School: Athgarvan, Curragh (roll number 13350)

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1. Scéal CC (continued)

   “Once a young chap in Caraher was coming home late at night from his cuairt.”

   

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   man could hardly believe his eyes. Both children looked exactly alike only one was alive and the other dead. The young man said "The good people must have been taking your child when I came on them and they have left that creac instead, just put it down on the floor" said he to the woman "and I'll settle it." The woman dropped it quickly enough when she found her own child was alive. Then the young man blew up the gríosach and lit up a good fire well forward on the hearth so as to leave a nice space at the back. When the fire was well lighted he said to the man of the house "Hand me that thing on the floor till I put it in behind the fire."

   But just then a sort of whirlwind arose on "the street" and there was a din all round the house and the young couple thought their house would be blown in on them. The woman said to her husband "Oh give it to them, put it outside the door and let them have it." The husband put the dead baby outside the door and he and the young man stayed talking in the kitchen until daybreak. When they went out then there was no trace of the corpse, and the "good people" never troubled them from that day on.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Languages

   Irish

   English

   Location

   Kilmaley, Co. Clare

   Collector

   Bríghid Bean Mhic Niocaill

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Pádraig Ó Ceárnaigh

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   70

   Address

   Kilmaley, Co. Clare