School: Baile Uí Mheirigín, Merginstown
- Location:
- Merginstown, Co. Wicklow
- Teacher: Áine Ní Fhearrachtáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0914, Page 282
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)the "King of the Birds". Once the birds held a great competion to see which of them could fly the highest. Which ever bird could fly the highest would be their king. Before it started the wren stole in under the eagle's wing. When the competition started the eagle kept rising up and up until he was higher than any of the others. "I am the King of the Birds", he said. Just then the wren came out from under his wing and flew up above him "I am the King of the Birds", he said. From that day to this the eagle is called the King of the Birds. On another occassion when St. Stephen was being pursued by an enemy he got up in a tree to hide. After a while his enemy came along and sat down at the foot of the tree in which St Stephen was. There was a wren in the tree and when she saw St Stephen she fluttered out wildly. Then the enemy looked up and saw St. Stephen. Ever since the wren is hunted on St Stephen's Day. When she is caught she is killed and(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Joseph Perkins
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Merginstown, Co. Wicklow
- Informant
- Mr Joseph Perkins
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 74
- Address
- Mullycagh Lower, Co. Wicklow
