School: Westland (roll number 8428)

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1. Weather (continued)

   

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   The Big Wind of 1839

   The night before the Big Wind of 1839 the evening was the calmest ever came. The wind started to come about 8 p.m. and it came very quickly after that.
   Big houses in the neighbourhood were damaged far worse than little cabins. The Big Wind occurred on the 5th January 1839. Everyone in this neighbourhood suffered some damage. Sacks of corn, bags of potatoes, and hay, were brought about a mile from their proper place by the wind.
   A few people gathered up their belonging in the morning but most people waited for it to get calmer, but they never got anything, for snow came that evening and covered everything. Those who went out in the morning were the only ones that had any food for their animals and themselves during the winter. Crops were bad that year.
   All the thatch was blown off my grandmother's home, and all their oats and hay and potatoes were blown over their fields, but they were lucky for they gathered it up in the morning.

   The Fenian Snow 16th night March 1867

   Before the snow came the sky had a purplish colour in it. It was called "The Fenian Snow", because the Fenians were going to rise the next day and kill a great many of the people. They were hiding in the mountains on the night of the 15th ready to start in the morning, when down came the snow and killed a great many of them.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. genre
      1. weather-lore (~6,442)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Betty Mc Whirter

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumlayne, Co. Meath

   Informant

   Miss Mc Whirter

   Relation

   Relative (other than parent or grandparent)

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumlayne, Co. Meath