The wren is a very small bird yet he is called the King of all birds. One day a wren rested on St. Columcille's shoulder for crumbs. Then a flock of birds gathered together and they began to fly to know which would fly the highest. The Wren stayed under the Eagle's wing until all the birds were beaten out. Then the Wren came out from under

For instance in this district on St Stephen's day the custom of singing the wren is observed very keenly. Singing the wren is sometimes a custom of great amusement. Its the young buoys of the country usually keep this tradition active. Four or five days before this festival occurs the boys travel the country in search of a wren because it it supposed that if they have not the wren the tradition is not genuine.
When the wren is provided they get what is called a wren bush. This bush is holly and is decorated with ribbons of florid colours. They attach the wren to this with a piece of string.
Early in the morning of St Stephen's Day they go off in companys of three or four in each company. The boy that sings usually holds the bush. They get three or four pence in every house and oranges and pieces of sweet cake in some houses.
The wren song is as follows -
The wren, The wren the king of all birds.
On St Stephen's Day he was caught in the furze
Although he is little his family is great.
Cheer up Land Lady and fill us a treat.
If you fill it of the best I hope in heaven your soul will rest.
If you fill it of the smallest it will not agree with the wren boys atall.
Sing Ivy, Sing Holly tis all but a folly.

It is a custom for the boys to go from house to house gathering money on St. Stephen's Day. For weeks before Christmas they prepare for the day. They get ready all sorts of funny clothes. Some get ragged trousers, jackets, broken boots and paper hats. Others get skirts, aprons and women's blouses and they decorate hats with holly ribbons and feathers. They cut a holly bush and ornament it with ribbons. They hunt the wren. If they succeed in killing him they tie him on to the holly bush with ribbons. The wren is very hard to catch, but sometimes they succeed in killing her at night. She flies about from bush to bush and they strike her with a stick. If they cannot procure a wren they get coloured cloth or paper and shape it like a wren and tie it on to the holly bush.
On St. Stephen's morning they get up early and dress up in their funny clothes. Sometimes there are as many as ten in each group of wren - boys. One boy carries the holly bush on his shoulder and another carries the tin for the money. The wren

It is the custom in this country on St Stephens day for boys to go out from house to house singing the Wren-song.
The day before St Stephens day all the boys go out and kill a wren. They take a holly-bush on their back and they have a wren on the bush and ribbons at his sides. They sing a song called the Wren-song which runs thus,

The Wren Boys
With the approach of Christmas and Saint Stephen's Day the boys of the land begin to think of the wren. They go from house to house singing the wren song.
On Christmas Day they hunt up the wren trying to catch and kill a little bird. If they fail to find a wren-hoping to kill it with sticks and stones, which they seldom do-- they get a lump of moss and put it in a holly branch saying that a wren is in the nest formed of moss.
They get a stick and tie a branch of holly on top of it in which is supposed to be the wren. They decorate it with ribbon and strips of coloured paper.
On Saint Stephen's Day morning they meet at some place appointed and dress up with ribbons, and hats of coloured paper. One is a clown, and he blackened his face and hands, with either soot or black boot polish. One carries the holly

On St Stephen's Day the Wren is carried out and also the rag. The day before St Stephen's Day the boys and men go out to cut the Wren pole. The Wren is killed a few days before St Stephen's Day and is salted. On that night the pole is decorated and the clothes are got.
They rise very early next morning about six or seven o'clock and dress themselves. The Wren is put on the top of the pole, and then they go out in the procession.
They go around from house to house collecting money and singing the Wren song and playing music. In the evening when the Wren is over the boys divide the money and they drink it, or have a dance with it. This is the song they sing.
The wren, the wren, the
king of all birds
St Stephen's Day she was caught

On St Stephen's day boys and in some cases men go out with the wren gathering money. They decorate themselves and go from house to house singing the wren's song. Sometimes the boys cannot get a wren and they say that the wren knew the day and went into hiding. They put the wren on a holly bush and decorate it with ribbons and coloured papers. They sing the wren's song at every house.

The Wren builds a big nest, the colour of which is in harmony with the object around about. It is covered outside with the same material as that with which it is built. The Wren has a numerous family sometimes of fourteen. The Wren seems to use the empty nest as a home during the Winter.

is the reason the wren is hunted on St. Stephens' day.

wren. A number of boys go hunting the wren on Christmas day until they catch him then they get a holly tree and tie him on to it, then they hang ribbons to the three. Next day they would go around form house to house and sing a song about the wren and to every house they would go they would get a couple of pence. Then when night would come home and divide money among them.

neighbouring villages collecting money "To bury the wren".

On St. Stephen's day long ago, men and boys went with the wren bush. They prepared the night before, so that a batch of them would go out early in the morning. This wren bush was dressed with ribbons and papers of every colour, and a little wren was placed on top of it. Then one of them carried the bush on his shoulder and another carried the box for the money. As they went to

the wren cried out I am your king I have flown the highest

On St. Stephen's Day the wren boys go around from house to with a holly bush and the wren suspended from it and sing the wren boys' song. Then the wren boy's used to go around dressed up with blackened faces and They used have a melodian and mouth organs playing and they had a box for gathering the money and they get about a pound which was shared equally amongst themselves.
The Wren boys Song.
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds
St. Stephen's Day he was caught in the furze
Although he is little his family's great
I pray you good lady give us a treat

it jumped away it was a sign that she would go away from him.
On new years eve the old people used beat a loaf of bread off the door to keep the hunger away from them for the year.
On St. Stephens day the young boys go out with the wren. A holly bush is got and decorated with coloured paper with a wren hanging on it. The wren was caught the day before when a crowd of boys went out to capture him. The boys dress up in funny clothes and sometimes colour their faces. They go round to the houses in the neighborhood and sing the following song -
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, on St. Stephen's day he was caught on the furze, although he is little his family is great, so help us good lady to lay him in state. The money collected was divided between the wren-boys, and each had a good time

twelve months. On St Stephens day the wren boys go out collecting money from house to house and they sing the following song ;- "The wren the wren the king of all birds on St Stephen's Day she was caught in the furze we hunted her up and we hunted her down and one of our wren boys knocked her down. Here she is here for all to see guarded on a holly tree a bunch of ribbons by her side and the Caherlag boys to be her guide". It is the custom that on Bonfire Night a stick is taken out of the fire and thrown into the potato garden so as to keep the blight off them.

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, in Saint Stephen's day he was caught in the furze. We hunted him up, and we hunted him down, we hunted him into Riverstick town, from bush to bush, from tree to tree and over the river we broke his, knee. The wren, the wren, that, you may see he is guarded on a holly tree, a bunch of ribbons by his side, and the Riverstick boys to be his guide, up with the kettle, and down with the pot, sing holly, sing ivy the wren, he is caught.
I have a little box under my arm, two or three pence would do it no hearm, give us oyr answer, and let us be off.

On St. Stephen’s Day a large crowd of boys gather together and go out through the country singing the Wren’s song. They are dressed in old fashioned clothes and take holly in their hands. The holly is decorated and the small little wren which is known locally as the ‘King of all birds’ is taken on the holly.
The words of the wren’s song are;
“The wren! the wren! the king of all birds.
St. Stephen’s Day was

His family [so] is great,
So cheer up little laddies, and give us a treat,
Up with the kettle, and down with the pan,
And give us some money to bury the wren,
I followed my wren through frost and snow,
I followed my wren ten miles or more,
I followed my wren to Kilaginish,
And here I have brought him on a green, holly bush.
So up with the kettle, and down with the pan,
And give us some money , to bury the wren.''
The ''wren boys,'' as they are called stay out all day until night and gather a good share of money. Some of the '' Wren boys'' as they are called divide the money equally among them, some of them keep it for a while and have a good night at some house , while some of them drink it. The ''wren boys'' that have the dance charge the boys that do not hunt the wren with them, they charge them one shilling or two sometimes.
St Brigid's Day is observed in the district but not in a very special manner. The people go to Mass on this morning but all the people do not go as it is not a Holiday of obligation. This feast is observed on the first of February.
St. Partick's Day is observed in a special manner in this district. It is a holiday of

"The Robin Red Breast". There is another story told about the wren. One day all the birds met and they wanted to see who would be king of all birds. Then they said whoever would fly the highest would be the king.
Then they flew as high as they could go and they all got tired, but theneagke and the eahlesaud "I and the king". The wren was ahide under the eagles wind and when he came out from under her wing she flew high over the eagle and the wren was proclaimed king of all birds.
Then all the birds gathered together to decide how the would make their nests and the wren said to make their nest round and a hole in the side of it. Then the wren told the rest of the birds to make their nests open.
The wren made her own nest round with a hole in the side of it. The wettest day of the year the open nests are dry and the wrens nest is wet on account of telling the lie.