The birds commonly found in my district are the robin, the wren

The St. Stephens day customs are dying out because children are ashamed of doing them.
One of the oldest, and most popular of these customs is the going around with the wren.
Boys and girls dress themselves in disguise so that they may not be recognized by their neighbours when they visit their houses with the wren.
They carry with them a Holly bush decorated with coloured papers, and ribbons. On the top of the Holly Bush an imitation of a wren is placed.
At each house that they visit they sing the "Wren Song" and in return for this they get money.
Wren Song.
The wren, the wren, the King of all birds St. Stephen's Day he was caught in the furze.
Although he be little his honour is great. Get up young ladies and give us a treat

usual to have a barm brack, and snap apple. On St. Stephen's Day the wren boys go around with decoorated bushes singing, and collecting money. This is the song they sing: "The wren, the wren, the king of all birds.
On St. Stephen's day was caught in the furze."

Our Lord was fleeing from His enemies and He passed by a field where people were sowing corn in the early morning. The corn grew and ripened miraculously and the people were cutting it down when the enemies of Our Lord came up in pursuit of Him. They enquired of the robin if He had passed by. "He did not (?) pass by since this corn was sown," says the robin. They were about to turn back when the wren called "To-day To-day." St. Stephen was bleeding from his persecutors and he hid in a bush. When those pursuing him came up they would have passed by but the wren by its chirping attracted their notice and they discovered the Saint and beat him to death with stones and so it is that the wren is hunted for and killed.

On St Stephen's Day a crowd of boys gather together, each of them carries a holly bush decorated with colored papers which they call the "wren bush." They go from door to door singing the following amhrán.
"The wren the wren the king of all birds, St Stephens Day he was caught in the furze
We hunted him up and we hunted him down.
And all the wren boys knocked him down
All silver no brass, give us our answer and let us pass.
Two pence or three pence to bury the wren
Up with the kettle and down with the pan
On the Eve of St Brigid's

cow when the dogs bit her. On St John's night bonfires are lit. Hallow Eve is very interesting to boys and girls because on that night the grown up people get a bath of water and apples. The boys and girls then put their heads in the water to try and get an apple. Sometimes a candle and an apple are suspended from the ceiling and you should try to catch the apple and sometimes it is the candle you would catch. It is on St Stephen's day that the boys go from house to house singing a song about the Wren.
This is the song about the Wren.
"The Wren the Wren The King of all birds.
St Stephen;s day she was caught in the furze.
Although she is little her family is great cheer up young ladies and give us a treat.
This is the Wren that you may

The custom of the wren-boys is still held in this district. The day after Xmas Day the boys of the district dress up in colourful garments. They dress the holly bush with multi-coloured ribbons and with masks donned to disguise themselves, they proceed from house to house looking for something to "bury the wren". They stop at each house and sing :-

go to mass. On Good Friday the people go to the chapel and make the stations of the cross. On Easter Sunday the people bring Easter water from the chapel. On Easter Sunday the people eat a good many eggs. On May night the people shake Easter water on the crops. On November night the people light candles for the people who are dead belonging to them. On St. Stephen's day the boys dress themselves as wren boys and go from house to house gathering money. Christmas night falls on the 25th December in my place.
There is a rhyme about Christmas day. This is it, "Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you have not a penny a halfpenny will do and God bless you". There is also a rhyme about St. Stephen's day. This is it, "the wren the wren the king of all birds on St. Stephen's day she got caught in the furze".

On St. Stephens Day about four boys in every townland gather to gether they dress themselves in old clothes, and put masks over their faces which are called eye fiddles here. They go from house to house singing the Wren song, The wren - The wren the king of all birds.
St Stephens day he was caught in the furze.
Although he being little his family was great.
Cheer up boys and girls and give our treat, if you have not a penny a half penny will do and if you have not half penny may God bless you. The people of each house give them money, when the evening comes they divide the money among them and they buy sweets and biscuits and lemonade.
On St. John's day the people of every house make bon-fires. they get withered furze and hay and sticks and they light them in the middle of a filed and they make the cows jump

Saint Stephen's Day

The wild birds in this district are the crow, the finch, the pigeon, the robin, the wren, the sparrow, the snipe, the yellow hammer, the jackdaw, the magpie, the housemartin, the blackbird,

When Our Lord and His blessed Mother and Saint Joseph were fleeing from Herod's soldiers they crossed a field of what that some men were sowing. Saint Joseph asked them for some wheat for food and immediately the wheat sprung up and ripened. Next day the soldiers passed the way and asked the men that were cutting the corn if they had seen a man a woman and an infant passing the way. They said they did when they were sowing the crop. There was a wren in a bush close by and she said the wheat was sown the day before and so the soldiers followed in hot pursuit. That is why the wren is hated so much. When the soldiers were after our Lord to catch Him the robin followed Him and lay down on the sacred Blood that fell on the ground. This is supposed to be how the robin got her red breast.

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 is great.
Cheer up old ladies and give us a treat.
We followed this wren three days or more.
Over hedges and till our feet were sore.
'Till at last we spied him in the glen.
Which caused the wren boys home to sing.
Sing holly sing ivy, sing ivy, sing holly make you Christmas of this holly.
Christmas come but once a year and when it comes it brings good cheer.
Up with the kettle down with the pan give us our answer and let us pass.

The commonest birds in my district are:
The Robin
The robin is the commonest of all birds in my district. She does not migrate, she remains with us all the Winter. She builds her nest in a hole in a ditch. The nest is made of moss and hay. The bird sits three weeks on the eggs. She lays five white eggs spotted with red.
The Wren
The wren does not migrate. The wren builds her nest in a hedge. She makes a big round nest with a small hole in the front of it. The nest inside is lined with wool outside with

of an article the remark is met with "'Twill last as many nights as days".
We all have heard of "the cat's wash", but some may not have heard of the Dunamaggin girls who were content with a dry "'Tis day in Ballydurrin" is an old saying that always stirs me strangely. It must be purely local to Kilmacthomas for Ballydurrin is a rise some miles to the north-east of Kilmac and takes the first rays of the sun.
"The cat may look at the King".
Here is one that should provoke a smile. I have it from E. W. Lucas : "The wren spreads his feet wide in his own house". This reminds me of two more sayings : Never say die while there's marrow in the skin of a wren". And "Every little helps" says the wren when she dropped something as she flew over the sea.

On St Stephens Day boys gather together and go from house to house carrying decorated bushes and pretending that they have caught a wren. They sing

Birldlore.
The birds common in our district are robin wren thrush hedgesparrow housesparrow skylark and lark titlark linnet yellow linnet blackbird goldfinch bullfinch wagtail jay green-linnet grey-linnet woodcock, stare cracrake swallo cuckoo hawk crow magpie jackday raven curlew chaffinch plover snipe pheasant seagulls sealark crane swan wild duck wild-geese gannet shug wild pigeon woodquest waterhen.
The robin builds her nest in the ditch in a hole or under a bank. She lays five eggs. They are spotted.
The wren builds her nest in a stone wall.

On the eve of St Brigid's day people put pictures and beads outside the windows so that St Brigid may bless them boza brigide is made on the eve of St Brigid's day.
On St Stephen's day boys an sometimes men get holly bushes and go from house to house singing the wren "the wren". Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Chalk Sunday is the Sunday previous to Shrove Tuesday. On that day Bachelors get three crosses on their coats with chalk. Holy Thursday is the day before good Friday Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday.
People draw Easter water on Easter Saturday. On May Morning a mam went hunting and he had two dogs. The dogs lit the hair and it went into a broken house. A woman was inside and she was bleeding. The woman was milking a

On St Stephen's day many boys assemble and get false faces and dress themselves up and go around from house to house singing "The wren the wren the king of all birds." When they sing they get money from the householder. On St Brigid's eve people put holy breads and prayer books out on the windows of the houses so that St Brigid would bless them. On St Patrick's day people wear Shamrock and badges Day over watch year on the seventeenth of March. Shrove Tuesday is the last day for marriages on the sixth of January and ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. On Holy Thursday night our Lord ate his last supper on Good Friday he dies and he was buried and he was three days in the grave. On Easter Sunday he arose from the dead. The night before May day people bless the cows and horses. On May day boys and girls go out very early bare footed and bathe their faces with the dew of the grasses. On St John's day bonfires are lit through the country.

The exiled children of our race
Wherever they have gone
And guide them home across the foam
Back safe to Slievenamon.