School: Tighmhanach (roll number 15715)
- Location:
- Tivannagh, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Mrs E. Jordan
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0234, Page 285
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- XML School: Tighmhanach
- XML Page 285
- XML “Fairies”
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- There is a fort not far from this school and fairies are supposed to live in it. It is circular in shape and there is a fence of whitethorn trees all around it. No one cuts any trees in this fort as it is said to be unlucky. None of the owners of the land where these forts are ever ploughed or planted crops in the forts. There was a man beyond the lake and he cut a lot of trees in a fort. After a while he died and a lot of his family died also. There are fairy lights to be seen at the house since.
The old people around here especially the women never threw dirty water out after night fall as they thought it would make the fairies angry. They always made sure to have a can of clean water in, lest the good people would need it during the night. If they did not their cattle might suffer, their butter would not come on the churn, and if there was a child in the house it might pine away and die. They thought their own child was changed and a "changling" or a fairy child was put in its place. The cure they tried to get back their own child, was to boil house-leek and give it to the ailing child three mornings in succession while fasting.
- Collector
- Luke O' Gara
- Gender
- Male
- Informant
- Mrs Mullaney
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Tivannagh, Co. Roscommon
