster with the yoke of a boiled egg. Then he puts this up to the sore and it kills the roots of the cancer and they fall out leaving a hole where they were but this hole fills out again and leaves no trace of the cancer. When cancer is recognised or disposed the doctor should not be allowed to touch it because like all weeds when it is cut it spreads and gets into the glands and becomes incurable, but if it is taken in time and never touched with a surgeon's knife the plaster will affect a perfect cure. Mrs. Lyons who has this plaster cure does not give ti to anyone who had been operated on by a surgeon. The greatest benefit

to the face or neck by night wash off with warm water in the morning and the encema and sores will disappear. Perhaps the herbs will be the cause of the cure.
The cows eat the herbs and this special herb, which is known at the foremost day in the dung and it will produce its effects. There is a young man living in Kilrush who has the perfect cure for external cancer or rodent ulcer, when he gets it in time before it gets on to the glands. I know of several cases where he has produced a perfect cure. He told my father that he got it from his father and it was in the family for six or seven generations.
It is an herbal cure. He pulls the herb or weed as he calls it in the month of June. It grows in

that it is a perfect cure.
It is this. Pull up the roots of four or five docks and cut off the leaves. Wash the roots very well until all traces of dirt are removed. They cut the roots and put them into a pot and boil then into jelly. Then take them up and strain through a fine cloth. Put the liquid stuff into a bottle and take a tea spoonful of this every day after each meal and it will not leave a trace of the jaundice in the septum.
I know a cure for scabs and in the face and I think it never fails.
Take in from the field the dried dung of cows and grind it down into a fine powder and mix the powder with sour buttermilk until it is like putty. Rub this on

who died 4 years ago got jaundice 17 years ago and was given up by three doctors. He was in bed for six months and one day his nephew who is living in the parish still went to this woman for the cure. He brought to him but the old parish priest would not believe in it. However he was persuaded by a man who was taking care of him to tale a little whiskey and water and she put a spoonful of the stuff in the whiskey and he never knew that he was taking it. In a day or two he asked for more of the whiskey and in a short time he got up and said mass for twelve years after. They told him what they did and he never stopped talking till he died of the benefits of herbal cures.
I know my father has a cure for jaundice and he says

father a cure for ringworm in calves, but it is quite a different mixture to what he has for human beings.
The cure is for calves half pound of sugar of lead mixed into a vaseline with half a pound of lard. This is to be rubbed on with a quill in the night and the crush or scab that has formed during the night is to be rubbed off with a stick in the morning. After a few days the hair begins to grow and in a week or so there will be no trace of the ringworm.
The sugar of lead would be too strong to use on human beings. There is a woman living in Kilrush about 8 miles from this who has a cure for jaundice, but whatever it is composed of it is a most wonderful cure. Our parish priest

I knew a man who was a first cousin of my mother's who has a very simple cure for worms in children. He died a few years ago R.I.P.. Anything such as a biscuit or a drink of water in a cup that he would give to the child with his right hand and as soon as the child would eat the biscuit or drink the water the worms would be killed. Also if he left his right hand on a soft lump on the head of a person that doctors would not touch, the soft lump disappeared in one night and never appeared again. He did it to an uncle of mien once who had a very unsightly lump on the back of his head and it disappeared in one night and no trace of it is there now. By laying his right hand on ring worm or nay sore containing bacteria the sore would disappear immediately because whatever

was a needle stuck in her head and her mother sent her down to bed and after a while she died and the old people say that you should not throw out water without saying "tuig tuig uisge sally" and if you say that, the old people say that if it the fairies are in your way. There was a young child and she was out and the day was hot and the child fell asleep and it is said that the fairies came and brought her and there was a horse shoe left in her place until they had done with her and then they left her back and the old people say that if the fairies bring you they will have you when you die and the old people say that when you sneeze you should "God bless us" or the fairies will have you when you die.

People of this locality need not wait to hear the weather forecast on the radio or the newspaper for they can judge the weather by different signs.
In our own house we always watch on November day to see if the wind blows on the front of the house(which faces south) and if it does, it is a sure sign of a bad weather.
The different actions of domestic animals are obscured by the farmer as signs of the weather. If the horses, cows or donkeys stand with their backs to the ditch or tree it is a sign of rain. If the cat sits with her back to the fire or if she scrapes timber it is considered a sign of rain. Another sign of rain is when the dog eats grass.
When the moon has its "horns" or crescent turned up, bad weather will follow. If a ring appears around the moon rain will follow. If this ring is far from the moon the rain will come soon, but if the ring is near the rain is far off. If the change

in the moon comes early in the morning the weather during the period will be good, whereas if the change comes later in the evening the weather will be bad.
If the distant mountains seem near, rain is near, but if they seem far fine weather will follow. If the mist comes down the mountain the weather will be bad, but if it goes up the mountain the weather will be fine.
When the curlew squeaks and the crow flies near the house and the other birds fly low it is a sign of bad weather.
When haymaking the people watch to see if the hay blows up in the little whiffs. It it does, the weather will continue to be fine. A sort of haze is also a sign of good weather but if soot falls down the open chimney rain will follow. If there is a fog on the river in the evening the next day will be fine. A purply flame in the fire is a sign of storm.

The people used to have two meals a day in olden times.
The meals they used to have was breakfast and dinner.
The breakfast used to be eaten at eight o'clock in the morning and the dinner at four o'clock in the evening.
The people used to work before breakfast in the morning.
The people used to have oatmeal porridge for breakfast and for dinner they had potatoes and milk.
Potatoes were not eaten at every meal.
The people used to drink buttermilk.
They did not eat off a table, but they ate off a stool in the corner.
The bread that they ate was oaten bread.
It was made from oat meal.
Meat was not used often.
The meat that they used was the flesh of cattle, such as calves.
The people never ate late at night.
They used to have apples, nuts and barn

Before splitting the potatoes the people sort them, they pick the big potatoes which are called eating potatoes and the small ones are called seed. They are brought into the house and left in some place out of the way for splitting.
Then the woman of the house gets a small knife and puts a glove on the hand that holds the knife for fear of a cut. Then she starts splitting, she cuts out the piece of potato with an eye in it and then the parts with no eyes are called luigeans they are taken away and boiled for pigs or hens.
According as the potatoes are being split they are put in creels and lime is shaken on them to keep snails from

In olden times people always brought their butter to Sligo and sold it in what they called firkins.
This man was going to Sligo and carrying his firkin of butter on his back. It so happened that his neighbour was also going with his horse and cart. On seeing his neighbour walking he pulled up and asked him to sit up, the man gladly accepted this invitation and when he was up a while his neighbour noticed that he was still carrying the butter and reminded him to leave it down on the cart but the man said "it is enough for you to carry me without carrying the butter also."

In former times boots were not so commonly as they are now. At that time it was then the custom for boys and girls to go barefoot until they reached the age of fourteen.
I heard a poor old travelling man who was known locally as Charlie that used to beg round the town of Millstreet. He never wore any kind of foot wear summer or winter. He always walked to the town barefoot.
Years ago shoemakers were more numerous then they are now, because in olden times there were no boot factories or shop boots, the shoemaker had to make every part of the shoe and boot himself except the nails which were made by a man called a nailer.
Nowadays there are boot factories built all over Ireland and more ready made boots are sold than hand

My home is situated in the townland of Shannaknuck in the parish of Millstreet and in the barony of Duhallow.
Shannaknuck is situated on the south of the blackwater. There are about seven families and there are about forty three people in it.
Corkery is the most common name there. Thatched houses are also the most common there. The reason why this townland is called Shannaknuck is because there is an old hill there.
There is one resident who is over eighty years there, and has a little knowledge of Irish. Houses were more numerous in former times than they are at present and there are about 9 houses in ruins.
A great number of people emigrated from here to America in olden times.
This townland is not mentioned in any saying or song.
The land is boggy and wet.

the blessed virgin lost the pin of her cloak and she asked a cowhead for a pin but he refused. When she was passing a forge she asked him also. He took a piece of gold from his pocket and he beat it into the finest brooch that was ever made and he gave it to the blessed virgin.
Horses are sometimes shot in the open especially in summer or when the forge is crowded. The work is done in the yard or wherever the forge is situated sometimes in the side of the road. The smiths always got their Easter and Christmas gifts from the good people of old but not from the present day crowd.
In some parts of the country but not in Millstreet the doors of the forges are shaped like horseshoes.

Farewell to Millstreet that neat little town
Of honour and beauty of fame and renown
Of pleasure and pastime was once dear to me
And all my relations in Sweet Lisnaboy.

Situated south-west of Kanturk is the parish of Dromagh or Dromtariffe as it is commonly called was also built by the O'keeffes.
It is a square enclosure, flanked by four circular towers, one of which with part of the enclosure has been converted into offices in 1837.
It greatly resembled Dromsicane with its central tower, as in the case of the later castle also gone.
Lord Muskerry marched out from Dromagh Castle in 1652 to encounter Lord Broghill at the famous battle of Knockaclashy near Clonmeen.

I am a rambling hero by love I an ensnared
And it's near the town of Mill Street
There lives a comely maid
She is fairer than fair Erin
And she is free from earthly pride
This comely maids dwelling place
Is down by the Tanyard sideFor seven long years we walked together
Until we did agree
But for the parents
Tis married we would be
To me they proved unkind
Which causes me to cross the tide
And to leave my love behind
Down by the Tanyard side

are made from leather and are used for blowing the fire. Bellows were made in the district. The other tools the smith has are hammer anvil and nippers.
The smith makes iron ploughs, grubbers, and harrows. He also puts on cart wheels. He lights a big fire in the open air, puts the shoeings into it and leaves them till they are red hot. Then he takes them out, leaves them on the wheel and tightens them on with the hammer. The gate iron comes from the shop he cuts it the right length and rivets it. The people say that the smith has a hard job.

The old people ate three meals every day. They ate porridge at their first meal, potatoes at dinner and oat bread and milk at supper. A lot of milk was drunk in olden times. Sour milk was mostly used.
The tables were kept beside the wall in nearly all the houses. Oat bread was made at the fire on a grid iron. The old people ate a lot of salted fish and some meat too. If it was fresh they hung it to the roof. The old people fished a lot and salted the fish in a barrel. They roasted them on the pan or on a grid iron on the fire.
They ate roast goose on Christmas day, mashed potatoes and buttermilk for Hallow Eve. On Shrove Tuesday they killed a rooster and that is why this day is salted "Cock Tuesday". They always ate eggs on Easter Sunday and on Good Friday hot cross buns. It was not long since tea was first brought into the district. They had no cups before that and took milk and porridge in a little wooden pail called a noggin.

These roads were made in olden times, most of them in the bad days. The men did not get good pay. Some of them got 1s 4d a day and others got meal instead. The stones were got in the quarries around Glencree and Drim and were brought to the roads in hand barrows as there were no carts or lorries.
There is a shortcut from Drim to the Creeslough road and there is another on across the lea from Glenree to the chapel. There is a gap over at Lackagh and one in the sandy hills in Glenree.

of Mandy McGettigans and many other ones. There are openings in Loughralt mountain through which people go shortcuts. A long time ago there were fords made of sticks over rivers which people crossed. There was one over the Drim river where it crosses the Cruslough road now. There was only an old cart road there at that time and for the ford was made of sticks.
There are many places where mass was said in penal times. One of these was beside Glenree lake and there was an old path going there from the hills.

People say it is unlucky to spill milk at the milking. Milk from a cow after calving is called beastings. We boil it and use it. The cow eats grass and straw, turnips, cabbage and hay.
A horse is shod by a blacksmith and sometimes men themselves put on the shoes. The sheep are shorn in the spring and early summer. They have lambs in spring also.
We keep hens and ducks in the farm. We say "Chuck" to the hens and "Weat" to the ducks. The different kinds of hens are Rhode Island Reds, White Wyandotes, White Leghorns and Bantams.

Beggars call at our house often. The same people come often. McCaul is their name and they came from Ardara. They do not sell anything but they want bread or sugar or tea. Sometimes there was tea made. They live in a tent over at Lackagh bridge.
The Kelly family sells things. Some people buy laces, pins, stockings, dishes and a lot of other things from them. Many of them drink a lot and lose a lot of things. When there is a lot of them together they fight and pull each others hair.
Some of them stay a long time in a house. Tramp McGarvey does this and a lot of people close the door when they see him coming. He walks from place to place. The Kelly family have a donkey cart and the McCuals have one also. The old women say "Thank you and God bless you, ma'am" when you give her anything.

in the twelfth century between the Normans and the Irish. The Irish won and some of the Normans were drowned and the others were killed.
There was an outbreak of fever in Cashel long ago and many people died. One woman named Kathleen Roe escaped and left the district. When the fever was over she came back and built the castle of Doe.
There was a great storm in 1939. During heavy floods two stacks of corn belonging to Charlie Connell of Glen were swept away and sheep that were grazing on the bank were drowned.
During bad thunder and lightning trees were struck down at Doe Castle and a horse belonging to Nial Kelly of Glen and a man named Friel were killed.

Candles were made of fat and rushes in olden times. The ploughs were made of strong wood and baskets of very thin wood. There was a weaver in Termon who made cloth for people out of yarn. The people and to dye things long ago with crotal which they scraped off rocks with a knife. It dyed brown. They roofed houses with fir sticks and sods and with bent. Cows shins were cured for leather and spoons were made from their horns. Ropes were made of long grass or horse hair and the pater was made of rags. He would steep the wood in boiling water and then he could put the boards any way he wanted. The people made clay pipes for themselves long ago. They fished with graipes and pitchforks they would walk in the streams and dab the fish in the back. They made girns and set them for birds at night. The birds would not see them so they would in their heads and be caught.

Saturday is supposed to be unlucky and Tuesday to be very lucky. People say that cures must be done on Friday so that thy will succeed.
The Cross Day of the year is the 28th of February. People say it is unlucky to have a cat or dog in the house from five o'clock that evening.
Some potatoes are set on Good Friday so that they will be lucky. People say that potatoes set on that day will never rot. Cabbage should not be set before Easter Sunday or after Whit Sunday.
The "Borrowing Days" are the first three days of April and they are always very stormy. The "Harvest of the Geese" is the last seven days in September. Old Hallow Eve is on November 10th. There were many customs connected with this old feast. Boys went around throwing cabbage stalks and playing other tricks.

A man named Neil Doogan of Drimnaraw was killed.
There was a terrible night of thunder and lightning in the year 1910. Five cows were killed at Tramore. They belonged to David Kelly of Maghermagaugan. A woman named Kate Boyce of High Glen was out on the hill looking for cows. There came very heavy rain and she went into shelter and a flash of lightning came and killed her.
There was a great flood in the year 1920. The fields were all covered. It was the harvest time and the stooks of corn were swept away into the river.
In the year 1923 there was a great drought and the wells and rivers were all dried up. The people had to go long journeys to get water and a lot of cows and sheep died.

In the year 1892 there was a ship coming in at Tory Island with a ship load of soldiers to evict the people out of their houses. A storm came, the ship was wrecked and the soldiers were all drowned but one man. He clung on to a log of wood and was swept ashore at Tory.
In the year 1933 there was a doctor named Charles McBride from Dunfanaghy sitting by the shore side at Horn Head when a big wave came up and swept him into the sea. Many people were looking for him but he was never got.
At the time of the trouble the British government built a coastguard station in Downings, and the coastguards lived in it for about twenty years. During the trouble in 1922 the Free State soldiers lived in it for about two months and then it was burned.
In the year 1918 there was an epidemic of influenza, in the parishes of Rosgull and Doe and there were many deaths.
In 1928 there was a great storm and as the train was going up the Gap of Barnes and it was blown off the rails

Once upon a time there lived two men whose names were William McCorkle of Aughadahor, and James McClure of Dunmore. The two of them were very strong men and they often lifted heavy weights to see which was the strongest. William could lift seven hundredweight on his back. James tried several times but he could not do it.
There was another man named James McBride of Carrick who was a runner and no matter where he went he won all the races.
A woman in high Glen named Mary Shiels could walk into Derry in one day.
John Coyle of Kill was a jumper and could jump sixteen feet over a river or hole. He was the best jumper in Donegal.
Danny Coyle of Glenree was a good swimmer and could dive sixty feet under the water. Many people tried to beat him but they could not do it.
James Boyce, Largan, was a great mower. He could cut one acre of corn in one day. John Kelly of Claggen tried to beat him but he was not able.
There was another man named John Boyle who was a good dancer. He danced on the wall of Lackagh Bridge.

There was a man famous for throwing the hammer. He lived in Termon five years ago and his name was James Gallagher. There was another man who could lift very heavy weights living in Derryglashna twenty one years ago. A man named Patrick Gallagher tried to beat him twice but he could not.
There was a great walker called Robert Doyle in a place behind Muckish thirty eight years ago. Two sisters from Glenveigh walked to Derry in the bare feet and back again in two days. There was a man in Burtonport who could jump a gap in a mountain. A man named John McGinley from Dunfanahy could swim over a bay.
There was a man called James O'Donnell from Termon who could mow eight acres and three roods in a week. There was another man who lived in Cottain near Kilmacrenan tried to beat him. They lived seven years ago.

Gaelic guesses are interesting because in framing them the maker was limited to very simple everyday things. The Celts horizon was a narrow one, and was confined to the daily task, to small happenings in the township, and to little domestic matters.
Water had to be carried from the well in buckets, wool had to be spun and woven, corn had to be reaped with a hook, corn had to be ground in the mill, food had to be cooked and floors had to be swept.
From each of these sources there is a Gaelic guess in the construction of which there is much nimbleness of wit.
Possibly it was while carrying home a couple of wooden pails full of water that this guess was composed:-
"I will go out between two woods,
I will come in between two locks".
The answer is a pair of pails.

Here are some of the farm and domestic animals, cows, horses, ponies, cats, dogs, hens, ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens. Some of the local names given to the horses are, Dinah, Bob, Bess, Billy, Dick. The names they give to the cows are Molly, Polly, Spider, Daisie, Inky. These are some of the goats names Billy, Nanna, Nancy.
This is what we call to the horses when we want them. "Come on", "Gee up", "Get away there" "Whoo" "Hee off". To the cows we call "Come on lass", "Bhay" or "How on". To the pigs we call "Hurrish". We call to the calves "Prugie, Prugie, Prugie". The way we call the cats is "Pussy, Pussy, Pussy". We whistle on the dogs and call "Poor old fellow". To the hens we call "Chuck, chuck, chuck" as to the ducks we call "wheet, wheet, wheet", also the way

In the townland of Drumbeacon, Schull, Co. Cork, there are six or seven large stones standing in a circular ring. Each of those are about ten feet high and not very broad. No one knows when those were erected because they are supposed to be a relic of the druids. Yet other people believe that it is the place where a battle has been fought and that these stones were erected by the victors. The supposed treasure is gold. Still no one has every tried to unearth it lest a spell of some sort should befall them.
I have never heard of any other treasure being found in any district or of any connection between these stones and the Danes.
No one has ever noticed any supernatural beings or lights guard it.

at last the sentence of death was commuted to a very trying experience which was really death in a slow form. Mother, said he, I can't refuse you but I must get this little spy to leave the district in great haste. I will put him into a barrel and close both ends and let him roll down from the steeple or summit of the big hill near Kanturk and if he had luck he may come right. No sooner said than done I was put in the barrel and he took me up the big hill and left me off from the top, and so it appears I ran towards the Co. Limerick, at an awful speed and I got a very severe bump once; and I understand I had jumped the river Blackwater when I got the big bump. At long last I stopped in the middle of a fine field with a lot of cows grazing there on, the big bull of course became violent when he saw the barrel and he began pucking it about. So I put out my little hand through the hole where he cork was in the centre.

So I was glad to get the meal and it consisted of bread, cocoa and very nice puddings. I made a great feed and was really fast asleep when I had enough eaten. "Now you must go away at once" said the old woman for my son will soon be here and he'd kill you dead and I hate to see you killed, said she for you are such a nice little chap and so young". "Why" said I, "should your son kill me sure I never hurt him in any form". "Ah" said she "my son is a robber and a murderer and he'd be afraid that you'd tell the police of his whereabouts". While we were thus discussing the dangerous situation; the big robber son arrived at the door; when the door was opened a big dog came in first and his eyes were just the size of a saucepan. the dog walked slowly up to me and took my little arm in his mouth and there and then I was a prisoner. The robber son asked his mother where I came from and to give her credit she pleaded well for me and

but I was surrounded with a thick fog blanket and of course I lost my homeward path and wandered aimlessly about for hours in the fog. At long long last the fog cleared away. Only for me to receive a greater shock as I found it was already dark night and I could not trace any part of my surroundings. As I told you already I had no dinner and now I was getting very hungry and tired. So I sat down and began to cry. I soon found that crying was not the cure for my trouble. So I began to travel again and after a while I saw a light at a great distance. So I set towards the light and after a long and tedious voyage I came to a house. It was a small thatched cabin and I rapped at the door, it was opened at once by a very old woman and she asked me who I was and whence I came. I said I was Paddy Moloney from Knockahur Cross but she didn't seem to know where such a place was. Anyhow she told me come in and she'd give me a feed and let me go again. I

When I was a little boy of ten years I went to school regularly and I was a smart lad too. It was my job each evening after school to go to the mount of Crochane where my father had some cattle grazing along the glens of Thur. Well to make along story short I left this particular evening without any dinner as it was likely to rain and dinner was not ready; a hazy evening with a fog going, along the hillside I went anyhow and as I found all my heifers were alright. So I turned for home immediately

Long ago there lived in Coolybrown near Tim Dowlings fort now Patrick Dowlings, a man named Mick Fitzgerald also called Mick Ballyeigh. The bishop was coming to Ardagh that week and he said to his wife that he wanted a coat. At that time they spun the wool and she stayed up to make the coat for him. About one o'clock she said, "Mick I do not think I will have your coat made." After a while she heard some one at the door. Mick arose and went to the door and said who is there. They said we are

Long ago poor orphan boys who were called poor scholars went around the country seeking their food amongst the people and from the houses in which they were lodging they went to school. They were very good for composing rhymes. One time one of them was lodging in Ardagh and as he was passing Mr. O'Brien's gate at Cahermoyle he saw written on the pass "Nobody allowed in here except on business!". In looking at this he took out his pencil and wrote the following verse under it.
"You spring from a noble race,
But though you did not mind it,
For the clearest water that ever ran,
Left dirt and mud behind it."
A few years later another one of them was lodging in Ballyskerry and one day he saw written.
On the pier of the Parsons gate "everybody allowed in here except the papists." He wrote under

Once upon a time in this locality there lived a rich farmer. His house was near a fort and one summer he milked the cows near the fort.
One evening when they went out to milk them they saw an odd shaped mug among the cows in the bawn.
The farmers wife brought it in to put it in the dresser. Her husband was fond of gambling and he had some friends in for a game of cards. He showed the mug to them. They told him that he could have filled it with milk and left it where he found it and should not have brought it in.
Next morning when they got up they mug was gone and when they went out to the bawn their best cow was dead in the exact spot where they found the mug.

Long ago there was supposed to be an underground path leading from Clounagh Churchyard gate in Collcappa road to Lisnaculla castle. It was said that there was gold placed there by the danes. Long ago when the people heard of it they went in search of it, but in vain they could not find it. The treasure consists of a pot of gold. There was a bull supposed to be minding it. Long ago lights were seen in the spot where the gold was supposed to be hidden.

surprise the turkey cock vanished and the leaves sank to the bottom of the river.
It is supposed that the leaves were money which belonged to some chief who lived in the castle.
Long ago before people died they changed their money into some other object and put a guard to mind it. The guard in this case was the turkey cock.

drink so much water.
However he brought her home and had to put her into a cradle. People came from far and near to see her and they and all the nieghbours were laughing at them.
The poor man made several journeys to the well to meet the little man but he did not succeed. He was terrible ashamed of himself and his wife.
At long last he least expected it, the little man appeared. He asked him what wish he would grant him now.
He asked that his wife and himself would be made old again. He told him to bring some water out of the well and bring it home and let himself and his wife drink it.
They did it and their wish was granted. They changed back to what they were at first, and they felt very happy, and never wanted to be young again.

to the well but she met nobody. She came back next day both of them and met nobody.
The third day the man went alone and just as he was bringing up the bucket of water the little man appeared and told him to take another drink. He did so and he was changed into a young boy.
He told the little man that his wife wanted to get young too. The little man said he cannot appear to women, but let her come now to the well and drink water out of that can, and her wish will be granted.
The husband came home and related to her his interview with the little man.
She tidied herself and ran off to the well and drank the water out of the can.
She drank so much of the water that she turned into a baby. She could not walk home. Her husband came in search of her and he was very surprised and disappointed that he did not warn her not to

In a field to the west of the castle is a well. A man and his wife lived in the vicinity and they were both over seventy years of age.
One day as the man was passing the fort on the way to the well he met a little man who asked him if he wanted anything or wish and he would get it.
He asked to be made a boy. The little man told him to take three sips of water, and for every sup, he would get ten years younger. He drank a cup of it and he was scarcely able to walk and he got much younger in appearance.
When he arrived home, he was so changed that his wife would not let him in. After a little while she recognised his voice, she said to herself that she would leave him in until her husband came back from the well.
He sat down and related to her what happened on the way to the well. She dressed up and went

Many wake and funeral customs are observed in this district. First of all drink of all kinds is brought and clay pipes, snuff and tobacco. All this is done in respect of the person who is dead. The wake would often continue for a day and a night.
There would often be great fighting about the turning of the table; the people to whom the dead person belonged would turn the table on their other relatives who then would go about turning the table on them and at it they would crack.
When the coffin would be laid on the hearse three old would women would start in after in "caoning". They would hold on for about a quarter of a mile and then three more would go in their place.

As black as ink, as white as milk and it hops on the ground like hailstone. A magpie.
Marble walls lined inside with skin as white as milk.
There are no doors or windows in it and yet how is it that the thief breaks in and steals the golden egg?
It is in the rock but not in the stone, it is in the marrow but not in the bone, it is in the mire but not in the mud, it is in the river but not in the flood. The letter R.
It is in the car, it is no good to it and yet it can't go without it. The noise.
As I was running a thing I found and for to get it I searched around, and as I didn't get it I kept it all day and if I get it I kept it all day and if I got it I would throw it away.
A thorn.

Four legs up, four legs down, soft in the middle and hard all round. A bed.
Tis here, tis there, tis everywhere, tis in the farmer's haggard, it takes a bite as big as a horse and never eats any hay. A cabbage cutter.
What is it that gets bigger, no doubt of it, the more you take out of it? A hole.
As red as rose, as white as milk and as sweet as honey? An apple.
Why does a cow look over the ditch? Because she can't look under the ditch.
What can be found where it is not? A fault.
Why does a chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen?
It is time to fix it.
As I went out a slippery gap I met my uncle Davy; he had timber toes, iron nose and upon my word he'd frighten the crows? A gun.
Forty sheep went out a gap, twenty white and twenty black, a farmer ad his dog; how many feet were in the lot? Two feet.
Long legs, crooked thighs, a small head and no eyes? A tongs.

What goes round the wood and round the wood and never goes into the wood? The bark of a tree.
The King of Manchester sent to his sister a bottomless vessel for holding raw meat? A ring.
Head like a thimble, tail like a rat, you may guess for ever, but you won't guess that? A pipe.
Laurence has it in the front, Michael has it in his back, no boys have it and all the girls have it, and John Bull has it in two places? The letter l.
Why is a dogs tail compared with the heart of a tree? Because it is the farthest away from the bark.
What is full and holds more? A pot of potatoes when you put in the water.
What is the longest word in the English language? Smiles, because there is a mile between the first and last letters of it.
What goes with its head down? The nail of your boot.
What is it that the more you take from it the bigger you make it? A grave.
What is the biggest wonder in the map of Europe?
That Hungary did not eat Turkey.
Says the child to the father how does it come that you are my father and I am not your son? His daughter.
What is the centre of gravity? The letter V.

so broken and bruised that he could not go to his bed and so he was not able to accomplish his damnable design.
After having dined some of the most eminent persons of the island came and told him the punishment had come on him from St. Senan and they advised him to seek pardon from the saint. But instead of following the good advice he said St. Senan or any other Saint could prevent him from going to the church next and accomplishing the wish of the queen. He began to blaspheme the saint. The next night when he was lying in bed, St. Senan entered no long invisible but surrounded with a light. He had on the mitre and his crook in his

she used to capture him and kill him. Every person coming from Carrigaholt to the east had to cross the ford because there was no other part of the river narrow or shallow enough to be passed.
One night a man was going to Carrigaholt from Doonbeg. His name was McMahon. He was on horseback and as he was passing the ford called "cailleach" jumped up behind him on the horse.
He drew a knife that he had in a bell and stuck it through the cailleach and she shouted to him "pull it and stick it again" but he did not and then she fell off the horse. He stayed that night in a house owned by James

About a mile from this school is the Bealaha fort where 'cailleach Bhéal Átha' lived. This is a very large fort indeed although Doonmore fort is considered the largest. I think Bealaha is larger. The Bealaha river runs from the Monmore bogs through the village of Bealaha into Farrihy lake and the water from the lake runs into the sea.
Across the river about a hundred yards from the present new steamrolled road and stone bridge was a ford made of bog deal planks. At this ford the cailleach used to take her stand every night after dusk. Any man who passed by after dark

There were certain laws put on the Irish by the English called penal laws. They were very cruel laws and the Irish people were put down as much as could be. Kinvara came under the rigour of the penal laws as well as every town and city in Ireland, because in a place called "Poll na gleann" a mass rock is visible.
This is a huge rock from which service was paid to God and on which mass was offered. While mass was going on boys from the neighbourhood had to keep watch on their enemies the English. Several paths are to be seen leading to the rock on which the people walked when they came to mass. There is also a stile to be seen quite close to the rock. It was over this stile the priests used leap when they were coming to say mass or returning.
There is a cave to be seen beside the mass rock. It was there that the priest used hide when the watch boys give the command that the English

would be destroyed.
My two uncles with what strength remained in them strived to save any articles of worth which still remained in the debris. After some time of heroic efforts they saved some of the furniture, and all the stock which lay in the outhouses.
As the sun rose in the heavens, this scene of tyranny came to an end in conversation but not in memory.
The following year my old grandfather and grandmother were laid to rest in the peaceful churchyard of Dooras where they now await the resurrection.

During the penal days Kinvara got her share of hardship. The priests there used say mass in lonely places for it their enemies the English caught them they would kill them.
Near Kinvara is a place called Crushoa, there is a mass rock on which mass was often said. There was a path worn by priests going to mass but is now covered over with grass. Near the rock there is a stile which the priest used cross coming to mass or going away. While mass used be going on a person used have to keep watch and tell the priest if their enemies the English were coming. There was usually a trap door beside the rock. If the priest was caught he would be beheaded. The English people used put a price of about a hundred pounds on every priests head. Whoever would give the head of the priest would get the reward. There is a chalice supposed to be hidden under that rock. The rock was often sprinkled by the blood of a priest and there are red stains to be seen on it till this day.

fairies and that non one will ever be able to get it. There were often lights seen where the treasure is hidden. A few years after the miser died his ghost was to be seen guarding the gold. Only people travelling the roads at night ever saw the miser's ghost.

In a rock near our house called cregnagun there is supposed to be a crock of gold hidden. One day some years ago there was a woman going after sheep and she saw a pot of gold and a large cat taking care of it. She wanted to catch the sheep. She went in to catch the sheep and she did not mind the gold until she was coming back. On her return there was no trace of the crock of gold. It is often since there is light seen shining on an old ruin which is quite close to the place where the crock of gold is hidden. Many nights people pass by that place and they see an old woman crying and a big black dog and a cat which is said to be taking care of the gold.

The local landlords were the St. George's of Tyrone the Redingtons of Kilsarnan, the Blakes of Clough Ballymore the Morgans of Monskfield and the Dolphins of Tourroe. The landlords of my parish were the Redingtons of Kilcornan and the St. George's of Tyrone. They were very rich people and had large estates. The Redingtons were very good living catholics. They gave food, clothes and money to the poor. They owned more than half of Clarinbridge and Roveagh. They built the Charity Convent of Clarinbridge, the parish church of Roveagh. Their rents were not too high and they had mercy on the poor. Their beautiful house is still in good repair.
The St. George's on the other hand were very bad protestants and they were very bad to their tenants. Here is how they treated one of them.
There was an old woman living in one of their houses. One month during the winter she failed to pay her rent. Without time the poor woman was thrown out of her home on to the road and they ploughed up

Because it can touch the heart without destroying it. When is a soldier like a baby?
When he is in arms. What is the biggest ant in the world?
An elephant. What is the worst weather for rats and mice?
When it is raining cats and dogs. Why is churning like a caterpillar?
Because it makes the butter fly. What are the hardest things in the worlds to find?
A glass for Ireland's eye. Buttons for a coat of paint and an eyes for a ship that is going to sea. If it takes five and a half yards to make a coat what will it take to make a waist coat?
A tailor. What is it that the more you take out the bigger it gets?
A hole in a stocking.

Why is an orange like a church steeple?
Because we have a peel from it. What flower would you see in the zoo?
The dandy lion. When is money damp.
When it is due at morning and missed at night. What is the cleanest letter in the alphabet?
H because it is in the middle of washing. What is it that was never seen, heard, or felt and yet has a name?
Nothing.Why is a mouse trap like a riddle?
Because there is a catch in it. What is it that shows to others what it cannot see itself?
A mirror. Why is a pen superior to a sword?

As I went up the steeple, I met three christian people, they were neither men, women or children what were they?
A man, a woman, and a child. Round the house and round the house and sleeps in the corner at night.
A sweeping broom. What turns without moving?
Milk.What has no wings that can fly.
Dust. What is the lightest thing you could have in your pocket?
A hole.As large as an apple and as deep as a cup and all the men in town couldn't take it up.
A well.

Why do we go to bed?
Because the bed won't come to us. What are the five hardest things to find?
A shoe for the foot of the mountain, a towel to wipe the face of the earth, a sheet for the bed of the ocean, a set of teeth for the mouth of the harbour. What goes up when the rain comes down?
An umbrella.A grandfather's clock that stood on the floor measured six feet two inches, and a man who stood beside it was two inches taller. What did he stand on?
His feet. Once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years?
The letter m.The queen Mary ship got six coats of paint which coat went on the first?
The second.

Why did Cain kill Abel?
Because he was able. What is it we all have, we seldom use it ourselves, and yet everybody uses it.
A name. Why is a horse never hungry.
Because he always has a bit in his mouth.Where was the first nail struck?
On the head. Why is it dangerous to walk in the country in Spring?
Because the trees are shooting. Why do men make an oven in a town
Because they cannot make a town in an oven. What man never turns to the left?
A wheelwright. What man sat on the gallery and his foot were in the pit?
Longfellow.

A halfpenny wet, and a halfpenny dry, fourpence halfpenny and a halfpenny by, a halfpenny behind and a halfpenny before fourpence. Halfpenny and a halfpenny more.
A shilling. As I went up the bohereen, I met my Auntie Noreen, steel toes iron nose and upon my word she would frighten the crows.
A gun.As I went out a slippery gap I met my uncle Tady. I cut off his head and left his body easy.
A head of cabbage. As I went out a slippery gap, I met my Uncle Dennis, he was more afraid of a cock and a hen than all the men in Ennis.
A worm.A man with no eyes saw apples on a tree he took no apples off and no apples left he.
There were two on the tree. The man pulled off one and left one one. A fiddler in Galway had a brother a fiddler in Dublin. The fiddler in Dublin had no brother a fiddler in Galway.
The fiddler in Galway was a girl.

What part of a cow goes in a gap the first.
Her breath. Two ducks before a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck between two ducks. How many ducks are there.
Three ducks.How long did Cane hate his brother.
As long as he was Able.As I went out a gap I met a little boy with a red cap.
A haw.What is it the more you take from it the bigger it gets.
A hole.What goes round the wood and round the wood and never touches the wood.
The bark of a tree. Why is a shoemaker chop like hell.
Because bad soles go there. Why is the sun like a good cough
Because it is light when it rises.

How many wells would make a river.
One if it was big enough. How many cows tails would reach the moon.
One if it was long enough. What goes round the house and round the house and never touches the house.
A path. What turns without moving.
A road. Riddle me riddle me oh, my father gave me seeds two sow, the seeds were black and the ground was white riddle me that and I'll give you a pipe.
A letter. What are the two silliest things you would do.
Tis a boy in a window sash. Look for the eye in a ship that's going to sea(see).

were approaching. The people who attended mass used to run to hiding places for safety.
Many priests were beheaded and when this was done their heads were thrown into a large hole which is now called "Poll na gleann" or "hole of the heads". Many priests succeeded in escaping from the English but, those who escaped were watched closely and beheaded afterwards. Several priests were betrayed by certain people for the sake of receiving money from the English. Never will the cruelty of the Penal Laws be in oblivion by the Irish.

Fishermen are often good judges of the weather, as they study the different changes of the sky and wind. In frosty weather the sky at night is clear, the stars twinkle brightly, and the wind is usually from the north or east.
When rain is approaching the wind turns to the north or east. When blue lights appear in the fire and pieces of soot fall down the chimney. Swallows fly low, skimming the ground when rain is coming.
We get many warnings before a storm arrives. A loud rumbling noise can be heard from the sea, seals swim in around the shore, the seagulls and other sea birds leave their homes by the sea and fly inland for shelter before the approaching storm. The sheep and cattle come down from the hills and seek shelter in the glens. When insects are to be heard warbling about it is the sign of bad weather.

of the dwelling house.
The year of the "Big Wind" was 1882. It blew roofs off houses, upset many stacks of oats, and uprooted a great number of trees.
There was a man hanged in Booragh in 1808. The place where he was put to death is still known as the "Gallows Hill". A standing stone marks the spot. No grass even grows there. His name was Hugh Coyle. His corpse was taken away on a side car.
The famous battle of Sprack near Letterkenny, was fought in the year 1810 between Catholics and Orangemen. The Catholics won the day.

Patrick Cannon, Glenmalin, Glencolumbcille was a fluent Gaelic speaker and his mind was a treasure chest of Gaelic folklore songs and stories.
O'Brien, Killycreen, Ramelton, is famous for jumping. Patrick Langan, Port Road Letterkenny walked often from Letterkenny to Derry and back again. William Boyce, Aughacanty, Letterkenny walked often to Dugloe and Creeslough fairs and back again on the same day.

My home district is in the townland of Croughan. It is in the parish of Tully Aughnish and in the barony of Kilmacrennan.
There are nine families in the townland and the number of people in the townland is forty eight. The family name most common is McDaid.
The houses in my district are thatched or slated. Some farmers live in slated houses and the labourers live in thatched.
The townland is so caled because of a hell in the district.
There are no old people in Croughan over seventy years.
They cannot tell any stories in Irish. The houses were more numerous in former times. There are five houses in ruins in Croughan.
Some of the people are dead and others have changed to new houses

made from ivy leaves, the sufferer getting the cure made three times.
Headache - A black silk thread is wound round the head by the person who was the cure. Measurement are taken, prayers are said, and the head is gently pressed with the hands.
The Evil - The seventh son of the same father and mother, no girls between, to rub his hand on the affected part for seven mornings.
Love Sickness - Gather a handful of cherry leaves from across the full moon. Boil in the blood of a black rabbit, take three mornings fasting, and your love will be satisfied.

and at dark for seven days.
Sore Eyes - Wash with black tea at sundown for three evenings.
Mumps - Put the halter of an ass on the head of the afflicted person. Then lead round the pigs saying ;-
"Horrish na muc
Cure the mumps"
This has to be repeated for nine days before the charm is completed.
Bleeding - A spider's web is rubbed on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Heart Fever - The cure is made with a cup full of oatmeal. A cloth is tied over the cup, and around it, and it is put to the breast and back of the sick person. Words are said, a round of the house is made and if the cure takes effect a good portion of the meal is missing when the cloth is removed.
Jaundice - A mixture

Ringworm - A belt from the person having the cure is worn for nine days. On the ninth day the skin will be clean and whole again.
Backache - The skin of a rabbit caught on the mountains to be worn next the body on the sore part for three days and three nights. On the fourth day the skin is buried and the pain with it.
White Swelling - Hold the sore part over a bog hole on the thirteenth of the month at sunrise. Rub with rain water collected in an egg shell every third to day and respect a certain prayer.
A Burn - Roast an egg, and when hard take out the yolk and grind it into a powder.
Boil for half an hour in the three sizes of itself of fresh butter, and strain through a piece of fine muslin. Rub the strainings on the burn at dawn

Mote in the eye - This cure is made by means of a saucer of water and by prayer. The person with the cure takes three mouthfuls of water from the saucer, throws the third into the saucer again and behold the mote will be there with it.
Chincough - Put the child three times under a young ass foal that has never worn a saddle. Finish the cure with a drink of spring water and the juice of flax seed.
Measles - Any person owing a piebald horse could cure this ailment. Whatever that person gives the sufferer to eat or drink will be a cure.
Rickets - This is cured by a blacksmith, whose people for three generations have handled the sledge. The parents hold the child on the anvil and the blacksmith makes three strokes at the infant, while saying certain prayers.

Santa Claus who comes to all good children on Christmas Eve night.
This is how nearly all children amuse themselves while sitting round the fire at night. They sometimes read a nice story book, learn their lessons for school the next day. Boys work at jigsaws, puzzles and mots of other games. The girls sometimes help them to put them up. Sometimes they play nice tunes on a mouth organ or on a violin. Sometimes they listen to a wireless or a gramaphone.
Children love to hear their mother and father telling them all about their young lives, and hoe they spent their nights when they were children.
Girls often play with their dolls and sew for them and make nice dresses. Girls often mend their own clothes and darn their own stockings or socks. Children love to draw or give out guesses when they get seated round a nice cosy

opens the drills with a drill plough.
The manure is put into the bottom of the drills. The potatoes are cut with a knife they have to be sprouted before they are cut. The potatoes are placed on the top of the manure in the alleys of the drills, they have to be a foot apart. Then guano is sown on top. Then the drills are closed with a plough.
First the potatoes are rolled then they are moulded to keep away weeds. Then they are hoed with a hoe to keep down weeds also.
About a month after this the potatoes are sprayed with a sprayer. The spray is made of bluestone and washing soda, the soda is steeped in hot water, these are put into a barrel of water then they put the spray into the sprayers. The man holds

to be found in a little crevice in a rock and there was supposed to be a fairy guarding it and the tiny prints are in it till this day and are quite plain to be seen.
There was supposed to be a tin of sixpences hidden at the bottom of an old apple tree in our orchard but no one ever bothered about it. It is all supposed that there was an old graveyard for the Danes.
An old abbey stands further along the shore called Killydonnell Abbey. Once franciscans monks lived there and buried a treasure there. On every first day of the month a hooded figure draped in brown and white is supposed to glide from door to window window to to door then run along the top of the abbey and with a piercing scream falls from the wall and vanishes into thin air.
On a little shelf overgrown with grass called the green loft there sits an old witch smoking an old clay pipe and passing her hand over a bowl of coloured water, thus she sits for five minutes and

Christopher St. George was the landlord of Tyrone. He came to our district in the year 1912 and resided there until his home was burnt. When he first came he bought out a plot of land and there built a house which was called the big house of Tyrone. It was supposed to have two castles built beside it but it was burnt and it now stands in ruins. He owned all the land and let no tenants into it. When the house got burnt he left i and stayed with his friends. He sold the land to the commissioners divided it among the district people. They paid the rents of it to the Irish Land Commission. When he died he was buried in Drum a chú.

can eat as many eggs as they like. The old people gather all the egg shells and they string them together and they hang them off the ceiling. They leave them there until the next Easter Sunday.
On Whit Monday the people never go cycling or bathing or motoring because on that day a lot of accidents are supposed to happen. On May day the old people put the cows into the stable because they think that the fairies milk the cows and take the butter away. They also say that ships should not go to sea that day because the sea is supposed to be very rough that day.
The young boys light bone fires on St. John's day. On St.

Tuesday as it is the last day on which they can get married until after Lent.
On Ash Wednesday most of the people go to mass to get blessed ashes rubbed on their foreheads and they also keep it as a black fast day. They drink black tea that day and they eat bread without butter.
On Chalk Sunday all the children buy chalk and they chalk all the unmarried men and women. On Good Friday people spend three hours in the chapel and they do the stations at three o'clock because whatever one asks from Our Lord at three o'clock on Good Friday one is supposed to get it.
Everyone loves Easter Sunday because on that day the people

or anything they see about and they bring it into another house and leave it there. They then take something out of that house and leave it into another house. Next day the villagers are to be seen looking for the owner of the things that were left in their house.
On St. Patrick's day all the people wear the shamrock and the men keep up the custom of the drowning of the shamrock and that is they drink a bottle or pint of stout. There are a lot of dances and parties held that night. On Shrove Tuesday the people usually make a lot of pancakes for the tea and they make one for everyone in the house. A lot of people get married on Shrove

Long ago the Irish people used to keep a lot of customs on different feasts of the year. In some places the customs are still kept up but in other places they are dying out.
On St. Brigid's day the old people weave crosses out of rushes and they put them up on the ceiling or in the outhouses and they leave them there until St. Brigid's Day the following year. The young people sometimes dress up in old rags and different coloured clothes and they go around the village gathering eggs, bread, milk, and sometimes butter. Sometimes when they go into the houses some of them take a chair or teapot

sticks in some houses.
During summer when the daisies are in bloom crowds of little children go out into the fields and they string flowers together, one or two of the children go around picking the daisies and the others string them together. Some of them string then together with a needle and thread. The boys make rabbit snares also with snare wire. They tie the string of the snare to a bit of a stick which they place in the ground. When the rabbit puts his head into the snare he pulls it to try and free himself and in that way he chokes himself. In some places nowadays the boys and girls never make any toys

make panes of glass. Sometimes the paper they put in the windows is of different colours, red, blue, purple, green and yellow. They get a long piece of board and of this they make a door. When the dolls house is complete they paint the upper storey white and the lower storey red and they make small furniture out of boards.
Long ago when the people had no candlesticks they used to bring in a turnip from the garden and they used to wash it. Then they used to cut a round hole in the centre of the turnip according to the size of the candle and they used to put the candle into it. Up to the present day the turnips are used as candles.

piece of stick and they shape it so as to fit it into the hole in the spool. They push the little bit of wood through the hole and they stick a coffin nail into the bit of wood so that the top can spin. Sometimes they paint the tops with pain to make them look bright.
The way they make a doll's house is; first they get four pieces of thin boards and they get matches to make window frames. Then they get straight branches of trees and they cut them very small so as to make rafters. They cover the rafters with straw so as to prevent the rain from coming in as they say themselves. Then they get light glass paper and they fit it into the window frames so as to

and mouth about the holy family of Jerusalem.
One day Our Lord was passing by a country house. He entered the house and when he entered he saw an oven hanging over a fire. he asked the woman of the house what the oven contained and she said that she had a cake baking in the oven. Our Lord touched the oven and immediately it was changed into a heap of clay and moss. That showed that servile work should be omitted on the Sabbath Day.

lady and the holy infant mounted on the donkey and saint Joseph led the donkey along. Thus they reached Egypt from the cruelty of King Herod. When Herod was dead the holy family returned to Nazareth and it was there Saint Joseph carried on his trade as a carpenter.
The robin red breast got his name of red breast because on Good Friday it was said that he saw Christ die on the cross.
When Our Lord began his public life he worked many miracles, one of which was the feeding of five thousand men with five barley leaves and two fishes. The fish were cod fish and the finger prints of Our Lord are to be seen on all the cod fish in the sea. There are many other stories told by word

over the fire, for about a quarter of an hour. Next she peeled them very lightly, and scraped off the outside floury portion. This floury portion was placed in a special bucket(called the starch bucket). Water was then poured in, and holes were made with a stick down through the flour, to allow the water to pass through the mixture. It was then left to harden in an outside shed, where a special "crook" was placed for the starch bucket. When the mixture hardened, and thoroughly dried, it was taken out bit by bit as required. Each bit taken out was beaten into a powder, with a pounder, and boiling water poured over it to use as starch.

Long ago poets were very numerous in every district in County Galway. They used travel every district composing songs ballads of ever place. Their fame is still kept in the memory of the people. They composed them generally about rich people and their fame and also of old ruins.
There lived a man named Richard Weights. he lived in Kilcolgan. he composed a song while he was in exile in Kilcolgan in which the big house of Tyrone was the subject of the song. He is now in America composing poetry and songs. People sing the song of Kilcolgan where people are going to America. There lived

acquainted with the wells and he did not take the water out of the well from which the people used always get the water for household use. He came back to the boat and he filled the kettle with water and put it on to boil. They waited for hours for the kettle to boil and finally they had to go to bed.
The anchor watch man went over to see what was wrong with the water when it did not boil and he found to his astonishment that the water was still cold. He asked the man which well he got the water out of and he described the well. They soon learned that he got it out of the well the people used go around. He went back there and

is supposed to cure sore eyes. The people take a little bit of clay out of that hole and put it into a bit of cloth. They rub the clay to the sore eye and they have to leave the clay back again.
There is a place called the church of the seven wells in Killery near aran and if a person had the water down for six months it would not boil. One time a man from Kinvara by the name of Ned Holland went to Killery for sheep. It was very early in the morning when they arrived there and one of the crew went ashore to get some fresh water.
This particular member of the crew was not very well

up and the juice is extracted from it. This juice is used as medicine. There are certain traditions as to when certain plants are shaped as they are.
There is another herb called macann na gconpanaigh which grows beside the houses. It is very dangerous for the cows to eat it because it puts a taste in the milk and the milk cannot be used.

There are two graveyards in this parish. One in Ardagh and one in Rappa. The one in Rappa is a protestant graveyard. It is in the townland of Rappa. The one in Ardagh is a catholic graveyard. It is in the townland of Ardagh. it is still in use. The one in Rappa is not in use. None of them is round in shape. There is no ruin in any of them. They slope downwards. There are trees growing inside in them. There are tombstones in the Rappa graveyard. Some of them are made of marble, and more of cement. Unbaptised children were buried in Lisheen in Scott's field. People still travel long distances to family graveyards.

There are two or three forts in the school district. They are called different names such as dún or rath. There is a big ditch around them and a lot of old bushes grown on them. Some people say that it is not right to plough a fort that if cattle were grazing on it after it had been ploughed that they would all die. This is a story I heard about it. There lived a man who had a house in one of the fields and he had two cows and one of them died. One morning when he got up out of bed he saw the cow that died down the field eating at a bart of oats. He went down to where the cow was and he caught her. She ran on to the fort and she went in a hole in the (top?) of the fort and the man trying to hold her. The cow to where she used to be tied. He beat her until he got her to the door and there was an old woman standing at the door and there and she said to the man that it was no good to bring unless he would the spancel with him. He brought the spancel and cow and she lived for a few years after. When he was outside he heard them beating the old woman for telling the man to bring the spancel with him. If she did tell him the cow would be of no used to him.

Once upon a time there was a woman and three children who lived in a little hut on the side of the road. One day as the three children was sitting in the door they saw a little red ribbon passing by. One of the children said she would follow the little ribbon. She went after the ribbon until it went into a big castle. In she went after it. There was a giant living in the castle. He said to the girl he was going out and he told her not to look up the chimney nor to open the room door and not to give milk to the cat. She did as she was told. When the king went into the castle he asked her did she do the three things. The girl said she did not. He went into a room got a knife and cut the head off her and put it up to the room. The next was sitting in the door and a blue ribbon passed by. She followed it until she went to the same castle as the other and she did as she was told. When the giant came into the castle he went and got the knife and cut the head off her and put it up to the room. The last girl was sitting in the door and another ribbon passed by and the girl followed it. She went

A stitch in time saves nine.
Time enough lost the ducks.
Sense does not come before age.
Time or tide waits for no one.
Sorry late is no good.
Look before you leap.
It's no good crying after spilled milk.
A burnt child dreads the fire.
Lie with the lamb and rise with the lark.
Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.
It was not off the wind he took it.
Turn about is fair play.
It's a long road that has no turn.
There are good goods in small parcels.
Every rook thinks their own a swan.
The darkest hour is before the dawn.
The more hurry the less speed.
A borrowed horse has hard hooves.
God never closes one gap till he opens another.
You cannot judge the book by the cover.
Never crow till you are out of the wood.
Keep the bad dog with you and the good one won't bite.
Curses do not fall on sticks or stones.

to a house four miles from it. The people then burned it up and it went in a blaze. There was nothing left but its remains. A few nights after that the Black and Tans came and went into it to set it in a blaze and when they went inside, there was nothing left but the remains and they went away. On the night of the burning people from neighbouring districts saw the house soaring in flames and they came to see it. They also took the photograph of it and sent it to Dublin where they got it enlarged and framed they then sent it back again.

A serious and enduring changed passed over the country during the English ruling in Ireland. In our own time when the Black and Tans came over they destroyed many places among those are known the big house of Tyrone. In this residence there dwelt people named St. George Joyce's and Lahiff's and many other people. It was said that the Black and Tans were going to attack it. About seven o'clock one fine summers evening it was set on fire by its district people. They told the dwellers that the Black and Tans were to attack it and that they were in danger of being burned to death as well as their house. They gathered away all their goods

goes round in a rolling motion. After about half an hour she looks into the churn and if there are lumps in the milk it is time to start gathering the butter together. She throws an odd cup of water into the churn to wash the butter off the churn dash. When she wants to gather all the butter together she does not twist the dash around only backwards and forwards when all the butter is gathered together she puts a basin under the churn and she pulls out the little peg at the bottom of the churn and lets the milk out into the basin. She puts the butter into a basin of cold water and rinses it a few times. Then she puts it into a wooden bowl and puts salt in the

the bottom and it is about twelve inches.
When she has to make butter she puts the milk into basins and leaves it there for about two days until there is cream gathered on the top of the milk and then she skims the cream off the top of it. She gives the skimmed milk to the calves and sometimes she makes bread with it. She then puts the cream into a big crock and she leaves it there until it gets sour.
Then when churning day comes she gets the churn and washes it well with boiling water and rinses it with cold water. She puts the cream in then and begins the churning. The churn dash

In most of the country houses churns are still used. Some of the people have the tall churns shaped something like a barrel but much narrower at the top, and others have low ones with round sides. In big country places there are creameries and the people send the fresh milk there. The churns that are in use nowadays are very different from the ones that were in use long ago.
We have got no churn at home but auntie has got one. It is only about eighteen inches high and it has round sides. It is about twelve inches wide at the top and about fourteen inches at

There is a vast difference between the food the people have nowadays and the food the people had in olden days. Long ago the people never heard of a four course dinner or a lunch or they never heard of an hotel or a restaurant.
The people long ago used to eat three meals a day but they could hardly be called meals because, they were very scanty ones and they nearly always consisted of the same food. They used to call the meals breakfast, dinner and supper.
The people of long ago used to get up at daybreak and they used to have a

provisions would come by coach as they were very slow travelling.
Highway men often robbed the coaches of the provisions and also people who had money. The mail coach travelled very slow and people who lived in the country received letters only once or twice a week or fortnight.
In Ireland nowadays the train takes the place of the mail coach, the motor car takes the place of the stage coach, the motor bicycle takes the place of the horse, and the push bicycle takes the place of foot.
We have very good roads in Ireland now and people have every convenience. In cities if one wants to go to a certain

days because they will be fighting for the year if they do. If rain falls on Saint Swithen's day it is said that it will be raining for forty days and nights after that. The young girls and boys do not go out on Hallow ever night after darkness has fallen because they believe that the fairies have power to show themselves that night a person who is born on the first of May is supposed to be unlucky.

lords were very cruel to their tenants. They used to make the people pay very high rents, and if they did not pay they used to take their stock and sometimes they used to evict the people. Sometimes they used to make the people work for them and not pay them. When the landlord used to put the people out of their houses they used to go into the woods and at night they used to come out and set fire to the land and they used to annoy the landlord.
When a country person's son or daughter is getting married his father gives him half his land and stock.

Nearly every house all over the world is owned by a landlord. Some people live in houses that they own themselves but they have to pay what is called ground rent. In towns people have to pay money called rates.
The house we live in is our own house and we have to pay ground rent every year. The house was built by my great great grandfather over a hundred years ago.
After he died my great grandfather lived in it and when he died his son rented it. About fifteen years ago my grandfather came to live in it and he has lived in it ever since.
Long ago some of the land

the churn.
When the butter is put away the buttermilk is taken out and put into crocks. This is used for kneading flour and the people also drink it. Buttermilk is nice to drink when it is fresh but when it is sour people dislike it.

It takes an hour to churn. The milk is dashed upwards and downwards by means of a handle which is twisted from outside.
When little lumps appear in the milk the butter is made. Hot water is usually poured into the churn while churning is going on. This is done to gather the butter together.
The butter is taken out with two butter pats and it is put into timber bowls. Cold water is then poured over it and it is dark by means of the pats. Salt is then shaken on the butter and it is then left into a press ready for use.
Long ago when people were churning they got a cinder out of the fire and they left it under the churn. This was supposed to keep the butter in

When the sea noises at Donmoran east of this place it is a sign of good weather.
Stormy weather is to come when the sea noises near Giblin's and the pier east of Aughris. Stormy dry weather comes when the sea noises at the Coradun Cave near Aughris Head.
When the sea is black and dirty looking with strong waves the old people say there is a drowning in the sea and nobody should bathe.
When the seagulls will come to eat with the hens it is a sign of bad weather.
It is a sign of good weather if the fog goes up the mountain.
When the sun is red in the evening and grey in the morning it is a sign of good weather. When there are legs under the sun in the evening it is a sign of bad weather.
A ring around the moon is a sign of bad weather.
When the stars are bright and sparkling on a winter night it will surely freeze.
Some common sayings about the weather are:- "Mackerel sky twenty four hours dry".
"Between the hours of twelve and two, it will tell you what the day will do."
When the wind blows from Gleneasky in the south west or Knocknarea in the south it is a sure

Laragh is the name of my townland. It consists of eight families and the number of people amounts to twenty. Conlon is the commonest name.
The houses are thatched and slated and they put galvinised iron on the out houses.
Laragh means a place where people used to meet. There are four people over seventy in this townland. They don't know Irish but they can speak English and tell stories in English. These are their names and addresses. James Conlon, Laragh, Skreen, Co. Sligo, Mrs. J. Conlon do. Mrs. Pat Smyth do. and Maria Costello do.
There were more houses in it long ago but the people knocked them down and took away the stones. There are two or three ruins there yet.
Many people went to America and England to earn their living. There is no song or story about it. The land is hilly but it is very good.
There is a stream flowing under the road and it is the boundary wall between Laragh and Tubberunane.

A cure for the rose is got by rubbing the blood of a young wren on the sore. It was told by Martin Byrne Ardagelly Templeboy. Another cure for the rose is by mixing three lumps of butter each got from a woman named Mary. The butter was brought to a man that had the cure, John Lynch Farnaharpy, Skreen, or John Flynn Dromore West. The butter was mixed with herbs and nine divides made of it and a messenger would go for it on Tuesday for nine weeks and rub it to the sore.
The cure of the sprain was a charm which Mrs. Layng Carrownacreevy who died five or six years ago had. It could pass from male to female or from female to male. Mrs. Layng left it to William Casey Ballyfarris, Skreen.
Those who licked a mankeeper or lizard would have the cure of the burn.
The foul mouth was cured by breath blown into the mouth by one who never saw his father.
If anybody had a wart he should get nine bits of sticks and rub them to the wart. He would tie them up then in a piece of paper. Then he would throw them on the road and the first one that would lift them would take the warts. This cure was told by John Furey farmer Laragh, Skreen.

The name of my district is Corkamore. There are ten families in it and forty people. All the houses in the townland of Corkamore are thatched. Corkamore means a big bog because Corcach is a bog and mór is big.
There are six people over seventy years in the townland. They don't know Irish but they can speak English and tell stories in English. These are their names and address: Pat Kennedy Corkamre, Templeboy, Co. Sligo, Mrs. Pat Kennedy do., Miss Layng do,. Pat Kelly do., Annie Kaheny do., Mrs. Mulligan do.
There were more houses in it long ago but the people knocked them down and brought away the stones. There is only one ruin of an old house in Corkamore and some of the stones were brought away from it. A man named Black lied in it and it is in Eddie Kakeny's field. He was a protestant landlord and he died in it. He had another house in John Eddie Burn's field in Corkhill where he was born.
Some of the people emigrated to America and England to earn their living. There is no story or song about it. Some of the land is boggy and some of it is good.
There is a lake in Burke's field where a priest was drowned the time of Cromwell. There is a river flowing through it.

Another cure for the wart is to get water in a stone without looking for it and make the sign of the cross three times on the wart with the water.
If you had a mote in your eye you could get cured by Mrs. Feeney Cullens Co. Sligo. She gets a cup of water and says some prayers and the mote comes out in the cup of water.
A sty in the eye is cured by getting ten gooseberry thorns and by making the sign of the cross with nine of them on the sty and throw the tenth one away. Burn the other nine.
A cure for a bald head is got by putting on a layer of mud and bash it away for a while.
A burn is cured by rubbing boiled tea leaves to it.
A wart is also cured by getting a snail and putting him on the thorn of a blackthorn bush. When the snail would rot the wart would rot.
The cure for the headache is got by measuring the head.
The breastbone is raised by lighting a candle on the breast and

Rathurlisk fort was the meeting place of the kings, cheifs and brehons of Tireragh.
A giant's grave 21ft by 10ft is in the northern end of Grangebeg.
The stream flowing between Kilrusheighter and Rathglass is called Abha an Bhuaidh where in ancient times the men of Tireragh defeated the men of Ulster in a great battle.
There are round mounds like burial places in the seashore in Rathglass, Kilrusheighter and Aughris.

This history was told to me by William McGloin, Grellagh, age 80 years. He heard it from his father who attended Paddy McNulty, the hedge schoolmaster. Every word of it is authentic.
This old man has remembered the name of the 3rd book used. The first was "Reading made easy", second the "Goff" and then the "Noster". The spelling of words in commas are his pronunciations of words. "Reading made easy" he calls "readymedaisy". This was equal, he explains, to our present infant reader.

his salary. Paddy McNulty spoke it and encouraged it in a similar manner. He pressed teh used of English more.
The children attending Clarke, wore a small piece of a stick, held by a tape, around their necks. Each time the teacher caught the pupil speaking Irish he put a mark or a nick in the stick. Then when pupil was ready to go home, he got a slap for each nick on the stick. This done a lot of harm as regards Irish and went a long way to wipe out the spoken language.

many words the people knew the explanations of.
The writing was done on slates and by quills on paper. Each pupil had to bring his quill and the teacher supplied the paper. Little writing was done on paper, mostly all on slates.
Paddy McNulty. After he left a school was built in Cliffoney by Lord Palmerston. The first teacher was Clarke. He was opposed to Irish but not through his fault. It was the authorities he was afraid of. He himself urged it but in a quiet way. If he encouraged it openly, he lost part of

the pupils gathered and he generally stopped a few days, or a week in the house. The people of the house fed him and clothed him, if necessary. In some cases they gave him a few pennies. This depended on the circumstances of the pupils father - if fairly well off he gave money, otherwise food or clothes.
He was called the "Pedagoge".
The subjects taught were; reading, arithmetic and writing.
The reader used was called a "Goff". The Noster was both an arithmetic and a dictionary. Great care was given to this and it was wonderful how

About 1850 Paddy McNulty was going around here teaching. He was a hedge school master. He had no school, no home whatever but depended on those he taught for his food, clothes etc.
He was a complete stranger, not a native. He used to teach in sheltry places but kept moving around through the whole district. He had a hedge school for a while in Grellagh, another while in Bunduff, in Cliffoney etc.
If the day came wet he went to some one of his pupils houses. Here

Yes bread was made from oats and rye. Both those crops were very much grown as the type of land was suitable. Even today both are plentiful. Very little wheat as the land is not strong enough, or rich enough to produce a paying crop. Of course there "gardens" or fertile places where it is grown but they are few and far between.
The oats and rye were ground locally. Many hand hand querns; two stones with a hole in each. Attached to the upper one was an iron handle and by means of this it was brought round. The ground stuff falling through a hole very small in

who has a grocery shop there.
She used to buy small quantities of goods, candles, sugar etc. and then go around from house to house with the goods in a creel. She sold her goods for eggs or for cash. As times progressed she had tobacco, tea, flour, and gradually when she began to stock the goods herself, she stopped going around. The people used to come to the house.
She had a stick always with her. If it happened that she sold goods while on her journey but received no eggs as money for same, she put a mark on the stick

In olden times people only ate one meal a day or two at most. These were eaten morning and evening. The people in olden times used to rise very early and have a lot of work done before the first meal.
The food they used to eat was stirabout, or potatoes and buttermilk. They ate stirabout and drink milk in the evening and potatoes and milk in the morning. The people used to put a basket on a three legged stool and put a noggin of buttermilk in the middle and they would peel the potatoes with their fingers and sup out of the noggin.

change herself into a hare and suck the neighbours cows.
The people of the house sat up one night and at last the hare came and sucked the cows. They got a black hound without a white hair in him and put the hound after the hare when the hare was going in the window the hound caught her by the leg and when the people went into the house they found the woman bleeding and not long after that she died.
Some time before that my grandfather was going over the green field and he saw the witch going over the field and she had a big stone rope drawing it after her. He stood on the end of it and it broke. He carried it home and threw it into the boiler and when he went to get the boiler in the summer it was full of butter.

In this district Friday is thought a very lucky day to begin work such as house building, ploughing or changing from one house to another.
Certain cures cannot be affected until special day. Thursday and Monday are thought lucky for making cures for pains in the head, and taking dirt out of the eye.
The Cross Day falls on Whit Sunday. It is said that if you cut your finger on that day, it will bleed for a twelve months, or if there is a child born on that day it will be very cross, and it will have one white eye, that is a cricket eye turned in with the pupil.
According to variety any time between the thirty first of February and the thirty first of March potatoes should be planted. But now a day with the advent of sprouting, we may extend the time until the sixth of May.
The appropriate

There was no glass used in the windows. A bag was used instead, and the floors were made of dobe. Half doors were very common. The people used them for letting in the air or as any windows there were could not open.
They had bad lights. Candles they used mostly at night. They got a rush and took the green part off. Then dipped the inside part in fat and when one layer was dry it was dipped down again and so on until it was thick enough.
The people always kept animals in one end of the house such as horses and cows. There was a drain running into the middle of the floor. They used to keep the house very clean and they kept a fresh bed under the animals every day. They had not much ornamentation or cooking vessels pots were made out of dobe, and they used wooden mugs for drinking vessels.

beneficial to people. Its leaves and roots make a pleasant salad. Wine and coffee are also made from it. When the leaves are mixed with boiled egg, they strengthen young turkeys, it helps to form the bones.
Watercress which flourishes in streams of clear running water is a plant and appreciated enough by people it is said to be a cure for rheumatism. It can be eaten as a salad or made into sandwiches with bread and butter.
Wild mint, which grows luxuriantly in boggy land not only makes the surrounding air fragrant, but when chopped up finely and put in soup imparts to it a pleasant flavour. The tiny leaved wild thyme can be used for the same purpose.

no regular place of worship. At that time the priest, Father Murphy, lodged in a very out of the way farm in a house near Culleen's where the family of Cranes now live. Every Sunday he winded his way along the bridle path by the Leaffoney river for there were no roads to this modest little house. To this gathered the scattered dwelling people of the parish to hear mass said. From this he travelled to Enniscrone and ministered there in a stable and then walked back to Culleen's where for the third time that day he celebrated mass. And in Culleen's hill is a field known as the mass field. Immediately after the passing of Emancipation Act preparations were made for the erection of the dignified catholic church which for the past 102 years has superceded these lowly, but no less holy, spots.

There are a lot of old names still which were given to places long ago. One of our fields at home as a rock in it called the "Marriage Rock" because it is said that two people were married there in the times of the penal laws.
In Mr. Right's field Scaffoney there is a field still called the "Chapel field". It is a green fertile sacred spot with a small grass covered mound. It marks the foundations of the little thatched house where people worshipped in the unhappy days when Catholics had

There are different kinds of wild birds. Some of them go away to foreign lands in the winter and come back in the summer. Those are the birds that go away. The swallow, cuckoo, the corncrake. The wild goose goes away in the summer and comes back in the winter. There are other birds that do not go away any time. There are other birds that do not go away any time. The swallow comes in the beginning of May. She builds her nest in old barns and in hay sheds. When the swallow builds her nest the first year she comes back to it every year after. If any person robs a swallow's nest they will never come back to that nest again. When the swallow flies low it is the sign of rain. The corncrake comes in the end of June. Then she lays her eggs and hatches them out. Then she goes away again in the beginning of August. The other birds that do not go away are, the robin, wren, sparrow, rook, blackbird, water hen, thrush, yellowhammer, and many other birds. The robin builds her nest in a ditch. She makes her nest of moss and feathers. The wren is a very small bird she builds her nest in old walls. The wren is said to be king of birds. The sparrow builds her nest in

Which part of the cow goes in to the wood first.
Her breath.
Why does the hen cross the road?
To get to the other side.
Round the house, round the house and all heads under?
Nails in your boot.
Long and lanky, deaf and dumb, has no feet and yet can run?
A river.
Once upon a time there was a handsome scholar.
He drew off his cap and drew off his coat. What was the name of the scholar?
Andrew.
As round as an apple as flat as a pan. One side a woman and the other a man?
A penny.
Why does the hen pick the pot?
Because she cannot lick it.
How many ribs has the hen left in the ground when she has enough eaten?
One.
As I went up the garden I met my uncle Pat. I took out my knife and cut his head off?

We have a lot of feast days in the year which is celebrated in some way. On Saint Stephen's day the wren boys go from house to house playing music and dancing and gathering money. They dress themselves in old clothes so that they would not be known. They also cover their faces with a piece of a cloth. Saint John's night is called bonfire night. People on that night make a bonfire in honour of Saint John. On the second night of February "Brideog" night people dress themselves in old cloths and one person brings a doll. Then they dance and when they have done they ask money for "Brideog". On November night the children have great fun. They put an apple into a tub of water and try to pick it up with their mouths and the one that picks it up will get it to eat. On Easter Sunday the last day of lent Our Lord rose from the dead. On that morning the sun dances with joy when Our Lord rose from the dead. Every person eats eggs on that day. On Saint Patrick's day the people wear shamrock in memory of Saint Patrick.

Long ago the houses were not the same as they are now. The houses were built of sods. The houses were roofed with old sticks out of the wood and sods. Most of them were thatched. The beds which they had were made of timber. Long ago the people had no grate but a big fireplace. The windows they had in the old houses were very small. There used to be four small panes in each window. In some houses there were no windows at all but a hole in the wall stuffed with a bag. The doors were made of timber. They used fir and turf for the fire. The light they had was to put down a lot of fir and turf.

A half a loaf is better than no bread.
Too many cooks spoils the broth.
Small boats may keep near shore but large ones may venture more.
A stitch in time saves nine.
It's a long road that has not a turn.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
The day of the wind isn't the day for the scollop.
It isn't off the wind he took it.
A cat in gloves never catches mice.
Look before you leap.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Divide small and serve all.
The worst luck now the better again.
When the cat is out the mouse can play.
Silk and satin wears the kitchen fire.
The back of one is the face of two.

What is as red as blood as white as milk?
An apple.
Said the child to the father how did it come that you are my father and I am not your son?
It was a girl.
What goes around the house and round the house and all under.
Nails in a shoe.
Spell a broken down ditch in three letters.
Gap.

What occurs once in every minute, twice in a moment and not once in a year? The letter "m".
What has always its hands on its face.
A clock.
It is not inside or outside but it is useful to the house?
A window.
It is under the fire and over the fire and not touching the fire at all? A cake in an oven.
Why is a working horse never hungry?
Because he has always a bit in his mouth.
Long and lanky and deaf and dumb has no feet and yet can run?
A river.
How many sides on a circle? Two - inside and outside.
It is black and white and red all over?
A newspaper.
A room full a house full and you cannot take a spoonful?
Smoke.
Why does a hen pick the pot?
Because she cannot lick it.
Spell a blind pig in two letters?
P g. Take out the eye.
What is behind time?
The back of a clock.

A stitch in time saves nine. A lie has no legs. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Too far east is west!
One bird in the hand is worth two on a bush.
A half a loaf is better than no bread.
Look before you leap.
A idle man tempts the devil.
A wrinkled purse brings a wrinkled face.
Good when lost is valued most.
Empty vessels make most noise.
Better is an ass that carries you than a horse that throws you.
He laughs best who laughs last.
Tis the thunder that frights but lightning that smites.
The wide well wear but tight will tear.
Divide small and serve all.
It is not the day of the storm the day to put on the scollas.
When your neighbour's house is on fire take care of yours.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
When the weather is fair take care of your coat.

Once upon a time there was a man who used to love card playing. He used to be out till morning. This night he won a lot of money. He was coming home and he saw a light in the field. He came on to see what it was. He saw it was a man with a candle and a table and a pack of cards. He asked the man would he play cards. The other man said it was too late to play. The other man said he would have to play the money he won for six months. The man sat down and played. He won all the money and the man looked down at the man's feet and he saw the funny feet and he ran for his life. He never went out after that. He told at home and his mother said it was the devil and she would not go out after that. He used to come every night after that but his mother sent for the priest and the priest said it was the devil that the woman would leave

Why is a black hen better than a white hen. Because a black hen can lay a white egg and the white hen cannot lay a black egg.
A steel top an iron nose and God knows it would frighten the crows.
A gun.
I had a donkey and he was the far side of the river and there was a sheaf of oats the other side of the river. The river was too wide for him to jump and it was too deep for him to swim. He couldn't go round it and what did the ass do. Will you give it up.
That is what the ass did.
How would you get down off a horse.
There is no down on him.
What goes to the table, is out and never eaten.
A deck of cards.
I have a little tub and it is filled with meat every day but Sunday.
A thimble.
Headed like a thimble, tailed like a rat, you may guess for ever but you would not guess that.
A pipe.
Long and lanky deaf and dumb has no feet and yet can run.
A river.

In former times, when people were too poor and backward to obtain the assistance of a doctor during illness, they sought help from local people who were supposed to have special power for curing bodily ailments. They also performed charms that were current in the district.
The following are some of the cures that were used. Ringworm: The seventh son or daughter i.e.. a son or daughter who is the seventh male or female child born in succession to their parents, was supposed to be able to cure ringworm by touch. It was necessary to place a worm in the hand of the child at birth. If the worm died immediately it was taken as proof that the child would possess the cure.
Sty in the eye: Take ten gooseberry thorns and point nine of them in succession towards the eye that is affected; afterwards burn the tenth.
Whooping cough: (a) Drink asses milk (b) eat food left by ferret (c) three drops of water from a trouts mouth. Afterwards placing the trout alive in a stream.
Thrush or foul mouth: A child who has been born after its father's death is supposed to cure this ailment by blowing his or her breath into the mouth of the sufferer. Mumps or lepresy: place an ass's halter around the neck of the patient lead him or her in and out of a pig sty three times saying on each "much na much".

I have heard my father say that he used to hear the old people telling about the famine years.
The first year the famine came the people had no potatoes but they had some oats and wheat. The second year the potato crop was even worse. After the potatoes were put down there came heavy rain and it destroyed the crop.
There are several ruins of old houses around here that were occupied by people the time of the famine. These are the name of some of the families that emigrated and that died at home. There was an old woman named Mary Rafter and there was no one in the house with her. She was fasting for two days and she got nothing to eat and on the third day she killed the cat and ate, she ate too much and she died shortly afterwards. Two families of the Connolly's went to America. There are the ruins of an old house in Rathlee where a newly married couple lived the husband died first and his wife died shortly afterwards they are both buried in George Ferguson's field

Wedding morning(In Clare)
What to wear.
Something new
Something blue
Something old
Something borrowed. An old rhyme heard in West Clare.

Long ago the churns were all made of timber. There are iron hoops on the churns now. The length of our churn is 2 3/4 feet. The top of it is about sixteen inches and the bottom is about two feet. It is about thirteen inches wide in the centre. There is a lid made also for the churn and it fits down in it about three inches. There is a hole in the centre of it for the handle of the dasher. There are round and L shaped holes in the dasher. There is a splasher let down on the handle to prevent the milk from splashing on the churn. Some people throw salt on the churn before they churn the milk, and others put a coal under the churn.

Stampy was made with flour and milk mixed with a spoon and baked in a pan. It was baked between two leaves of cabbage when there was no pan to be had.
A potato cake was made of potatoes and flour mixed and baked on a griddle.
Boxty is made from raw potatoes craped and mixed with flour and baked in a pan.
When an old woman came into a house a pasoid was boiled for her. The stampy, the pasoid and the potato cake are made still. The cross was put on the cake so that the fairies would not touch it during the night. Flummery is made from oatmeal soaked in water a few hours. Then it is strained and the juice is boiled and when it is boiled it is like jelly.

When the cat sits on the hearth washing his face it is the sign of rain.
Another sign of rain is to see the cat sitting on the hearth with his back to the fire.
If the sheep flock together in a sheltry place in the evening it is a sign of bad weather. When the cat scrapes the table it is another sign of rain.
If the frogs are croaking late in the morning it is the sign of bad weather.
Another sign of rain is the horse to be dull and sleepy.
If the ass is standing with his back to the wall we will soon have rain.

There lived in Killamonagh long ago a man, an old man and there were big carracks of rocks in his land. He went out one day to break some of the rocks and he went in to his dinner at dinner time and when he came out after dinner he saw a big red "lepar" on the stone and he went home and got very quiet and got very sick, and died and there were quare things seen in that field after that.

There was an old castle in Tullaha Kilfenora and tradition had it that there's a chest of gold hidden in the precinct of the castle and whenever local people used to look for it they were frightened away by some wild animal like a dog with blazing eyes. The castle was demolished in 1922 or 3 and the stones were used for building a new house(O'Loughlin's).

"Cnoc na Muc" ever since. This hill is a short distance west of the Ganty school.
The Garracloon road also leads from Craughwell to Kilconieron church and graveyard and thence on to Loughrea and Athenry. There is no local account as to when these roads were made. Both roads which run from west to east are connected by a smaller one called the Garracloone bohreen, about a half mile in length, which leads from Gantry crossroads and which is convenient as a shortcut for people going to mass.

There are two local roads in this district of Gantry, one is called the Ganty road and the other the Kilconieron one. The Ganty road leads from Cruaghwell to the Ganty school and thence to Dunsandle cross. You turn to the right there to go to the town of Loughrea and to the left go to Athenry. There is a hill in it, and it is called "Cnoc na Muc", it is said that long ago, a pig carried a man in her mouth from Dunsandle to this hill and let him fall at the top of the hill and then disappeared. And it is called

Some hungry poor fellow working for a farmer in Clare once said
"My heart is scalded both night and morning
From that black saucepan that makes the dip
A grain of flour and a sup of water
And the devil scald them that wouldn't make it thick.

that come into our house speak loudly and try to force you into buying. When he was gone I was very sorry that I did not buy some thread from him because he was very quiet and gentle.
There was a photograph in the paper this morning and this is what it said. "The body of an old man was discovered late last night about three miles from Ballinrobe near the village of Newtown. Markes on the body indicate that the deceased was knocked down by a passing vehicle. A suitcase containing thread,

An old man called at our house yesterday. He was neatly dressed, but his shiny sleeves and battered shoes told a story, and he carried an old battered suitcase with him. He spoke quietly.
Does the lady of the house need any thread or laces? he asked. My mother was busy at the time and she did not want any thread or laces. When I told him so he closed his case and thanked me ever so kindly. He walked slowly down the garden path. Most of the pedlars

It was with quiet other people the vagabonds communed the wandering ballad singer with his walled of songs slung at his ragged haunch. The travelling musician whose blotchy fiddle could sneeze out the ten strange tunes he had learnt from his father and from his fathers generations before him. The little band travelling the world carrying saplings and rushes from the stream which, they were cunningly into tables and chairs warranted not to last too long. The folk who sold rootless ferns to people from whose window ledges they had previously stolen the pots to plant them in. The men who went roaring along the roads driving the cattle before them from fair to market

(a) and a solitary dog howled.
(b) A dry twig cracked under my feet. The rabbit raised its head and looked in my direction. I had no time to lose. I raised the gun to my shoulder and I fired both barrels. When the smoke disappeared away there was my fine rabbit scurrying into its burrow.
(c) The waves dashed noisily upon the shingle and broke against the harbour wall.
(d) The seagull rose and fell rapidly as if on hidden wings. When evening fell it brought a lull in the storm, and we were at last able to leave the house to which we had been assigned.

Clytie and her sister were water nymphs. Every evening they came up to the bands refreshing themselves and when the sun would rise the would go back to their water beds. That was the law in nymph land.
One day they stayed on the bank watching the sun travelling across the sky. The sun smiled on them and they were delighted.
When they went back that evening to their home they began quarrelling. Clytie went to King Ocean and told him about her sister. King Ocean was very dissatisfied and he imprisoned her in a dark cave. Clytie did not let on that herself broke the

It must be confessed that at that moment he had no very agreeable employment either for his moral or his physical perceptions. The day was dawning from a patch of watery light in the east and sullen clouds came driving up before it, from which the rain descended in a thick mist. It streamed from every twig and bramble in the hedge, made little gullies in the hedge, made little gullies in the path, ran down a hundred channels in the road and punched innumerable holes in the face of every pond and gutter. It fell with an oozy slushy sound among the grass and made a muddy kennel of every furrow in the ploughed fields.

Long long ago I remembered I lived under the surface with a few more like myself. It was a dull, dark damp place and the sun never shone on us. One day I was aroused from my nap by voices of men overhead and great hammering. Then I was hacked up with thousands of more like myself and whisked into a truck and brought to a big factory.
There I was thrown into a furnace and I suffered awful agonies. Then I was hammered until I was shaped like a penny.

(b) The parcel was too heavy for the two to carry.
(c) Tom is far too busy to go with his two brothers.
(d) If you two girls go I will go too.
(e) These two little pigs went to the market.

(a) We work by day and night and sleep at night.
(b) We have eyes to see and ears to hear.
(c) When you cannot hear what a person says put your hand to your ear.
(d) Many people cannot hear well because there is something wrong with their ears.
(e) Here is the telephone. To hear put the receiver close to your ear.
(a) Birds in their little nests agree.
(b) The girls were taken there by their parents.

front ones.
The next I remember is that I got a blow of an axe that put me rolling along the floor in an unconscious condition. I was then hurled into a trolley and wheeled away to a big factory. There I was put into a big bag and whisked away to a house I was then put in a blazing fire and burned and burned. I tried to get out of the fire but it failed me. The process was very painful and I was suffering more than ever I suffered at the mine. I think my life is nearly over now and I am not able to tell you any more as you know all my story. If you were to see me now a little heap of ashes you would never think that I was once a green leaf growing on a tree.

was in inpenetrable darkness. Eventually I turned into a lump of coal and for centuries I lay there in unutterable silence.
One day I heard a faint tap in the distance. I listened very carefully and I thought it was coming nearer, nearer, nearer.
Suddenly I heard a great explosion which rent my ears. I was almost unconscious but, I have a vague recollection of seeing rays of light coming through crevices in the rocks. Then, I heard voices and saw lamps moving about. After a short time I saw people emerging out of the pit. I was stupefied as I was unaccustomed to seeing people and I thought they were animals standing on their hind legs and that river walk on their

yards from the public road. It is surrounded by a low wall on which the men sit before and after mass to have a chat. It is out of repair these last few years but the priest is getting it repaired.
The altar is small and it faces the east. The pews are arranged that the people who sit in them can face the altar. The walls are distempered light blue. The stations of the cross are small, because the church is small. The bigger the church the bigger the pictures, the smaller the church the smaller the pictures

sparkling feathers and many shiny beams trailed down to where we were waiting. "Come up" she called, "come up in the air with me", "Come up on my sunny beams" "let us go" said one of us "All right let us go" said us all. We grasped the birds wings and we rose up in the air so lightly that we hardly knew we were leaving our home in the ocean.
Up, up went until we were high among the clouds where we found other drops like ourselves. As the wind wafted the clouds about it was pleasant to go sailing across the sky and look down on the wonderful things of earth.

How I would like to be sitting beside the pilot. I would see the mountains beneath me and they like little bowls, roads like little threads winding in and out and rivers like black lines.
We have three aerodromes in Eire. One at Foynes(Limerick), one at Rynanna(on the Shannon) and another at Baldonnell(Dublin). I read in the newspaper a few weeks ago about a man named Douglas Corrigan who flew from Los Angeles to Dublin "by mistake". He received a tremendous reception in this country but it was nothing compared with the reception he got in New York when he went there by ship. No one were received

We were just coming out from school in the evening when it passed over our heads. The noise of the engines could be heard afar off and its bright wings sparkled brightly. All the dogs in the village were terror stricken and they barked wildly. As it was disappearing out of sight it was growing smaller and smaller until it was no bigger than a seagull.
What a wonderful thing an aeroplane is. It is only a few hours out of sight when it is gone from Shannon to Southampton. It floats along through the air leaving boats, trains and motor cars behind.

a decent man, they will think, for he will give them a high price for the beasts. One of them will buy the evening paper in the town and he will see it where a man will be killed in Belfast by a motor car. The younger of the two farmers will say he will have no time to read the papers, because he will have to work too hard.

the nice pig food."
A fly lit on the second pigs ear. He ran to his mother "Wee, wee dear old mother pig" he squealed, "what are my ears for ", wif, wif, cried the mother pig "your ears are for to hear the girl go scrunch on the gravel path. When she is coming with the nice pig food."
The third little pig got his foot under a stone. He ran to his mother, wee, wee dear old mother pig, he squealed, "what are my feet for?." "Wuf, wuf" cried the mother pig, your feet are for to run and meet the girl when she is coming with the nice pig food.
The third little pig scratched his mouth. He ran to his

Millions of years ago I grew on a tree in a dense forest beside a lake. Then I fell off the tree and thousands of companions fell on top of me and this happened yearly. At last I was bruised and crushed with the weight that was on me.
The climate was very hot until at last the lake dried up and we were left without any moisture. By this time thousands and millions of leaves had fallen on me. Then I was squeezed but

was none left for her. The greedy monkey had eaten them all.

bed and swell my head with sleep. But sometimes I don't get much rest as they throw water at me and other times they put nettles to my feet. That is no good as I only close my eyes tighter and let on I am fast asleep. So they let me alone then. I say in Blanket Street until morning.
Corrections.
I usually spend Sunday vigorous and I abhor getting up on Monday morning. I am hardly rested.
and back again. The hairy tinker with their clattering metals who marched in the angriest of battalions and who spoke a language composed entirely of curses. These and a hundred red varieties of these they met and camped with and were friendly with and

I pretend not to hear my alarm clock and I am hardly rested in bed again when my mother hammers on the door. It is then I feel the blankets comfortable. Then I remember something. It is black Monday and Saturday is far away as ever.
After dinner time I go out working and I try to kill the day until nightfall. Monday does not seem so bad now and Friday not so far away. That's one days work finished and that is some consolation.
If Monday evening is wet I stay in the house and learn my lessons and read books. But sometimes I get tired of that and I go to

Everything indicated that the coming event was one of no ordinary importance.
There were the sentries keeping the ground, the servants attending to the wants of the ladies and the sergeants running here, there and everywhere. Colonel Bulder himself was there with a very red face as if to show that it was indeed a very special occasion. Mr. Rekwick and his companions secured a place in the front row and waited patiently for two hours.

blue sky or watched the stately steamers gliding over the deep. One day as were were enjoying ourselves riding on the crest of a wave we saw a beautiful sunshine bird in the air above us.
She was dressed in sparkling feathers of light and many floating shiny beams trailed from her wings down to where we were waiting.
"Come up" she called to us "Come up in the air with me? Come up on my sunny beams."
"Let us go" said one of us. "All right let us go" we all said together. We grasped the birds wings; and we rose up into the air so lightly that we hardly knew we were leaving our ocean home.

Millions of years ago I was a nice tiny leaf growing on an oak tree in a great forest on the brink of a lake. My happiness did not last long as I soon fell off the tree. Year after year the leaves fell off the tree and I was getting very tired as there were many other leaves over me.
The climate was very hot and the lake dried so we were left without any moisture. More and more leaves fell over man and I was crushed, pressed and squeezed and I could do nothing to free myself. Finally, rocks formed over me and for thousands of years I

On St. Stephen's day boys and men go around from house to house with decorated bushes looking for alms. They decorate the bushes with ribbons and coloured papers. The song they sing is; the wren, the wren the king of all birds, Saint Stephen's day he was caught in the furze, up with the kettle and down with the pot, give us our answer and let us be off. The people give them money. The wren boys divide the money between them. The custom on Saint Bridget's night is to put a piece of cloth out on a bush. In the morning it would be blessed. This is called Brat Braider. The custom on Saint Patrick's day is to wear a badge in honour of Saint Patrick. Long ago girls wore harps on the shoulder of their coats. Chalk Sunday is the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday. On that day people put chalk on the bachelors backs. On Holy Thursday for the altar of the church to be decorated with flowers. This is called the composition of the blessed sacrement. On Saint John's night a bonfire is lit. On the first of May holy water is sprinkled on every animal. People also make pishogues. On Saint Stephen's day boys and men gather together and go around from house to house singing the wren.
On Easter Sunday people eat eggs.

There are two holy wells in this parish. There is one in Ballintubber and one in Darragh. The name of the well in Ballintubber is Our Lady's Well. Long ago every child who got the whooping cough was taken to it and were cured. The name of the well in Darragh is Saint Brigid's well. It is said that Saint Bridget appeared there long ago. The last day of August is the patrons day in Darragh. A great many people come there to pay rounds. There is a well a mile from Kilfinane. It is called Saint Maluas well. It is called that because Saint Malua appeared there long ago. It is on the left had side of the road from Kifinane to Kilmallock.

My home district is Coolavehy. It is in the parish of Glenroe. There are twelve families living in it. The family most common is Treacy. There are three houses slated and the rest of them are thatched. Coolavehy got its name from the Glen of the Birch. The oldest person living in it is Mrs.Dineen. She is about seventy three years old. She does not know any Irish. She can tell stories in English about the famine. Mrs. Dineen Collavehy, Ballyorgan, Kilfinane. Mr. Wallace is also the oldest person. He is seventy five years old. He does not know any Irish. He can tell stories in English. Mr Wallace Coolavehy, Ballyorgan, Kilfinane. Long ago houses were very numerous. The land is hilly and good. Most of the people emigrated to America.

There is one tailor in this district. He works at his home. The implements a tailor use are needle, and thread, sewing machine, scissors and an iron. Shirts are made in the homes. There is one spinning wheel in the district. The owner of it is Mrs. Fitzgerald. Socks and stockings are knitted locally in the homes. The special type of clothes worn at weddings long ago were something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. When people die their friends wear black clothes for twelve months after their death. Green is worn on St. Patrick's Day.

The local fairs are held in Kilfinane, Kilmallock and Kildorrery. Those fairs are held in the streets. The people put railings outside their to prevent them from getting broken. Long ago fairs were held in fields which are now discontinued because farmers are not keeping as much cattle. A bargain is made by hitting the hand. Some buyers go around the big farmers and buy cattle. When an animal is sold the buyers give luck money. There is a fair held in Kilfinane every month. Every year there is a big fair held in Buttevant. There is a fair held every year the 25th of October in Kilkfinane. Cattle are marked by cutting the tops of the ears with a scissors or by cutting the hair on the left hip. The best fairs are held on the 25th of October, the 7th of December and the 12th of May. There is a market held every month in Mitchelstown for the sale of bonhams.

In olden times people used have only three meals a day. Breakfast, dinner and supper. The breakfast was eaten at nine o'clocl it consisted of potatoes and salt. The dinner was eaten at two o'clock it consisted of potatoes and buttermilk. The supper was eaten at nine o'clock it consisted of yellow meal boiled in an oven of spring water. People worked in the morning without having any breakfast. Tables were hanged on the walls when not in use. The people did not sit around the table in the floor. The bread that was used long ago was meal bread and potato bread. Mowers were paid to mow hay with a scythe in the morning before their breakfast. Meat was very seldom used in olden times and when used it was generally salt meat. Herrings were often used. Potatoes were boiled for the breakfast and sometimes the poorer classes boiled them for their supper. On Easter Sunday a big pot of eggs were boiled. The vessels they usually used were panies.

The old people said that if you had a sore throat you should put a stocking around your neck when going to bed. They said that if you had in the eye you should make the sign of the cross over it three times with a gold ring. If you had warts you should wash your hands in the water you would find in a hole in a stone. There is a holy well near our house called Saint Patrick's well. People used give rounds there some years ago. They used to wash their eyes in it if they were sore. The cure the old people had for boils was a mustard poultice, they used pour hot water on to the mustard. They used apply it while it was hot. The cure they had for a pain in the side was a linseed poultice, they used pour hot water on to the linseed meal and place it on a cloth and then apply it. Another cure they had for boils was soap and fine sugar laid on a cloth and then applied. The seventh son was a doctor, and the seventh daughter was supposed to be a witch. The seventh son was able to cure certain diseases. The cure the old people had for a gripe was the cleas na pucle. A certain hot was made with a cord over the calf.

The only birds that came oftenest to this district are wild ducks. They make a nest by a bank of a river. They lie on the eggs for about three weeks. When the young ducks are out they live by the bank of the river until they get big. When they are able to swim they migrate. The swallows also come to this district. They come in the month of May or April. They build their nest on the eaves of houses. They lie on the eggs for about a month. She makes her nest in meadows. The cuckoo is usually seen in the month of May. She migrates in the month of September. When wild geese are seen it is the sign of snow. When the swallows come early it is the sign of a fine summer. When they come late it is the sign of a bad summer. When they fly low it is the sign of rain. When they fly high it is the sign of fine weather. When the seagulls fly inland it is the sign of snow. When the birds sing early in the evening it is the sign of fine weather.

Wild birds live in the mountains of this district. The birds that live there are the pheasant, grouse and partridge. These birds do not migrate. The shooting season opens in August and ends in March. They build their nests in the heather. The small birds builds their nests in the woods and bushes and trees. The small birds do not build their nests in the mountains.
The swallows migrate every year. She builds her nest in the eaves of houses. it is said that if you rob birds nests your hands would get on. The robin, thrush and blackbird do not migrate. The cuckoo does not build any nest. The weather can be judged by the behaviour of certain birds. If the wild geese or wild duck come far inland in Autumn it is the sign of a bad winter. If the swallows fly low it is the sign of rain. If the seagull comes far inland it is the sign of bad weather. If the curlew cries loud it is the sign of snow. The robin as a red breast because he pulled a thorn out of a Saints head. The blood bust up to his breast. Every robin that came since had a red breast.

There is a man living in Kilfinane whose name is John Flanagan who is the world champion hammer thrower. There is Dan Shanahan of Kilfinane the world champion hop step and jumper. There is Sean Hanley of Kilfinane who was the best man in the team when they won the All Ireland Hurling Final. There is Dan Flynn of Clovers who was a champion pole jumper. He could jump ten and a half feet high. There was William Connery of Ballinanama who was a champion long jumper. He jumped across the road below the Kilfinane church. The jump was about twenty four feet long.

Marriages usually take place during Shrove. Monday and Tuesday are thought to be unlucky days for getting married. 'Tis unlucky to get married in the month of June. Matches are made in this district for those that have a fortune to go with them. Marriages do not take place in the houses. When the people that are to be married are going to the church they go in a different motor car or carriage as the case may be. They come home together in the same car. As an old custom when the married party are leaving to church their parents are waiting at the door and they confetti or rice as a token of good luck to the pair. The silver coin which is used in the marriage ceremony is used as a brooch or a souvenir because it is blessed. The bride generally wears a wreath and veil and a dress with a train tail and they get a bouquet of orange blossoms. Green is an unlucky colour for a bride to wear.

There was a holy well in Ballintubber long ago and every child who got the whooping cough was taken to it and was cured. One night a woman brought a little child to the well. She washed some of the child's clothes in it. On the next day the well was seen in another field. In the year 1918 there was a terrible epidemic in the country. It was a great influenza. It lasted for about two years. A great many people died. There were six children drowned in Knochaneven about thirty years ago. The river was near the school, and the children used to go to it every day. One day there was a flood in the river and the children went to it. They fell into it and got drowned. There was a hall in Droncollogher long ago. There were about fifty people in it. The hall took fire and hey were all burned.

In olden times people got married in Shrove. They did not get married in the morning as they do nowadays but in the evening. The people used to say that the month of May was an unlucky month to get married. A couple of nights before the marriage the boy would take his friends to the girls house and they would dance. The night after the girl would take her friends to the boys house and they would also have a dance. About forty years ago there were a great many matches made in this district. Money was given as dowry. The people had no motor cars long ago. The night after the wedding they would have dancing and parties till morning. The straw boys went around to the houses on the night after the wedding and they ate and danced too.

I am as quick as a bird, I cross the sea without a boat, I climb mountains without a ladder, I enter a house without knocking, I eat with a king? A fly
It is not cat, but it wears hair, It is no mirror but it reflects. It rains at any moment, but it is not a cloud? An eye.
Why does the cock close his eyes when he crows? He knows his song by heart.
He hangs on my wall, but he is no saint. He has two horns, bu is not an ox. He paints with dye, but he is not a painter. He carries a house but he cannot build? A snail.
What walks on their heads? The nails of your boots.
London, Derry, Cork and Kerry spell me that without a K.
That.
When is a queen like a piece of wood? When she is a ruler.
What is that grows the more you take from it? A grave.

Long ago the people used make their own candles. They used melt the tallow in moulds, and they used put a wick in it. They used leave it in the moulds for a couple of days to get hard. Then they would use them. The people used dye their own clothes long ago with garlic and dandelion. The dandelion and garlic were boiled and the clothes were put into it and were dyed. The people used make soap with tallow, nitrate of soda and carbolic acid. The people used make baskets of bamboo and sally twigs. The people used make shoes for horses out of steel. They would put a piece of steel into the fire to get red. When it would be red it would be taken out with a tongs and make a shoe out of it.

In the year 1839 there was a terrible snow in the country. It commenced on the 15th of February. It lasted for three days. It remained on the ground for two months, blotting out every trace of verdure and imprisoning hundreds of people who far away from the towns, had to endure the horrors of a half famine. There was a child lost in it. There was a drought about thirty years ago. It was in the month of September. A number of cattle died because they had no water to drink. In the year 1912 there was a terrible thunder storm. The lightning burned two men who were filling a load of hay.

There are wild birds in this district. The wild birds in this district are the wild ducks and the wild geese. The wild duck stays in Ireland flies from pond to pond. The cuckoo and swallow migrates. The cuckoo goes away in the month of July and the swallow goes away in September. They both come back in the springtime. The robin and the wren build their nests in fences. The stonechat builds her nest in a hole in the wall and the swallow builds hers in the eaves of houses. The cuckoo builds no nest. The crows and magpies build their nests in trees. They lie on the eggs for about a month. They lay their eggs in the month of May. They make their nests with wool and hay and moss. If a boy robbed a birds nest he would get warts in his hands. When the crows are flying around in a circle it is the sign of a storm. The birds sing very early in the morning is the sign of fine weather. When the swallows are flying low it is the sign of rain and when they fly high it is the sign of fine weather. Long ago there was only one fire and a boy was always sent to light it. Once a boy was told to put sticks into the fire because it was quenched. As he was trying to light the fire a robin came and kept flapping his wings and the fire began lighting again. The robins breast got scorched and ever since it has a red breast.

Long ago people made cures of their own. If a person had a toothache he would walk half ways to the dentist and he would be cured. Nettles were used long ago to heal rheumatism. A cure for thrush is to get a child that never saw his father to blow his breath three times into your mouth. People go to holy wells to get cured of sore eyes. They go each morning for nine mornings to be cured. If a person had the whooping cough he should go to mountainy rocks to get a certain herb called Mary's cups which grew amongst the moss and by boiling it in milk you would be cured of it. If a person had a pain in the side he should take up a stone and spit in it and lay it down again and the pain is relieved. If you looked through a gold ring making the sign of the cross each time it would cure a stye.

What man in the Dáil wears the biggest hat?
The man with the biggest head.
Why does a hen pick a pit? Because she can't lick it.
Why does a cow look over a ditch? Because she can't look under it.
Black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
What is one half of the moon like? The other half.
What is the strongest day of the week? Sunday, because all the rest are weak days.
The man that made it never wore it and the man that wore it never saw it, what is that?
A coffin.
What part of a cow goes over a fence first? Her breath.

Long ago people used make their own candles. They used get a piece of tin the shape of a pump of a bicycle with a hole in the middle and they used run a cotton thread through the middle of it to make a wick. Then they would pour in the tallow and leave it to cool. They used make soap of a nitrate of soda and tallow and carbolic acid. Baskets were made out of bamboo twigs and sally twigs peeled and then they would boil them in oil to make them tough. Then they would weave them together to make baskets out of them. When a smith is working in a forge he has to make a big fire with slack coal damped in water. This causes more heat. He puts in a piece of steel and when it is well red he takes it out with a tongs and hammers it to make a shoe for a horse. They used dye clothes with the dandelion and garlic. The dandelion and garlic were boiled and left draw.

Did you ever see a pig's head with two eyes?
Yes with my own two eyes.
Tis red and tis yellow and 'tis sparkling green the king cannot catch it not more than the queen?
A rainbow.
What goes to mass on their heads? The nails of my boots.
Two little children dressed in white one got the fever and died last night? Two candles.
What is it the more you take from it the larger it gets?
A grave.
In the Kil there was a mal in the mal there was a lock and no key could open it.
Kilmallock.
'Tis black as ink, as white as milk, and it hops on the road like hailstones.
A magpie.
Ink ank under a back ten drawing four? A woman milking a cow.
White bird featherless flew from paradise and perched on the high castle wall?
Snowflakes.
Hoddy doddy with a round black body and a big flat hat what is that? A pot.

If the sky is red at night the day after would be fine. A circle round the moon is the sign of a good amount of rain. If the stars are shining very bright it is the sign of bad weather. Clouds flying low past the moon is the sign of rain. The western wind brings cold rain. The rooks going round in a circle is the sign of a storm. A cat turns his back to the fire when it is going to rain. Birds singing early in the morning is the sign of fine weather. The distant hills looking near is the sign of rain. The smoke gushes out about the kitchen when we are going to get frost. When white clouds are in the sky it is the sign of thunder. A bad winter is the sign of a fine summer.

Black quarter weed grows in low lying land. It blooms in spring. It has a little white flower in the centre of its leaves. In this flower lies its poison. Cattle which eat this flower get "Blackquarter" and die. It is however quite harmless for goats. That is why goats are put on the land with cattle. They eat all the harmful herbs.
Another cure is if a beast has taken it to put red pepper up the nostril of the beast and let it then into an open field. The beast goes mad and runs around the field, thus circulating the blood.
Red posey weed growing in walls cures kidney trouble. Boil it and drink water of it. It is drawn like tea.
For-tail weed, injurious to cattle, so called because its leaf resembles forms tail.

There was a great match played between Kilmurry and Clondrohid about fifty years ago in a field now owned by Mr. Lehane Crossmahon Lissarda. It was played in the rough and tumble style. There were not any goalposts but instead one team would score into one corner and the other into the opposite corner in the other side. The score was called puck-cúal. There used be twenty one in each side. There was a bet of ten pounds on the match that a Kilmurry man would knock a Clondrohid man first but a Clondrohid man knocked one of his opponents who was a brother of Mr. Neville Ballytrasna Lissarda.

At the left hand side of the road from Kilmurry to Poulnargid. There was an old fair field. Four times a year there were fairs one in January, one in May and the the biggest one in September because rounds used to be said at the holy well on Cnoc a Tobair.
Every day a fair was held faction fighting was carried out. The last families to fight were the Murphy Doirbhs and the Galvin Maistins. One day the fight went so hard that a tent was pulled down and the sticks for holding the tent were used as fighting sticks. Any morning that no fighting was on a woman used to throw off her cloak and say "ten o'clock and no stroke struck". There used to be a fair at Castletown on New Year's Day and any pigs that would not be sold on the day would be kept till next year.

It is an old custom th
at the potato crop is set from the seventeenth to the twenty fifth of March.
All winter wheat is set in Novembers dark moon, usually occurs between the twentieth and the thirtieth of November.
No machine was overturned on Christmas day. All the turnips are sliced before that day.
It is unlucky to remove furniture on Mondays.

A band of travelling people calls to Kilmurry named O'Gorman's. They come to Kilmurry very often especially around Christmas.
They have a caravan with windows and nice curtains on them. They sell holy pictures and images racks and combs, soap and boot laces. Nearly every person buy something from them because they are very honest people. They remain around about a fortnight.

Then some nails if similarly worn but enclosed in a tiny red sack protected the wearer against evil spirits, particularly those known as "the good people".
A coffin nail found accidentally and kept safely in one's pocket served as a charm against the common ailment of toothache.
A horseshoe found wrong side up on the road and placed over the kitchen door brought great luck to the household.
A charm for the removal of warts was to place a stone for each wart in a tiny sack.

There is a fort in the townland of Currarague in Tady Connors farm, now owned by Patrick Buckley. Two men whose names we do not know dreamt one night that there was a crock of gold in the fort. They went the fourth night to seek the gold.
When they had gone down six feet they came upon a large flag. When they were about to remove the flag a big black bull came up roaring, with fire out his nose.
When the men saw him they ran for their lives, and never tried to seek the gold again.

There are certain days of the week considered unlucky for marriage

there was cooking her mans dinner in the little pot. She the witch went to all the houses in the row but every housewife was using her pot. The with was raging she wanted the skillet badly to brew a "potion" a magic drink. She cursed and swore at all the women but they only laughed at her the more she raged. At last she called the "ould boy"(the devil) to her aid and between them they struck the "Bronsa" which was just a winding stream and caused its waters to overflow to form the lake which is there now. There is a tradition that on a very fine day the houses of old Mullingar may be still seen at the bottom of the lake.
Indian Meal.
Was boiled into porridge and afterwards backed into a bastable or pot oven. It was put into the bastable resting on a pot stand over the gresach(hot turf ashes) the lid put on the oven and lit sods put on the lid. The "caukeen" of yalla buck was baked brown boxty bread.
Flour was mixed from the fermented juice of coddled or rasped potatoes which had been standing over in a lightly closed crock.

Bad tradesmen quarrel with their tools.
A half loaf is better than none.
Two heads are wiser than one.
Ill got ill gone.
Hunger is good sauce.
Empty vessels make most noise.
The best hound wins the race.
Slow but cunning does the trick.
The worst at work is first at the table.
Never leave until tomorrow that which you can do today.
Anything worth doing at all is worth doing well.
When wine is in wit is out.
You let the cat out of the bag.
It's too late to spare when all is spent.

A wise man carries his coat.
Willful waste, woeful want.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
The windy day isn't the day to thatch.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A rod in time is worth nine.
A good start is half the work.
A patch is better than a hole.
It is better late than ever.
Look before you leap.
All that glitters is not gold.
From the frying pan into the fire.
Constant grinding wears a stone.
The early bird catches the early worm.

a foot apart, and the drills are closed. When the stalks appear they are moulded and moulded secondly. A plough is used in the setting of the potatoes. The neighbours come and swap with each other. The potatoes are sprayed in Summer to keep away the blight. In Autumn they are dug and picked into heaps. They are covered with rushes and clayed.
There are many kinds of potatoes, Lumpers, Kerr's Pinks, Irish queens, Epicures, Aran Banners, and Aran Victors, Champions and Beauties of Heabru. I never heard of potatoes being used instead of starch.
Some years ago Champions were the only potatoes but now they

it would blind you. We couldn't get home from school, so my father came and brought us home under a cover.
Ice Storm.
About fifty eight years ago there came a terrible ice storm when there was ice over every place. Loch Ramar was frozen so hard that the people of Virginia carted timber across it from Sankey's to Virginia and the people of Mounterconnaught brought their cattle across it to the Virginia fair.
About a fortnight ago there was an ice storm which held up the traffic. The roads were so slippery that no buses, motors, or carts could go on them. The old people going to mass could not go out on the middle of the roads or they would fall, they had to walk on the grass because the road was like glass.
When James Smith of Lorganinlure

be found until the snow melted. Early one morning when the people rose they couldn't see anything before them only snow. They didn't know what to do. They had to get a shovel and make a path just the height of a man. They had to fill a pot with snow and boil it for the tea, and for the cows. It took James Martin two days and a half to get to fodder the cattle. You could only see the head of a man walking along the path they made. They made snow boots in the form of a cross and strapped them around their feet to prevent them from going down too far in the snow. The people were starved that year because they could not get to the town or to the shops.
The snow about six years ago was five feet in places. It was blown in heaps along the sides of the roads and ditches. It was so severe that if you went out

were battered down and unfit for use that year. The houses were invaded by the flood. In some houses it came in and they had to put bags at the door to stop it.
A smith man in Cross had a race mare for which he refused eighty pounds. That was the time of the flood and she went down to drink and the force of the water in the river brought her away. After some time swimming she dashed against a bridge and knocked her brains out.
Snowstorm.
About sixty years ago there was a big snowstorm in the country. It was about five or six feet in height. A man named Ted Sheridan was lost at Billis and another man named John Daly was lost at Quilca and could not be found until the snow melted. Rose Love was lost in Gola and could not

The largest flood I have ever heard of in many years was the flood in June 1919.
There were animals and other things carried away with it. Bernard McDermot's(Granacunia) calves were grazing in the meadows beside the Granacunia river. They were carried away before they knew about it. Phil Clarke had hay in the meadows and it was brought away too. James O'Dowd had all his turf in his own bog beside the house, they were carried away also.
It tore the roads and raised the silt up and floods were running on the roads and it was very deep. The school children's fathers had to come and carry them home.
The crops were destroyed and

burned. A man named Moran near Baileboro used make gates and ploughs and fire cranes. First he got the iron in the foundry and then made the ploughs and other instruments.
Pat Cooney Greaghdusson used to make whips. First he would plait the cords and knot them to a stick. Then he would sell them for a shilling each.
Joe Nugent used tan leather and now builds wheels.
Long ago lime was drawn from Ross and burned in kilns. The kiln was like a huge big churn made from stones and covered over here.
A grate made from bars of iron was put in the bottom and then the lime was put on the bars. Then a layer of turf was put on the top of the lime and it was built in that way every second layer of turn and lime

There were once two brothers, one of whom was very rich and the other very poor. The rich man was gaining riches every day and his brother was getting poorer day by day. One day the poor man went to his brother and asked him how he should get rich. His brother told him to go to a certain place on a certain night and to stand by a beam of a plough which was on a gap and when he would see horsemen coming to jump across the beam. He also told him not to talk on any account during the night. He went to the place appointed on the appointed night. He did as his brother ordered. The horseman came and he jumped across the beam. The horses passed by

Stories are told about the mass in former times.
There is a story told of an old woman named Mary Hall, Taylorstown, Co. Wexford, who went to mass every Sunday in Ballycullane church, Co. Wexford, but she was never in time. About the middle of mass she usually strolled in but this Sunday she happened to be in time. When the priest whose name was Father Murphy was preaching about people not paying the dues this woman stood up and put up her hand at the priest and told him to leave it so We gave enough of it she said . I never heard tell of anyone asking the priest a question during mass around my

were needed for meal times.
Bread was seldom eaten, but when it was it was made from oatmeal and was baked on hot bricks in front of the fire.
No meat or vegetables were eaten except on festive occasions like Christmas, Easter and St. Patrick's Day when salt meat was eaten.
On St. Stephen's Day fish was eaten on Easter Sunday eggs were eaten, and pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.
It is unknown when tea was first introduced into the district, but for many years it was a Christmas day novelty.
Before cups were used small wooden vessels known as noggins were used in their place but all other articles in that

would happen. This boy and a comrade went to the church. After some time the priest appeared and asked if there was anyone there to serve mass. The boy answered "Yes father" and answered mass for the priest from where the other server stopped serving. When it was over the priest turned to the server and said "There is nothing between you and Heaven".
Mass bells were heard in the church of Inch where mass was said seven hundred years ago. An old man named Gregory Furlong of Goletown, Ballycullane Co. Wexford asked lately if they were heard still. It was a custom with the people in the olden times if they had no penny to put in

Stories are told about the mass. Some years ago there was a priest in Horewood saying mass one morning. Something distracted the server and he did not answer the latter part of the mass. Years after the priest died but he came back each night to the church. The priest, who was in charge of the church after his death knew of it and he asked a boy to stay in the church one night to see what

There was a giant that lived in a place called Nash, Cassagh, New Ross many years ago. He was eight feet four inches high. Any time he wanted to get a new pair of boots he always killed a cow and skinned her to have enough leather to make them. It took three tailors three weeks to make a suit of clothes for him. He used to perform great feats in Nash. He was strong as six men. When pulling tug-o-war he was very supple although being a very big man. He would stand three big barrels side by side. Then he would take a 56 lb

Tales are told about mass. An old woman named Johanna King Rathimney, Gusserane, New Ross, was called "Queen". She never went to mass only on a Christmas morning. One morning she was exceedingly bad with old age and infirmity. When she was within a short distance of her hone she dropped dead. My great uncle Matthew Long, The Kyle Gusserane, was in the habit of going to midnight mass. This night was very stormy and dark and plenty of lightning and

There are tales told about the mass. I never heard of anyone who ceased attending mass.
A man named Patrick Hennessy near Campile, Co. Wexford commonly called Paddy the Harbour was passing from the Mockyea to his own house. He had to pass through the Conubar on his way.
It was very late in the night when nearing the mass stone he heard great commotion and then head suddenly a brown-robed first appeared. A candle was lighted

In the penal days the priests were forbidden to say mass in their churches. There were thatched churches in almost all the graveyards. These are in Rathimney, Nash, Kennagh, and Owenduff. The remains of those can be seen today. Old people say that a bell was heard ringing in Rathimney church for a number of years. When the priests were forbidden to say mass in their churches they went out in the open in secret place and offered up the Holy Sacrifice. Crowds of people heard mass on the hills and some of them walked miles and miles. They held the faith in spite of all. There was always someone watching because

hanging from the tree but it is withered now. In that wood also there are bilberries to be found in the Autumn.
There is but one river in the district called the Slaney and the fishermen fish in it every year from the first of April until October, some years they catch plenty of fish and other years they catch very little. The fish they catch are salmon, trout, bass, fluke, and pale. There are plenty of streams around the district.

of all lays fifteen eggs. Some birds foretell the coming weather by their behaviour. There is a tradition that the robin got its red breast where it plucked a thorn out of Our Lord's head and a drop of blood fell upon its breast.
Some birds do great damage but the farmer could not do without them because they eat the worms that are in the ground which devour all the seed when it is sown.

I am now about to relate to you a few stories about bird lore. There are many different birds to be seen flying around this district such as the cuckoo, swallow, corncrake, robin and thrush but I think I will

but he was in a bad temper and told them that he would do nothing for them that night as they had a traitor amongst them. He immediately dispensed all the hares with the aid of his whip.
The tailor pursued the hare on his homeward journey, knowing full well that if he lost sight of her, he would remain for ever in the shape of a hare. As he kept her in view he cursed his curiosity for spying on her. He raced side by side with her and the two jumped the window together. The first hare pulled a jar from the window outside and after rubbing herself with the contents, attempted to spill the rest, but the hare was too smart for her. He seized the jar and rubbled himself with the contents and immediately he became himself again.
I supposed these folklore are superstitions handed down to us from our pagan ancestors. Of course these tales lose nothing in the telling. But as Shakespeare says "There are more things in heaven and earth
Than are dreamt of in man's philosophy.

should be finished for May Eve.
The tailor settled down to work but was constantly reminded of May Eve. At length the day arrived, the clothes were finished and the woman was delighted. She paid the tailor. The tailor was not to be put off so easily. He wanted to fit the clothes on the man of the house. They were a splendid fit, but the tailor found some fault with the coat and said that the alterations would only take a few minutes, so Kathleen yielded with a very bad grace. The coat being finished to the satisfaction of all parties, the tailor was about to take his departure, when the husband prevailed on him to stay the night. The tailor gladly accepted the invitation. The woman knew her plans had failed so she resigned herself to the inevitable. She gave orders all to bed early, giving some excuse. The tailor notices that she did not bolt the kitchen door nor the kitchen window as was her custom before retiring.
The tailor retired to the settle bed in the kitchen. He remained very wide awake. About midnight he heard very

Old people used to tell about a woman who lived near Crookstown, named Kathleen Ní Geera, who carried on the nefarious practice of stealing butter on May Eve, but it could never be proved against her.
Now, it was the custom in Ireland at the time for tailors to go to the houses of people who wanted new clothes. He generally made clothes for all the household out of tweed and flannel made at home. This woman engaged a tailor to make a suit of clothes for her husband, the conditions she had laid down bring that the clothes should be finished for May Eve. To this the tailor agreed.
The tailor had heard all the rumours about Kathleen and he resolved to find out the truth for himself, more especially as she put in the proviso that the clothes

One day Donnchadh Dubh was hiding money and the scouts were watching him. He went into the forge and told the smith to change the shoes on the horses. The smith did so. He turned the back to the front and the front to the back.
When the soldiers were pursuing Donnchadh they went in the wrong direction. Donchadh went to Kilbrittain and hid his money in Condon's field in Ballymore, where the flag is still to be seen.
There was a woman named Maire Ní Ganseach and she told men to come between ten and eleven o'clock to dig the gold. When they were two fields away, they got afraid and went home.
The next day there was a fog in from the sea. The men tried to dig the gold, but they did not succeed. The gold remained hidden in the field where Donnchadh burned and to this day that field is known as the Money Field.

When Our Divine God was a little boy. He was passing through Egypt being thirsty, he asked a little boy for a drink. The little boy willingly gave him a drink. When that boy grew up, he again met Our Lord on Calvary.
He was the Penitent Thief.When Our Divine Lord was a little boy he had a vision of the crucifixion, the nails, the spear. He saw two angels coming towards him, one was bearing a cross and the other was bearing the nails, hammer and spear. When he saw them coming towards him, he ran to his mother in terror. He ran so fast that one of his sandals was loosened. The picture that depicts that scene is called.
Our Lady of Perpetial Succour.

of horses, as they are approaching the headlands.
It is unlucky to pass under a ladder.
If you spill salt, you will shed tears. Some of it should be picked up and thrown over the shoulder.
It is unlucky to cut a child's hair or nails.
A young child should not see itself in a mirror, it is unlucky.
It is unlucky to meet a red-haired woman the first person in the morning.
It is unlucky to meet a pig in the morning.
It is unlucky to open an umbrella over you inside in a house.
Green is an unlucky colour, the wearer is sure to wear black afterwards.
It is unlucky to go downstairs after you have retired for the night.
It is unlucky to interfere with another men's plough.
It is unlucky to give anything away on May Day.
It is unlucky to let an umbrella or walking stick fall; someone else should pick it up.
It is unlucky to give away a "clucking" hen.
It is unlucky to start a journey or business on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

One magpie is an omen of bad luck.
If a blackbird flew into the house, it is a sign of bad luck.
Peacock's feathers bring bad luck to a house.
If you broke a Christmas candle you would have bad luck.
If you broke a mirror you would not have luck for seven years.
If you looked through a glass at the moon you would not have luck for a month.
It is unlucky to cross in front of a pair

It is lucky to find a horseshoe, or any bit of iron
See a pen and pick it up
All the day you will have luck
If a black cat comes to you house, he will bring you luck, if he will die, your luck is gone.
If a horse ran up to you in the field you would have luck.
If you met a white horse, it is lucky.
If a robin flew into your house, it is a sign of good luck.
If you saw two magpies you would have good luck.

My grandfather(R.I.P.) was born in 1853, the year after the big snow. It lasted one night and one day. It commenced snowing on the 22nd February.

Robert Hales, Knockcuna, Bandon won the mile championship of Ireland in 1911, 1912, 1913. He held the two mile Scottish record in 1912.Patrick Flynn, Clohane, Ballinadee, Bandon ran second for U.S.A. in 300 metre race in Berlin in 1912. He represented America at the Olympic Games held in Athens in 1912. He defeated Glauver, the famous English runner of the time, at Belfast in an international race before he left this country for America.

to the priests question "where were you at the third whistle?". "I was standing before ye".
Those who pretended they were anxious to see him a short while before, now entreated the priest to banish him, as everything he touched took fore. All their entreaties were of no avail. Father Coughlan left him there for the space of three days. At last the Parish priest prevailed on him to send back old Hiench. He consented, but not before all those present promised never again to molest a priest.
Father Coughlan died soon afterwards. He suffered a great deal before he died.

Scoffers at the rest of this tale must allow to the track, as I have seen them myself many a time. Tradition has it that Stammer's power after death lay in the fact that he received private baptism from the nurse when he was born.
A very dangerous practice to perform on unbelievers.

There was a man lived in Barleyfield, Kilbrittain. His name was Moore. He was a priest hunter.
One day there came a message for the priest to go on a sick call. When he went there, the priest hunter was there before him. Father Mulcahy was the parish priest in Kilbrittain then the Minister got a rope and put it around the priests neck and he was going to hang the priest and the men he had working for him asked to open the door "to save" the priest and they would not and they burst in the door with stones and they took the rope off his neck. As they were walking along the road the priest said to the men that the man who put the rope around his neck there will be a rope around his own neck before many hours, and in a couple of hours the man cut his own throat.

Bandon fair is held every month on the first Tuesday and Wednesday. It is held in the square.
The buyers give back a cheque to the owner, they keep "luck". When the cattle are sold the buyer says "hold out your hand" he then strikes the palm with the palm of his own hand and says "sold again".
The buyers mark the cattle with a scissors. They cut off a bit of hair. Others mark them with paint.
There are two big horse fairs in the year. One in February and the other in August. They are called the Big Horse Fairs.
Halters are given with horses. It is not usual to give a halter with cows.
Buyers sometimes go from house to house buying stock.
Tolls are not paid in Bandon fairs.

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The landlord of our townland was Colonel Alcock Stowell Riversdale. He lived in Kilbrittain Castle.
Mr Coughlan Ballymore was evicted for non-payment of rent. Afterwards he took forcible possession. He was put to jail and served a term of imprisonment.
When he was set free he went to live in a lodge.

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way.
Next day the seed was ripe and the men were cutting it. Herod's soldiers were persuing the Holy Family. They asked the reapers if they had seen them passing. The man replied that they were passed this way when they were setting the seed. Herod's soldiers were on the point of giving up the pursuit, when a lizard said "indé, indé". Herod's soldiers knew then that it was yesterday the Holy Family passed that way.
One of the men lifted his heel and gave the lizard a kick on the head. Ever since the lizard has a lag in his head. The Crucifiction.
Herod's soldiers went to a smith to make the nails. The smith refused. They asked a tinker. He made the nails and ever since tinkers are homeless wanderers.
The Robin
The robin was flying around Our Lord on Mount Calvary. A drop of His Blood fell on the robin's breast and ever since the robin has a red breast.

The Seagull.
When Our Lord was escaping from His enemies, he passed by the sea shore.
The seagulls covered up His footprints, so that His enemies were unable to teach Him. Ever since then, it is difficult to find a seagulls nest.

There was a fair held in Kilbrittain long ago. It was held annually on the 22nd November. Pigs, geese, and turkeys were sold there.
About sixty five years ago there was a fight between the police and the people. The police were trying to send the people home.
There was a man named O'Donovan in the village. His mother was trying to warn him to go home, but he remained a while amid the excited crowd. There was a Sergt. Clifden in the barracks, he had an impediment in his speech. O'Donovan imitated him and the Sergt. became so enraged that he returned to the barracks, brought out a revolver and shot O'Donovan dead, near the place where the post office now stands.
The Sergt. was a Protestant according to general belief he did not suffer anything on account of this act. He was removed from Kilbrittain and the fair was discontinued, but the memory of British tyranny remains.

and that his tomb in Drishane churchyard testifies to this, as well as family documents and tradition.
If so, he must have witnessed some extraordinary events in Irish history. He was a boy of five years old when O'Sullivan Beare captured his father's castle, and, as we have seen, presumably his mother and himself also, Elizabeth was then Queen of England. She wa succeeded by James I, he by his son, Charles I, when Donagh was in his prime. Donagh "went out" for that Charles in 1641, and amongst those outlawed at that time we find Teige McPhelim McCarthy of Drishanebeg, gent; Callaghan McOwen McCarthy of Drishane, and Donagh McCarthy of Drishane, gentleman.
He fought under his chief(and cousin) the Lord of Muskerry, from 1641 to 1652, and as a result his castle and lands were confiscated, to be restored later by Charles IV. Later on, he went into action for

Katharine, daughter of Thomas Fitzgerald, of Co. Waterford, and widow of Richard Fitzdavy Barry, of Rahanisky Castle, near Cork, by whom he had a son, Owen Oge, unmarried at his fathers death.
When Owen McTeige died in 1637 an inquisition was held into his lands. It was found that he died possessed of the Castles of Carrigaphooka and Drishane, with the lands of Coomelagane, Liseahane Glantane, Cloghboola, Lackybane, etc., and that Donagh McOwen, his eldest son and heir, was forty years of age.
In the current number of the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society appears a remarkable article on this Donagh McOwen McCarthy, written by Mrs. Benedicta Wyse Power, descended from him through the McCarthy O'Leary family of Coomlegane, Millstreet. She states that he lived in Drishane Castle up to the year 1719, when he died there aged 122 years.

answer such matters as shall be alleged against him".
Owen McTeige McCarthy died peacefully at Drishane Castle on November 10th 1637. By his first wife, Grania, daughter to Sir Cormac McTeige, he had eight sons and five daughters.
1. Donagh McOwen, who married Katharine, daughter of John Barry, alias Mac Robiston, of Ballyclogh Castle, near Mallow.
2. Teige, who married, first, Catharine, daughter of David Lacey of Athlacca, Co. Limerick, and, secondly, Ellen, daughter of Donagh O'Leary - the O'Leary(of Millstreet).
3. Donal, who married Honora, daughter of Morrogh McSwiney, alias Morrogh My Mart - a famous gallowglass leader.
4. Cormac, who married Margaret, another daughter of David Lacey, of Athlacca.
5,6,7,8, Dermod Callaghan, Phelim and Fynen, unmarried.
Owen McTeige had married secondly

of later days, but it must be remembered that the news of Hugh O'Donnell's death convinced them, and other southern chiefs that no more Spanish aid was possible, and their only chance to hold their land was to throw in their lot with the Queen's forces. O'Sullivan Beare would probably have sued for pardon himself had there been any likelihood it would have been given.
The Owen McSwiney who spied on Tyrell's camp, with his cousin, was the founder of the Mashanglass family. He is referred to in recognisances taken in 1602, when Owen McDonnell Mac Swyny alian Owen Claghy de Mashanglass, gent; Owen McTeige Charty de Dryshane, gent; and Donagh McCormac Carty de Cloghphilip, gent, entered into bonds that the said Owen McDonnell would appear before the Lord President of Munster at Shandon Castle, Cork, before twenty one days, and

got very near unperceived, and on returning informed Bagenal that the camp was in three sections, that there was a large wood at the back; in front was a log half a mile broad; and on either side were craggy and rocky mountains.
Bagenal divided his men to surround the camp, but when they were very near, one of them stumbled, and his gun went off. The camp was alarmed. Tyrell escaped, but some of his men were killed, and 1,000 cows taken, with horses, arms, and Spanish money. This exploit did not satisfy Owen, for we read that when Donal O'Sullivan Beare engaged in his last desperate retreat from Glengariff to Leitrim, the songs of Teige McCarthy attacked and pursued him as far as the banks of the Blackwater.
These exploits do not confer any credit upon Owen McTeige and his brothers, as looked at from our standards

fire of the marksmen, attacked the gate in the lowwermost wall, and burnt it. Then the pikemen passed through and climbed the rock to the second wall. They partly burnt and burst the door of that wall, got through, and attacked the castle door.
According to the historian, the castle began to tatter, and a panic seized the garrison, who surrendered upon terms. They were allowed to depart, and O'Sullivan dismantled the castle.
In it was found some of the Spanish gold, and many other treasures deposited there for safe keeping, by the neighbours.
When Hugh O'Donnell died in Spain, Cormac MacDermod, the Lord of Muskerry, saw there was no further hope, and made terms with the English. In October 1602, these were finally arranged, and included "that the deliver Castlepookee into the hands of the state and obtain the release of Owen McTeige's wife, children, and people out of the traitors hands", the traitor being

from them. The Irish historian describes the castle as being strong in its natural situation, and difficult to storm. There was no passage by which cannon could be brought to batter it, as it was situated amongst rocks and woods. Neither could it be undermined, so it was built upon a cutaway steep rock. It was surrounded by two stone walls; one near the base of the rock was two cubits higher than a man; the other near the top of the hill was higher still. From the lower to the higher wall, the ascent was by a narrow steep path. O'Sullivan, having with great difficulty, brought his army to the place, proceeded to surround it. He posted five hundred marksmen in the rocks and woods around. They showered bullets at the windows, doors, and battlements of the castle, and forced the defenders to remain under cover within the walls. A storm party was formed, and, covered by the

Hodden, of Fountainstown House, parents of Francis G. Hayes Esq. the present owner of Crosshaven House.
Another interesting fact is - On several occasions when men have been making a new grave in this churchyard, they have come across quantities of fish shells a foot or more beneath the surface. It seemed to them a strange find, but the explanation is quite simple. In the time of the great famine, many fled to this spot for refuge, and their only food was the shellfish gathered on the shore at Church Bay and elsewhere. At the N. E. corner of the yard may still be seen the remains of some of these rude shelters they made for themselves.

appears to be the remains of an old boat slip running from the castle door. The castle was originally a square massive stronghold three storeys high with a staircase set obliquely in the walls and there was a turret joined to the side. The ruin is now covered with times mantle of hardy ivy. Prior to sailing on is last voyage to the West Indies in August, 1617 Sir Walter Raleigh spent some time in residence at the castle and local tradition has it that it was at that time that he planted at Tivoli which Gibson mentions in his "History of Cork".

Blackrock has been in the news lately since the corporation discussed the leasing of the castle. There exists another interesting and more ancient pile in the district known as Dundanion Castle(which is situated near the marina end of Blackrock in the vicinity of the now disused railway).
Dundanion Castle is marked on a map of Cork in the "Pacata Hibernia) under the name of Galway Castle and is also mentioned in the Galway Rent Roll of 1554 in the famous Book of Kinsale. Before the building of the Marina the tide went right to the entrance to the castle and as a matter of fact, there can still be seen what

Macroom, midst your hills, flowery plains
All around you are bright to behold;
There are also your hills, valleys, dales
And your rivers flowing o'er beds like gold.Your convent and chapel divine
Standing bright at the foot of Sleaveen
O they form a picture sublime
Above all other sights I have seenFor in them were woven sweet spells
Of enchantment around my young soul
A vision that still to me tells
Of sweet joys I first got in MacroomYour streets in bright glittering array
Look resplendent in glad summertime
For the shops, then all painted, look gay,
And crowds come and go there each time.

word, by becoming a real Irishman. Several of them speaking of him to the Dean said "That was a man of God! a good man, a learned man, affable, polite and very sociable" adding as a proof of the highest perfection "and he used tobacco" - as if this was the crown of all the virtues adorning that marvellous man!
The Nuncio stayed in Limerick city during five days, and set out for Kilkenny, the capital city of the Confederation, where he was received in the old cathedral of St. Canice by the Bishop of Kilkenny, and in the great hall of Kilkenny Castle by Hugh O'Neill's son in law, Lord Mountgarrett. President of the Supreme Council. The subsequent story of his mission is part of the general history of Ireland and need not be touched upon here.

to the discovery of the precious stones, which caused a tremendous sensation at the time in Cork. Some local wags procured a portion of the popular sweetmeat candy and this they so bedaubed with clay that the glistening crystals shone brilliantly against their earthly setting. A certain street urchin was then bribed to go to a Cork jeweler with his "find" and also with a carefully rehearsed story of having dug up the "jewels" near the quarry. "Some of them found bluestones" said the innocent with delightful simplicity to the eager jeweler, "but I have found a yellow shining stone which I will not sell for under two guineas." This amount was promptly handed over and the "find" changed hands

Owing to certain legal question which arose as to the ownership of the quarry, work ceased there and many tons of earth were thrown over the excavation. Some curious stories are told relating

From the Bogeragh Mountains, swift and impetuous as youth, flows the river Sullane by storied castle and famed battlefield, to join its sister, the Lee, below the quaint old town of Macroom. Quaint indeed it is, and has witnessed many a bloody fray.
Brin Boru's brave Dalcassians there defeated the combined forces of O'Mahony and his Danish allies. O'Mahony was chief of the Clann O'Mahoney of Bandon, and assisted O'Donovan and O'Malley in the assasination of Brian's brother Mahon. The army of the southern chieftain was cut to pieces, and nothing now remained to mark the scene of

There are not many heroes around this locality.
One of the best known heroes around this place was John Brazil.
He had a batty pony one time and it was a great worker one of the best in the County Tipperary. It strayed away from him and as it has not returned from him and as it had not returned in three or four days he put an advertisement on the "Star" that he had lost a pony and if anyone had it or saw any sign of it to tell him. Next week as John was reading the "Star" he saw an advertisement stating that a man named Joe Culla had a stray pony on his farm at Graignamana fifteen miles outside Kilkenny.
John got his blackthorn and started off for his pony. This was about eight o'clock on Saturday. He reached the house of Culla at 12 a.m. He had walked 35 miles in four hours. He got home with

it again. One night it is said that he went to Kilkenny to steal a shoe of gold. They got it and as they were returning home with it, they were met by a party of yeomen, who were always on the look for them. As the yeomen were coming upon them, Carroll who was first shouted to Grant to lighten this load, so that the shoe of gold, likes somewhere in Longorchard bog. About a mile from Templetouhy there is an old cave known as Jer Grant's cave. It is said that an old woman informed on himself and his sister to the yeomen but anyway they both were captured and they were hung in Maryborough and were buried in Moyne.

it again. One night it is said that he went to Kilkenny to steal a shoe of gold. They got it and as they were returning home with it, they were met by a party of yeomen, who were always on the look for them. As the yeomen were coming upon them, Carroll who was first shouted to Grant to lighten this load, so that the shoe of gold, likes somewhere in Longorchard bog. About a mile from Templetouhy there is an old cave known as Jer Grant's cave. It is said that an old woman informed on himself and his sister to the yeomen but anyway they both were captured and they were hung in Maryborough and were buried in Moyne.

it again. One night it is said that he went to Kilkenny to steal a shoe of gold. They got it and as they were returning home with it, they were met by a party of yeomen, who were always on the look for them. As the yeomen were coming upon them, Carroll who was first shouted to Grant to lighten this load, so that the shoe of gold, likes somewhere in Longorchard bog. About a mile from Templetouhy there is an old cave known as Jer Grant's cave. It is said that an old woman informed on himself and his sister to the yeomen but anyway they both were captured and they were hung in Maryborough and were buried in Moyne.

third is left empty. These are placed side by side on a table, while the young people is facing the other way. Then in turn man and maid is blindfolded, and led to the table, the position of the dishes being changed each time.
The players poke the ring finger into any dish they like. The clean water shows a happy marriage, the dirty water a troublesome and stormy union, while the empty bowl shows that no marriage is probable until reset. Halloween comes again. It is usual to set two lighted candles over the fireplace, and from the way the burn the look of the household can be told during the coming year. If they are consumed bright there is good fortune for all the household; but if they smoke or splutter reverses will have to be met, and if they just burn in an ordinary way then the look will be ordinary.

he was passing a field near Killoran, he saw a strange sight. Two teams of hurlers dressed in red were assembled in the field. The men in one team were big and the ones in the other team were small yet the little players were better than the big ones. The man could not stop praising the little lads. After the match the players went into a grave in the field. The man completed his journey to and from Moyne.
At 12 o'clock that night a knock came to the door and called his name. He got up went out and saw one of the big hurlers waiting for him. The hurler led him on to the field near Killoran. When the match was over the teams disappeared leaving the man in the field.
The man was frightened and the next day he told his neighbour about adventure. Next night the man was called and did not open the door, the hurler then opened the door himself and hit the man with a stick and killed him.

A man was ploughing the corner of an ancient looking field in Barna.
He saw a large flat stone and on turning it over discovered a stone box with letters which he could not understand written on the lid.
When he went home he tried very hard to open the box but it was all in vain. He went to bed at 12 o'clock he awoke and heard chains rattling and cows mooing. He dressed himself and went out and the noise increased. He was about to go into the house again a voice bade him leave back the box where he got it. The man was very much afraid all the same he obeyed the strange summons. When he returned the box to its hiding place the noise suddenly ceased. The Strange Hurlers.
A man was travellling from Templetouhy to Moyore about ninety years ago. When

would have the good crop for himself the next year.
Another one was people got up early on May Eve morning and went to a farmers well and skimmed the top off it with a saucer and threw it over their right shoulder. By doing this the farmer's milk would go sour when he would be making the butter and they would have all the produce of his milk.
Pishogues seemed to be easily carried out and the people in those days took great precautions to carry out these charms such as shaking Easter water around the place on a May Eve morning, or if anyone came into the yard while they were making butter they would have to turn the wheel for fear they might take all the luck away from the churn and the cream would turn sour and there would be no butter.
If a person was going along the road and they saw

on the eggs and if we make any noise during that time that will shake the eggs the chicken will be killed in the eggshell.
Pishogues were ancient charms or spells carried out in Ireland in the earlier times. They were worked in order to take away the luck on produce from the owners of the property. This is one pishogue which was done by the old Irish.
When one person was giving away eggs to another they shook them the way the egg would scatter inside and they would have no chickens.
If one man had a good crop of potatoes and another had a bad crop the person with the bad crop would go to the other man's garden during the night and would put eggs in the drill where the potatoes had been taken out. The purpose of this was to take the good luck from the man with the good crop and he

When people are setting eggs the hen must be clucking so as she will not rise off the eggs. Long ago when people were setting eggs they put a cross like this + on each side of the egg with a black stick out of the fire and shooh Easter water on them. The meaning of this was to bless the eggs that the chicken may come out. The first cross meant In the name of the father and of the Son, and the second and of the Holy Ghost Amen. When we are setting eggs we must put them in a very warm place so that the hen will be warm. We must also let the hen out for some food every day and we must see that she will go back to the nest again. If there is any small ding or crack in the egg the chicken will not come out.
The hen sits for three weeks

place the marbles in the centre of the ring. A line is drawn some distance which they call the clinch line and each one throws the marbles from this and tries to knock out the ones in the ring and if he knocks them out he wins them.

the first person knee while he would say
"Horns horns cows horns
All fingers should be put up if the animal called out has horns if the animal has no horns fingers should not be lifted up. If anyone fails in doing he must give a forfeit. When all the forfeits have been given a person kneels down at a chair covering her eyes with her hand and someone with her hands and someone else stands over her holding forfeits and says
This is a forfeit
And a very fine forfeit
And what is the owner
Of this fine forfeit to do. Then the other person would impose a penance on the owner such as "Go up to a farmer's house in the dark and ask for the time. If the owner did not do that he would not get his forfeit back.

through it and then tied the twine it would not come out. Another game in Spring is skipping. If a lot were playing the rope would want to be 20 yards long in an open space. A person should be at each side of the rope to turn it over for the others.
In Summer we do not play we go into the fields and play picking daisies for making daisy chains. First we get the stem of one daisy and make a slit with our nails then we put the stem of the other daisy and pull it through till the flower is at the beginning of the slit and continued this until the daisy chain was made.
In the winter we play forfeits around the fire. First try and get a forfeit from a person in this way. One would sit on the floor and the others sitting near. They would all put forefingers on

There are a lot of games we could play but we do not play them all. The games I usually play are "Dicky Dict", ball, colours, hide and go see, paper chase, leap the frogs, "here are the robbers coming through". In and out the windows. The games I play indoors are, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, fox and hounds you can play more outdoor than indoor.
There are games for each season of the year. In Spring we play tops and boys play marbles. The way we play tops is we spin a top and then we whip it. The whip is made of a few pieces of thong or twine tied onto a stick. The twine should not be too strong or it would stop the top. If you burned a hole into the top of the stick and put the twine

In the trees round our home we have many birds. In the morning they come to feed when we throw them out bread. There are blue tits, black caps, robins, sparrows, yellow hammers, and of course Jackdaws, while in Summer we have swallows, martins, blackbirds, and thrushes but the most wonderful is the little Jenny Wren. This little bird builds its nest in the bushes, the nest being completely covered over the entrance. She makes a small hole at the side for the entrance. In the spring time they law a large number of eggs sometimes they amount to twenty or more. The robins build their nests in the eaves of houses so also do the sparrows. The skylark builds its nest in the open fields from which it rises to sing its glorious songs.

hedges. She lays four to five eggs and two to four broods. She builds her nest with hay, sticks, and pieces of dry mud, the eggs are white spotted with blue. The cock helps to build the nest and feed the little ones with snails, worms, insects and berries.
The blackbird flies low, and when startled utters a cackling cry.

Long ago people made their own toys at home, but now people buy all toys.
Long ago they all sat round the fire at night and started making some of these toys such as the snare.
They got a thick stick about six inches long. They had copper wire for the purpose and they made a loop of the wire as big as the rabbits head with a running knot on one end, they tied the other knot on one end, they tied the other end on to the stick and they put this where the rabbits were supposed to be. The end of the stick was pointed and they fixed it firmly in the ground the way the rabbit could not pull snare away when he got his head caught in it.
They set many of these every night and when the rabbits ran in they got their heads caught in the snare and the knot on the wire ran and he got choked.
Then the people went next day and took out the rabbits and set the snares

St. Stephen's day is the "wren boys" day in Ireland, and old custom which is dying out. In olden days this custom used to be very popular amongst all classes. On this morning people used to look forward to see the "wren boys" with all their antics and fancy dress.
Twenty or more used to take part in this custom with music of all kinds. Some dressed as old men some as girls or old women. They used to start from some appointed place early in the morning.
One of the men carried a decorated holly bush with a live wren tied on to it. Then they would go on to each house singing and playing the "wren song" the words of this song are
"The wren the wren
The king of all birds
St. Stephen's day
She was caught in the furze
Although she is little

Home made toys was an old custom which is now dying out in Ireland. For instance rag dollls which was very interesting work. This is how they were made. First of all they gathered old rags and one big piece of cloth and shaped it round for the head. Then they laid it out flat on the table and put the other rags into it and then they sewed it up and it formed the head. Then they got another piece of cloth twice as long as the other piece of cloth and put more rags into it then they sewed it up and patted it to form the body. Then they sewed the head on to the body.
They made the hands and legs the same way only

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with sawdust like the body and head and sewing them to the body. They made the legs in the same way, and put sheeps wool on the head for hair. They then made a nice frock to cover the body of the doll all over. The children enjoyed themselves greatly playing with those dolls especially the children in the country who had very few toys to play with.

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Long ago the Irish made a lot of their own toys.
This is how they made dolls. They got a big piece of cloth and sewed it at each side and left an opening at the top and then filled it up with sawdust and sewed the top of the cloth. That was the body.
Then they got another piece of cloth and sewed it in the shape of a head and filled it with sawdust and sewed it to the body then they got two small buttons and sewed them in the front of the head for eyes, lower down a few stitches lengthways with red thread for a nose and with the same thread a few stitches crossways lower down for the mouth. Then they got two small pieces of cloth and made hands of them by sewing them up and filling them

We gave thirty hens at home. I feed the hens three times every day, in the morning, at dinner time and in the evening. They eat meal, potatoes and oats and they lay plenty of eggs for our own use as well as for sale. My mother sets eggs every year. She usually marks the eggs with a piece of burnt stick before setting them. She puts twelve eggs under each hen and leaves them one month under her. When the month is up lovely little chickens come out of the eggs. The hen rears the chickens until they are about two months old. After that they are able to care themselves.
When I am feeding the hens I cal lout "Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. and at once they all come running for their meal.

We have six cows at home and we distinguish them from each other by different names. Their names are - "Shorthorn", "Black Heifer" "Hickeys cow" "The Speckled Cow" "Hollow Back" Cow, and the Polly Heifer.
The Shorthorn cow got her name because her horns are short. We bought Hickey's cow from a man by the name of Hickey and therefore we call her Hickey's cow. The Speckled Cow is so called because she had white spots on her back. "Hollow Back" cow is so called because she had a hollow in her back. The "Polly Heifer" is so called because she had no horns.
When we go to the field to bring in the cows we call out "How, How" and all the cows run to the gate.

Spare the rod and spoil the child
Silence is golden
A steel tongue makes a wise head
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today
The darkest hour is that before the dawn
It is good to begin well but better to end well
Time and tide wait for no man.
A clear conscience fears no accusers
Too many cooks spoil the soup
Better late than never
Nature breaks out in a cat's ear
A watched pot never boils
As old as Kate Kearney's cat.
A strong as the back of a ditch
A penny for your thoughts and two pence to mind your own business.

In olden times it used to be a great treat for the school boys to get out to the weddings, as the young couple used throw out money. This say there was a lot of old women there. There was one old woman in it and her name was Liza Flannagan and she used to wear a brown cloak. This day she threw herself down on the money and the village blacksmith was standing outside and he said "mount brown cloak boys".

Where nature's handiwork at rest is laid.
II
There, undisturbed let my fancy rove on aerial wings, to scenes I love
And thought shall traverse back over time
To days when Erin in vig'rous prime,
Stood proudly forth in all forms of life
In art excelling, in virtue rife,
Designated, as our own history paints,
The "Home of Learning" and the "Isle of Saints.
III
Let me revel proudly in the gorgeous sight
Picture Erin in fond in colours bright
Her proud defiance to foreign foe

streams to the happy singers. The theme was catching. The sentiment was ideal. The fiery celt believes always in the "clash of the sword and the war steeds prance", but suddenly the scene changes. A wild whoop, like the battle cry of a redskin, rose above the roar of fun and revelry which hitherto resounded o'er the scene as a man, more like a demon than a human being, wheeling a large blackthorn, emerged from one of the groups, before alluded to, shouting - "Tis now four o'clock and not a stroke struck yet. Shame on ye boys! This is not the way to

Is planted on his crown,In a moment was that brother seized
His hands and feet were bound
With fifty crimson stripes
Left in his gore upon the ground
He bore the torture patiently
And not a word said he
But "If we chance to meet again I shall remember thee"HIgh o'er the capital of France
Beams forth a brilliant moon
An English colonel steps within
A gorgeous French saloon
Inside some Gaulish officers
Were chatting o'er the pray
Which left the Allies masters in
Proud Paris streets that day

And breathe from his spirit the gushing refrain.
That roused the dark slave, to his manhood again.The friends of his childhood companions of youth.
And maidens he sang of hose beauty and truth
Who wept for his fate, when in prison he lay
Round his sanctified grave are all gathered today.And young men that vow that the fetters accurst
Which shackle their limgs they've determined to burst
Are come to his shrine, that resolve to renew
And pledge it again they're loved

Kickham's Grave
after Davis a long way
(written on the occasion of the second anniversary of his death)By a Drangan Boy.In the valley of Comfose there is a green grave
Above it the shadows of Slievenamon wave
A pleasing pall o'er the lov'd tenant inside
In the shade of the mountain his darling and prideTipperary stands round it to honour once more
The hero that sleeps there, the pure life that's o'er.

There are many superstitions as regards the days of the week especially concerning marriages. Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the luckiest day of all, Thursday losses, friday crosses Saturday no luck at all. Many people begin work in agriculture on Friday the same applies going ot live in new houses.
In March many preparations are made; as the saying goes a peck of "march dust and a shower in May makes the corn green and the fields gay = A peck of march dust is worth a king's ransom. Potatoes planted on Good Friday do better than on any other day of the year; but no other work should be undertaken on this day. Holiday makers look for a fine Easter but a wet one indicates a good summer. As a wet Good Friday and a wet Easter Day foreshadows a fruitful year. Farmers like a wet June

a cup and all the king's horses could not pull it up?
A well.
Long legs short thighs a little head and no eyes.
A tongs.
Father and mother sister and brother were travelling together, and one could not catch up to the other?
The four wheels of a carriage.
Why does a hen pick a pot?
Because she can't lick it.
If it takes 3 days and for two men to dig a hole, how many days will it take 1 man do dig 1/2 a hole?
You could not dig a 1/2 a hole.
Twenty sick sheep went out a gap one died how many came back?
Nineteen.
What goes up a ladder with their heads down?
Your boot nails.
Patch upon patch without any stitches riddle me that and I will buy you a pair of breeches?

to its face.
What goes away between two woods and comes home between two waters?
A man fetching water in two wooden pails.
Middy noddy round body three feet and a wooden hat?
A pot.
What goes way above the ground and returns under the ground?
A man with sods on his head.
What is full and holds more?
A pot full of potatoes when you pour water in.
Over the fire and under the fire and still never touches the fire?
A cake in the oven.
A hand with no flesh in it?
A glove.
As round as an apple as flat as a pan one side a woman and the other side a man?
A penny.
Black and white and red all over?
A newspaper.
As round as an apple as deep as

I met my uncle Davie I cut off his head and left his body easy?
A head of cabbage.
I had a little house and a mouse could not fit in it. And all the men in town couldn't count the windows in it.
A thimble.
Headed like a thimble tailed like a rat you can guess for ever but you can't guess that?
A pipe.
As black as ink as white as snow it hops on the road like hailstones?
A magpie.
It goes around the house and stops at the door?
A brush.
A little white and round house and it is full of meat, but has no doors or windows to let me in to eat?
An egg.
Why is a clock always bashful?
Because it always has its hands

than short ones.
Why is a policeman like a rainbow.
Because he appears after the storm is over.
Why is a waiter like a racehorse?
Because he runs for cups, plates and stakes.
Why was Eve not the fastest woman.
Because Adam was the first made.
What is it that never speaks but always receives an answer?
A doorbell.
Why had Eve no fear of the measels?
Because she has Adam.
Betty outside the ditch and Betty inside the ditch if you touch Betty she will bite you?
A nettle.
I had a little Kerry cow she stands by the wall she eats all before her and drinks nothing at all?
A fire.
In and out like a trout slippery wet and greasy?
A
Your tongue.
As I was going out a slippery gap

What do liars do when they are dead?
They lie still.
What grows bigger the more you contract it?
Debt.
Why is blind man's bluff like sympathy?
Because it's one fellow feeling for another.
Why was the first day of Adam's life the longest?
Because he had no Eve.
Where was Moses when the light went out?
In darkness.
Why is the nose in the middle of the face?
Because it's the "scentre".
When may a man's pocket empty and yet have something in it?
When it has a hole in it.
Why were tall people always more lazy than short ones?
Because they are longer in bed.

Because its with a rope he would be hanged.
There is a law published that every dog should wear a muzzle. Who would you get to put it on?
I'd put it on myself.
What part of a cow goes over the ditch first?
Her breathe.
Why does a guard wear a blue cap?
To cover his head.
Did you ever see a horse galloping and a dog sitting on his tail? I did? I saw a horse galloping and a dog sitting on his own tail.
Did you ever see a half a pig's head with two eyes?
I saw it with my own two eyes.
it's through the wall and through the wall and it never touches the wall. What is it?
The sound of a drum.
What miss is it that nobody likes to meet?
Misfortune.

Who dares to sit before the King with his hat on?
The coachman.
Why is life like this riddle?
Because you must give it up.
Why is a horse cleverer than a fox?
Because a horse can run when he is in a trap and a fox can't.
What relation is a doormat to a doorstep?
A step father.
In what month do women talk the least?
In February the shortest month.
When did the first tree grow?
In the ground.
What is that which is full of holes and yet holds water?
A sponge.
What man is always on strike?
A blacksmith.
There is a new law out in Ireland tha tyou can't hang a man with a wooden leg?Why?

about the end of March or at the beginning of April. It is not heard in Ireland until the end of April or May. The skylark builds its nest in the meadow. Its eggs are of a brown colour and it is said that it lays four at a time. The blackbird appears largely known in its winter plumage, but as Spring approaches the brown edges wear off and it gradually became blacker and blacker. The pheasant builds its nest up in the treetop and lays large eggs, the colour being white with brown spots. Most parent birds put the food into the open mouths of their young and are careful to put it well into the throat so it cannot fail to go down. The young pigeon however thrusts its head into the open mouth of the old parent and sucks a milky fluid which is secreted away in the crop of the bird.
The crow builds a rather large

wren and blackbird build their nests in small trees or bushes. The robin's eggs are a little larger than the wrens and white colour with small brown spots.
The blackbird has a good sized egg which as a blue colour with yellow spots, and also has a voice like the yellow warble. The thrush is one of our best known songbirds, its song having a full, flute like melody. It is known as the throstle and the mavis. It builds its nest of mud, grass and fibrous roots, and it feeds on earthworms, snails and insects. It is wildly distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. The kingfisher builds its nest in a hollow tree trunk as high in the tree tops. The barn owl finds its home in many countries and is seen only in the night time. The cuckoo is a migratory bird whose familiar note is first heard in England.

Of all animals birds are most easily defined, because they are the ones which bear feathers. The wild birds commonly found in my district are - The robin, the wren, the blackbird, the thrush, the skylark, the pigeon, the wagtail, the crane, the swallow, pheasant, the finch the seagull, the snipe, the yellowhammer which is sometimes called the yellow warble, the linnet, the corncrake, the kingfisher and the hawk.
The birds that migrate locally are the swallow, the cuckoo, and the corncrake. The wren is the smallest of all birds, but it is said that it has the largest family. The pigeon and the eared pheasant have small weak bills suitable for picking small seed and the like. The hawk has a strong curved beak for tearing nut, flesh and gathering seeds. The robin

Now take a piece of sally twig not as strong as a pencil as it is necessary for this to bend slightly when the bird hops on it and make a bow half-moon shape, push the end between the stick at the corners A and B letting the bow reach to within three or four inches of the stick running from C to D. Next set a piece of forked stick about nine inches long and a piece of twig and fix as below.
(fig.)