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The Schools’ Collection

This is a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s. More information

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  1. A Story

    CBÉS 0965

    Page 381

    fourth day as the King was washing his feet in the river he saw a big trout swimming by and he caught it "oh please let me go said the trout and I will tell you how to conquer the magician". "Very well" said the King. . "Well" said the trout he cannot be killed a he does not carry his soul with him but has it hidden. In the heart of that tree that stands in front of the palace is a big hare, and in the heart of the hare there is a duck, and in the duck there is an egg, and in the egg is the giant's heart. You must cut down the tree with one stroke of the axe, As soon as you get the egg throw it at the middle of his forehead. He will fall dead and then you will get your people and your palace." The King thanked the trout and soon arrived at the magician's palace. The magician was out, the King entered, and took up the old axe. With a great stroke he struck down the tree but as it fell the hare rushed away as fast as he could. The King thought all was lost but he thought of the wolf and called out and the wolf came up with the hare. But the duck escaped out of the hare's mouth and flew up in the sky. The King thought of the hawk and called out and up came

  2. Dapping

    CBÉS 0988

    Page 317

    Generally the Dapping takes place in May.
    The tackle which is used for the salmon - trout fishing are rods, lines reels, and hooks The different sorts of baits are the black fly, dry fly, wet fly and the green-drake fly. Rods are used from land or in boats.
    The average weight of salmon - trout caught in Lough Sheelin is three or four pounds but some are caught up to nine pounds.
    The regulations are you cannot fish for trout from October till March Anyone doing so is liable to a heavy penalty. Anyone catching pike is given threepence per head on each pike caught as pike prey on the trout.

  3. Story

    CBÉS 0093

    Page 110

    hook, and you will go out to that pond at the end of the lane, and be fishing there when the landlord returns. He will say to you, “what are you doing there” and let you say “fishing my Lord.” The landlord will say “for what, and let you say for trout my Lord, and the landlord will say “Dont you know there is no trout there, and let you say, is not it as easy for a trout to to be there as a bullock to have a mare foal. The landlord will say “who told you to answer me like that and let you say nobody. Then the landlord will drive on to his own house.” The man did as the servant told him and

  4. Holy Wells

    CBÉS 0138D

    Page 12_012

    If your request is to be granted the water of the well boils up.
    In St. Patricks Well there is a trout. It is in since the time of St. Patrick. An old Protestant caught the trout one day. He put it down to fry it on the pan. The trout jumped off the pan and went back to the well. The track of where he was frying is to been seen to this day on his back.

  5. (no title)

    “A strange belief about the renowned Tubarnault well of St. Patrick, which is said to have sprung up at his prayer...”

    CBÉS 0161

    Page 057

    parts, was seen fishing in it, and caught a large trout, which he attempted to cook nearby. In the course of the cooking, the half cooked trout leapt several yards back into the well, and was seen to swim away. The astounded man related his story to some men who were coming that way and walked off never to be seen alive again. Many years later another stranger saw a trout swimming in the well, and shortly afterwards died of some strange complaint. Both were no Catholics. An old saying or belief about the weather is that when the full moon bears what is known as a "cock's eye" bad weather, and if large, storms, are sure to follow. Rainbows too are considered weather-prophets. A rainbow in the morning is the shepherds warning, meaning that bad weather ensues. A rainbow in the night, goes the proverb, is the shepherds delight.

  6. Another Story about St Mog and Rose Inbir

    CBÉS 0218

    Page 030

    good Monk was very sorrowful. Then Saint Mog raised his hand over the chicken, and it at once turned into a trout. That was surely another miracle.
    From that time to this there is a red trout to be got in the river beside this place in Lough Melgan, and he has a gizzard like a chicken; and from that day till now the name they call the trout is the "Guille Ruadh".

  7. Holy Wells - Tobar na bhFionn

    CBÉS 0449

    Page 005

    Tobar na bhFíonn well is situated near Cordal chapel. Many people come there to pay rounds. Some people say they see a white trout swimming around the well. Some long time ago a man living near it took home a kettle of water to boil. The trout got into the kettle however, and the water would not boil. He had to empty the kettle and take the water and the trout back to the well again. The next kettle full boiled as usual.

  8. Our Holy Wells

    CBÉS 0453

    Page 234

    on the boil and after about an hour she looked at the pot and it was still cold. If the water was down since, it wouldn't heat so she was amazed, looked at it, and discovered that the trout from the well was in it. She hastened back to the well with the water and the the trout and put them into it. After that the trout disappeared from the well and has never since returned.
    I haven't heard of any other holy well in this district but there is one in Ballyvourney and one in Cullen to which

  9. A Story

    CBÉS 0455

    Page 094

    There is a holy Well in Ballyheige. It is called St. Marys Well. A long time ago there was a family, named Stanley. They were black Protestants and lived near the Hold Well. There was a green-spotted trout in the well and anyone who saw the trout were cured from their sickness. The eldest son in the Stanley Family was very wicked. He brough a dog with to the Well. When the dog saw the trout he jumped into the

  10. (no title)

    “The origins of 'throw a spit on him' said when a horse shivers after taking the tackling off him.”

    CBÉS 0624

    Page 310

    saying.
    Later the dragon was compelled to leave Inis Cathaig and was chased by the Saint. He slept one night at the hill behind the Convent in Kilrush, Cnoc na Péiste, another night at the Curthill (?) just outside Kilrush and was at length banished into Molocha lake where he still is. Saint Senan forbade him to ever leave it and allowed him one and a half trout per day to eat. A very good lake for trout many people say that often the half trout is to be seen floating on the water - the remains of a dragon's dinner.

  11. An Ancient Legend

    CBÉS 0832

    Page 091

    no mistake but that it was the same trout. People then began to pay visits to the well in Cromogue. People who were sick or had any complaint went to the well and prayed there. It is said that no one was cured but those whose eyes rested on the Sacred trout but a great number of people saw it and were cured. This well is now called St. Fintan's well on account of the trout that came from Clonenagh well to it. Clonenagh well was close to the Monastery where St. Fintan taught so many. People from all parts of the parish of Raheen and from some of the surrounding parishes as well on the 17th Feb come in crowds to celebrate St. Fintan's Day and they also

  12. St Fintan's Well

    CBÉS 0832

    Page 104

    said that St. Fintan is in it in the form of a trout. This fish is supposed to have one blind eye. On one occasion a family living nearby took some of the water. It was put in a kettle but after some time it was noticed that it would not boil. A fork was put into the vessel in which the water was, to see if there was anything in it which would prevent it from boiling. The trout was in the water and the fork stuck in its eye. The trout was afterwards noticed to have one blind eye. It is only very holy people

  13. A Story

    “On the Eastern shore of Lake Melvin outside the village of Kinlaugh there stand the ruins of the Abbey which was built about the sixth century by Saint Mogue, the patron Saint of the parish.”

    CBÉS 1028

    Page 285

    a few moments the miracle took place. The chicken became a trout and the Saint was able to eat his dinner.
    When Mogue had finished his meal he gathered the bones of the trout and went down to the lake shore. He threw the bones into the lake and prayed that the people might never want for fish; and from that day to this, this rare trout is to be found in the waters of Lake Melvin.

  14. Poteen-Making

    CBÉS 1072

    Page 301

    In the days gone by poteen-making was carried on extensively in most of the surrounding districts. One day some men were engaged at this on a farm near the birthplace of Colmcille. They drew the water from Colmcille's well and put it over a fire to boil. They noticed that the water did not even get hot so a Catholic man who was standing by suggested that perhaps it was the fact of a small trout being in the water which prevented it from boiling. One of the others said he did not care if it were St Colmcille himself who was in the water, he would make it boil. After several unsuccessful attempts to boil the water they at last decided to take the trout back to the well. They did so and everything went on alright. the Gartan people say that this trout is still in the well.

  15. The King of Urris

    CBÉS 1120

    Page 288

    The horse said. "I am very warm and if you would throw a bucket of water on me to cool me." The girl did it and the horse changed himself into a trout and swam down the stream. The captain of the ship was there and he changed himself into eleven water dogs and went into the stream to look for the trout. The last stone the turned up the trout was in under it. He jumped up in the air and flew it away in the shape of a bird. The water -dogs changed into birds and followed it The bird came down the chimney of a house and changed into a diamond in a girls ring

  16. Local Place Names

    CBÉS 0152

    Page 066

    Carrowkeel, Crossmolina, Co mayo. It is about a hundred yards off the Belmullet road. It is situated on a little hillock. There is an old wall round it, and it is almost covered on the top by a small stone.
    There is a bush growing beside it and it is almost spread out over it. Long ago people came in crowds to it on the last Sunday of July to perform the stations. Now a days very few people go to it.
    There is a trout in the well and people say that whoever sees the trout or the well boiling gets the request of their stations. Some people sit along the well watching to see if they see the well boiling or the trout in it after they perform their station.
    There is a story told about that trout. People say that a man caught the trout and brought it home with him. He had it on the tongs cooking it.
    When he was about to turn it. It leaped off the tongs and ran out the door and up and jumped into the well. It is

  17. The Tubberbracken Well

    CBÉS 0033

    Page 0245

    In the village of Tubberbracken about three miles east of Clarenbridge there is a well called the Tubberbracken well. This well is said to be a blessed well and that people came to this well long ago praying for requests. Whoever wanted a request walked fifteen round the well and prayed for the request they wanted. When they had walked around the well fifteen times they knelt in front of the well and if their request was granted the trout appeared to them.
    Many people used to come to this well and it went on for a long time until it was stopped by the departure of the trout. One day a tinker brought the trout and he was never seen afterwards. It is said that this tinker was threatened to leave back the trout but he was never seen after that.
    There must be some holy person buried because there or four yards from the well there is a heap of stones. There is a broken stone cross lying on the stones and a few years ago this cross was standing. There is something written on this cross but there are only a few words that can be read. There is a flag of stone in front of the well also and it is now covered over with briars and it is impossible also to read the writing that is on the flag.

  18. Loch an Bhric Chaoich (The Lake of the Blind Trout)

    CBÉS 0119

    Page 467

    There was a lake in the village of Attavally called Loch an Bhric Chaoich (the lake of the blind trout). It was named from a blind trout that was caught in it. The people were afraid to pass by the lake after nightfall for a white horse was seen grazing by its side. The lake has dried up during the last few years.

  19. Folk Tales - The Trout

    CBÉS 0142

    Page 47

    One day two women went to a blessed well. There was a trout in it and he came up. One of the women said to the other "have you any bit of bread?" She searched and got a bit & threw it into the well but the trout would not eat it, and he used to eat every bit that would be thrown

  20. A Story of Tobar Nault

    CBÉS 0157

    Page 113

    There is a well called Tobar Nault and in years gone by there was a trout in it, People used to go there for cures. They used to catch the trout and take three drops of water out of his mouth. One day a woman caught him and brought him home, killed him as she thought, and put him on a tongs to cook. When he was cooked on one side, he jumped off the tongs and went back to the well again and it is said that people saw him after with one sede roasted and he was seen there many years after.