School: Birr (Mercy Convent)
- Location:
- Birr or Parsonstown, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: Sr. Flannan
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0821, Page 230
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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
- (continued from previous page)New Year's Eve: It is said that dirty water or ashes should not be thrown out on New Year's Eve or the luck of the year would be thrown out.New Year's Day: If a dark haired man is the first person to enter a house on New Year's Day it is said to be a lucky sign.It is said that you should not enter a house empty handed on New Year's Day.Money should not be spent on New Year's Day as it is remarked that you will be giving it out throughout the entire year.Fresh bread should be brought into the house on New Year's Day.St John's Eve: On this night tar barrels are lighted on the Square in Birr. These are used instead of a bonfire.St. Brigid's Eve: On St . Brigid's Eve a brown ribbon is tied to the latch of the back door. It is said that St. Brigid blesses it. Afterwards this ribbon is used as a cure for certain diseases.St. Patrick's Day. Shamrock is worn by you and old. Harps are worn by the children.(continues on next page)
