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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 0463

    Page 342

    On my way to Mass last Sunday I met a man they call Jack the Point whose name is John OSullivan and who came originally from Baile Muirne. I told him that my teacher told me to collect old stories and I asked him politely " did he ever see a ghost"? "No then" he said. I have been out all hours of the night for the past 50 years and I never saw or met anything uglier than my-self." My face fell immediately. But says he I was frightened out of my life one night about 35 years ago going a near way home from card playing and near a tree I heard a noise like a warning note "hey, hey, hey. when I recognised as that of a

  2. The Fairies

    CBÉS 0517

    Page 292

    In the west of Ireland in the year 79 there lived a little boy & girl. They lived in a very lonely place & had no one to speak to them but an old woman, who was recommended by their Parish Priest to live with them. After their mothers death, they were young Tommy's age was 11 years, and his sister Kathleen was 18 years. Kathleen was an assistant teatcher in the Local School and her little salary was their only means of living. They very fond of each other the old woman was very kind too. She used to pass away the winter nights with ghost stories. After a little time Kathleen got suddenly ill while returning from

  3. (no title)

    “One dark night a certain man was returning from a neighbour's house.”

    CBÉS 0518

    Page 085

    One dark night a certain man was returning from a neighbour's house. On his way home he had to pass beside a graveyard. When he was drawing near the graveyard he commenced to think of all the ghost stories he had heard. He was getting afraid and began perspiring. When he was passing the graveyard wall he saw a white object. He almost jumped out of his skin and ran back the way he came with the hair standing on his head. After a short time he stopped running and plucked up a bit of courage. He decided to go back and see what it was. On coming back to the wall the white object was still there. He went up to it and what was it but a white goat.

  4. A Story

    CBÉS 0535

    Page 539

    One night a man was going home. He had to pass Cloughprior grave-yard, he began to think to think of all the ghost stories, which his grandfather had told him. He was getting very much afraid and was perspiring. When he was passing the grave-yard wall, he saw an object. He almost jumped out of his skin, he turned and ran back the way he came with the hair standing on his head. When he stopped running he decided to go back and see what it was. On coming back to the wall the white object was still there. He went up to it and it was only a white goat. He said to himself that he'd never be afraid again

  5. Stories

    CBÉS 0630

    Page 004

    I see but two". When the father saw the other ghost he dropped dead.
    Bridie O'Dea, Donogrogue, Killimer heard about stories from her father Michael O'Dea of same address

  6. The Light in the Ruin

    CBÉS 0648

    Page 307

    One night a man was coming home through a lonely road. As he drew near the ruins of an old house he began to tremble. He thought of all the ghost stories he heard as a boy and that made him more afraid. But at last he grew brave and determined to pass the ruin. Just when he thought he was safe he glanced in one of the windows of the ruin and what he saw made him shiver with fright. A white object was standing directly inside the window holding a light in his hand. The man didn't

  7. A Story

    “Once upon a time when my two uncles were fishing they were near a quay called the 13 arm quay and they saw an object in a field above it.”

    CBÉS 0653

    Page 100B

    Some ghost stories are very chilling. I heard this story from my uncles some time ago. Once upon a time when my two uncles were fishing they were near a quay called the Barn quay and they saw an object in a field above it, it was in the shape of a horse. It came to the edge of the cliff and turned into a man and he jumped down over the cliff and he knocked a great portion of it. My uncle’s stayed watching him and he turned into a horse again and was coming towards them and the object disappeared and my uncles went away and they saw the horse on the other side of the river. They got such a fright that they never went near that quay again. That story happened many years ago.

  8. Greenmount

    CBÉS 0671

    Page 16

    called because of its having so many glens and deep trenches.
    Ross's Well. Páirc Ban, Carraig [?]oil,
    Ross's Hollow. The Foxcover,
    The Arbour, The Bottoms.
    Granny Beatty's well - where the old woman Granny Beatty was drowned.
    The Bell Wood. In this wood there is an ice house built down in the earth about 20 feet.
    X. Ghost stories and legends.
    There are several ghost stories told about Greenmount House. A carriage and pair driven be a headless man comes out the gates of this residence at midnight and goes down the road as far as the centre of Greenmount.
    Another story told locally is that St. Patrick's goat was skinned at Greenmount and the skin made into a tambourine which is supposed to be heard playing at midnight in a field called the Orchard. The fruit trees of this orchard are said to have been burned to dry the goat's skin. Anyhow, there are no fruit trees in the orchard.

  9. A Ghost Story

    CBÉS 0675

    Page 064

    Long ago I was speaking to an old man. He told me some Ghost stories of olden time. He told me a Ghost story. He said he live in a big house with his wife which was surrounded by trees. There was a large room upstairs that noone used for years past. For every night about twelve o'clock they would here tapping and terrible noise and when they would open the door in the morning all the furniture would be tumbled about and as long as they lived there the same things, were going on. It was believed that long years ago a man cut this throat in this room and kept coming back. This room was supposed to be haunted. This man also said that one night when he went into the room, he heard terrible noise in the corner of the room when he looked in the corner of the room he saw

  10. Cromwell in Drogheda

    “These are true stories I am going to tell you about. It happened in the time of Oliver Cromwell,...”

    CBÉS 0680

    Page 435

    These are true stories I am going to tell you about. It happened in the time of Oliver Cromwell, and the Ghost stories happened from that time until the time of the present day.
    When Cromwell was coming to Drogheda from Dublin, the road he came was the main road. When he came to Gormanstown he went the road next the sea, he came out on the main road

  11. Ghost Stories

    CBÉS 0692

    Page 454

    Ghost Stories.
    Some hundred years ago there was a man ploughing on the shores of Lough Lane, Westmeath. He saw a priest coming out of the lake and walking along the bank towards him. As he passed, the priest looked sadly at him

  12. Ceilidhing in the District

    CBÉS 0703

    Page 333

    The custom of Ceilidhing is very rare in Cities or large towns, but in the country districts it is usual when the days work is finished for the young and middle-aged men to gather in certain houses and discuss the crops, local gossip, land division, law-cases, wars, the Government of the different Countries. Each man in his own way is capable of administering the affairs of State to the advantage of the Country better than those elected to do so. Some of the company introduce card-playing and other things. There is usually some ancient history and ghost stories are recorded. This usually brings the nights pleasure to a close, and all return to their different (homes) to retire and enjoy their well-earned sleep.

  13. Story

    CBÉS 0708

    Page 146

    This story was told to me by a woman called Bridget Carpenter of Spandaw. Long ago there lived an old woman in Spandaw who would be always telling ghost stories, and she used to say that she would never be afraid of ghosts. This woman used to get milk from a neighbour who lived about a half a mile across the fields. One winters night she was crossing for the milk and she was going near to the house she heard a wild scream going round the field and she thought it was old Dyas who had been dead for years before that riding a horse round the field. So when she went into the house she fainted then she was afraid to go back home again. In this hose there lived a man and people used to call him ‘the Gripper’ for a nick name and he would never be afraid of ghosts and he had to leave the woman at home. When they came to Staholmog Chapel she thought she saw Dyas standing up against the

  14. The Townland of Benison Lodge

    CBÉS 0719

    Page 615

    in this district and over forty people. There are four old people in this district that can stories. Mrs Victory, Mrs Fagan, and Mrs Macken can tell stories in Englsih. John Fizsimons can tell them in English and in Irish. All these old people live in Benison Lodge, Castlepollardd. The type of stories Mrs Victory tells is ghost stories and stories about saints and holy people. Mrs Fagan tells funny stories. John Fitzsimons tells about farmers and fairs.

  15. Ghost Stories

    CBÉS 0740

    Page 486

    There are many ghost stories told about this district. There is a large bird like a goose seen at Baronstown gate every night, at twelve o clock. John Beird of Rath often saw this bird when coming home at a late hour.
    There is a black dog with a long chain hanging

  16. Pishogues - Superstitions

    CBÉS 0741

    Page 251

    arrived at the cabin the old lady was found inside with blood flowing from her hips. It was she who was stealing the milk.
    This old man frequently stated that his mother captures a Leiprechain and had him in the house for some time. He told many ghost-stories. Frequently the ghist took the form of a turkey cock.

  17. Anchor Bower Road

    CBÉS 0749

    Page 222

    Long, long ago the Anchorites or Monks used the road on which I now live. It was called Anchors Bower Road because the Anchorites used it to go from Clanmacnois to Loch Ree. It was also called the Old Coach Road because the coaches used to travel that road to Dublin in the olden times. There are many ghost stories about that road. One of these stories is that every Hallow-een night a coach is supposed to go up that road and the driver and the horses are supposed to have no heads. Our Lady's Bower Convent is now situated on the Old Coach Road.

  18. Ghost Stories

    CBÉS 0756

    Page 073

    People who have happened to pass by the gate going into the Convent farmyard in Newtownforbes between twelve o'clock and one o'clock see the ghost of a nun crossing the road.
    Stories of this ghost are still told around the village, that one dark wintry night a young man was coming down the station road and when he was at the gate he saw the nun coming and he went to open the gate for her

  19. Irish Folklore

    CBÉS 0761

    Page 013

    In the olden times there were great singers and story-tellers but most of them have died or have left our country but still there are a few of them to be found throughout the country and those would sing you beautiful songs and tell you most beautiful stories. James Mc Nerney was a great singer and also a great story-teller. I heard the people talking about all the great stories he could tell and all the amusing songs he could sing. The names of the stories were, "The Shade of the old apple tree," The Ghost of the valley, "The rich man's vision," The rich little maiden and "Pat the Piper. The names of the songs were, "Mother mo [?] ," The old bog hole, "The Red river valley," The shirt I left behind me and Pat O'Donnell. James Mc Nerney was a great singer and also a great story-teller and he is still alive and I often heard him singing, telling stories and dancing and he told me that he could not be corrected or surpassed in any of them and he also told me that this man in his young days spent his time at

  20. Games I Play

    CBÉS 0761

    Page 032

    There are many games which I play at school and at home such as pooka, tig skipping colours hide and seek and rabbit. In Autumn when the berries are very plentiful my sister and I go black-berry picking. This is great fun for when we eat them our faces will be pink. In winter we amuse ourselves in playing cards around the fire telling ghost stories or giving out riddles. The out-of-door games I play in winter are setting traps for the birds in the snow or making bird cribs and this is how it is made. First you get sally rods and plait them together and fix them in the shape of a bird nest or creel then put a stick inside of it and have the crib slanting. When you have some crumbs in it a bird will come to eat them but she cannot get in without hiting the stick and at once the crib falls down on her and has her caught inside.