School: Cornagon (roll number 15690)
- Location:
- Cornagon, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Frank Heeran
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0212, Page 044
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Cornagon
- XML Page 044
- XML “Marriages”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- As long as my parents remember match-making was carried on in this district. If any boy wants a wife, he goes to a man that is known to be a good match-maker and asks him if he knows of a good girl with a good fortune. He tells him he does and then the boys tells the match-maker to go to the house and ask her parents would they give him their daughter in marriage. He then goes and describes the extent of the young man’s farm while they listen with great attention. He has so many cows a mear and to young horses a sow and litter of pigs, then he has forty of fifty pounds in bank and no money to be paid out to a sister or no debt on the farm. The mother and father of the future bride think their daughter very lucky to be getting into such a place. The father then ask him what fortune the boy expects. The match-maker says two hundred pounds. The old man turns to his wife and says “well Mary, what have you got to say to that.” Now pat your place was as good as that and I got in here for one hundred pounds. Kate is a good girl and will make a good wife, she can wash, sew, bake and keep a house with any girl in the country, and now pat we will give Kate one hundred and fifty pounds and if this boy is satisfied, he is welcome to come to our house. She then gets up and takes a pint of whiskey from her press and fills three glasses. They all shake hands and drink the heath of those pair who are about to meet. All this is got over in the best room. They then call kate to the room and acquaints her of the match-makers business to their house that might. They order for her to get the tea. She(continues on next page)
