1. dúchas.ie
  2. The Schools' Collection

The Schools’ Collection

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

Filter results

Results

167 results

  1. Not from Flanders

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 050

    5th Stanza
    I love to roam the meadows
    And stroll through the boreen's
    Where they cook the Limerick Bacon
    In a skillet full of greens.

    6th
    Where they serve the harvest dinner
    That is sandwiched in between
    A half a tierce of porter
    And a jug of pure potheen

    Composed by
    J. H. Fleming
    U.S.A.
    formerly of Main St. Ballylanders Co. Limerick where his father, Tom Fleming kept a public house and grocery (1929)

    Received the above from
    E. J. Ryan,
    Relieving Officer,
    Ballylanders.
    to whom Fleming sent his odes from U.S.A. 1929

  2. Water Supply - Ballylanders Pumps

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 055

    Water Supply - Ballylanders Pumps
    The water supply in Ballylanders, up to the installing of the present up-to-date one, was uncertain and dangerous and was often the cause of trouble and anxiety to the villagers. Epidemics were frequent and diphtheria recurrent.
    Our local poet, James Barry, an old man of close on ninety, describes the state of affairs in the following:
    Oh! Sad is the fate of the poor to relate,
    The pump is dried up that supplied us of late,
    Not a drop of pure water all round can be found
    Oh dear what a shame in this saintly old ground.
    They locked it, and blocked it, and poured water down,
    And said, now 'twill supply all the folks of the town.
    But the lock it was broken to see would it come,
    Sure the divil a drop could be got for the home.
    And far, far away you could hear every thump
    Of the handle that's working this empty old pump.
    Pumping air is the fashion, the pails come and go,
    Yet, still not a drop of the bright water flow.
    The pump that now yield us the water you know,
    Is receiving the sewerage that constantly flow.
    There's scarcely a foot twixt the sewer and the well
    And this is the water they call par-excell.
    I've seen worms and maggots pumped out of this hole,

  3. Social Ballylanders

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 065

    Air: Lass of Gorey.
    Ist Verse
    'Oh there are hearts where friendship reign
    Amidst the tempests of despair.
    Oh! there is blood within those veins
    That faithful flow despite of care
    If hearts like these you would adore
    Where love is centred in the core
    They dwell apart from Erin's shore
    In Social Ballylanders.
    II Verse
    Their brow is stern, their tempers high,
    They brook no wrong at any price
    The fiery flash that light their eyes
    Denotes no trace of cowardice
    But meet them o'er a flowing bowl
    Where wine inflames the youthful soul
    And mirth and joy pervade the whole
    The Boys of Ballylanders.

  4. The Men of '48 and '67

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 077

    Townsend's command. Clifford Lloyd with bailiffs and troopers carried out these evictions.
    The Fitzgeralds of Garnalina were evicted though Mrs Fitzgerald was a Massey a relative of the then Lord Massey. Clifford Lloyd and his soldiers travelled by waggonette on this occasion. When returning through Ballylanders to Kilfinane, Lloyd who was on a raised seat above the soldiers was struck with a paving stone thrown from Dineens corner. This is what happened: One Bat Buckley lay in ambush in a gateway at the end of Osborne's house on the Bog Road. He had two paving stones, He was a and had an unerring aim. He waited until Lloyd and his party had gone almost beyond the cross when the trhew, struck Lloyd on the head and bowled him completely from his high perch on to the road. The solders were so taken by surprise that they did not know what happened. Old Seán Raleigh who was sitting on Martin's window on the opposite side of the street and who was in the know of things rushed over to the fallen and unconscious man, cried out to the soldiers "keep back boys and give him air it is a fit of his own he has." Seán took Lloyd into Catherine Powell's public house where under the

  5. Moats

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 103

    There is a moat about 300 yards from the village of Ballylanders in the townland of Clogán. It is called Cleary's moat. Years ago the story goes that men were digging around a stone at the entrance to the moat, they were trying to remove the stone when fire broke out followed by thunder lightning and heavy rain which hunted the men. while digging the men found bones crocks and funeral urns. A white hare was often seen there and on Sundays music used to be heard.
    The foregoing is an account taken down from the present owner of the moat - John Cleary - who heard the stories from old people.

  6. Funny Stories

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 125

    II.
    A story heard locally by myself.:-
    An old man John Marnane now dead lived in Kilgarriff about two miles from Ballylanders. He had some dealing with a neighbour over meadows but they fell out and there was no way left but to go to law. He went to a solicitor who advised him to try and settle with the neighbour and to let him know by a certain day so that he would not proceed with the law.
    On the day named John met his opponent at a fair here in the street and they failed to make

  7. (no title)

    “Football matches in olden times were often played with two furze bushes as goals...”

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 133

    Football matches in olden times were often played with two furze bushes as goals. Twenty one men played on each side and there was a line drawn across the middle of the field. The ball used to be kicked also from one townsland to another. He himself remembered starting in Glenahoglisha and the Ballylanders boys got the ball from the Glenahoglisha boys kicked it across the ditches and Pat Hannan kicked it down the street. The players wore white waistcoats- "báneens" -and leather belts with big buckles.
    Hurling was also widely played. The hurleys were cut from ash trees in Griston, sometimes from crab trees and often from furze.
    An old game called "Bud" was often played with

  8. (no title)

    “Three meals a day - two of potatoes and one meal of stirabout. They started work ar six o'clock in the morning and they ate their potatoes and sour milk at eight oclock...”

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 144

    three meals a day - two of potatoes and one meal of stirabout. They started work at six o'clock in the morning and they ate their potatoes and sour milk at eight o'clock - potatoes and salt again and sour milk in the middle of the day and stirabout at night. They ate salt meat on Sunday. Bread butter and eggs were eaten only on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. Barley bread made on griddles they ate.
    The potatoes were thrown out of the pot on the table and a ladar "ladhar" of salt here and there. The family all sat round a pigin of sour milk or butter-milk was placed between each two and they ate the poatoes peeling them with the nail of the thumb and every second sup out of the pigin.

    PADDY MOLONEY of Ballylanders used dig 1/2 quarter of spuds in the day, used to eat a stone of them for his supper with half a pig's head and two piggins of thick milk and then go to bed.

  9. (no title)

    “An old superstition connected with crows is that crows lodge only in certain places - in Kilfrush near Knocklong in Co. Limerick a crow was never known to build a nest in the lands of Gubbins...”

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 148

    believed that crows begin to build their nests on the first day of March but if the first day of March falls on Sunday they will not carry a twig.
    This belief about crows was taken down by my sister from Jack McGrath a Ballylanders Co Limerick a local blacksmith. He believes if you interfere with the crows when building that the "curse of the crows" will follow you.
    An old belief about cats is - if a cat does not live with you - that is if they die one after another you can break the bad spell by stealing a cat.

  10. Ruins in the District

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 160

    On the eastern end of the village stands the ruins of a Protestant Church built by Kingston who lived in the demesne in Mitchelstown and who owned so much land that a horseman could not drive round it in a week. In order to entice the Catholics of Ballylanders district to give up the faith he offered them free tracts of land and he got the "old Building" built. It was intended as a place of Protestant worship but it is said it was never finished as Kingston "got broke" before it was roofed. Another story goes that one of the workmen fell from the roof and was killed and that the others refused to continue working. It was never used for worship and it stands today a testimony to the failure of Protestantism in the district. A smaller church was afterwards built for the few Protestant families in the district but that now has been changed into a dwelling-house as there are no Protestant families left.
    In the graveyard are the ruins of what was believed to be an Abbey and the earliest Church in the district - the walls are still standing and the doorway is still visible in the south side wall. It is there people finish the "rounds" made round the well in the Churchyard.

  11. Folklore

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 457

    Ned Fraher, a blind piper from Knockcarron. Ned used make his own pipes, using elder sticks to make the chanter. Ned Fraher emigrated to London, where his prowess on the bagpipes earned for him a recital before Cardinal Wiseman. Ned Fraher opened an Irish dance-hall in London. During his wanderings, Peter Scanlan also arrived in London and one night he visited Fraher's dance hall. He recognised his old friend and decided he would give him a surprise. He arranged for a corn-Phíopa to be played, and as Fraher played, Scanlon danced as he never danced before. Poor blind Fraher's face brightened, and when the dance was over, he said:- "Well if you walked the whole world, you are Peter Scanlon from Ballylanders." In those days, step-dancers usually danced on a table. The test of a good tidy dancer was to dance on the timber skimmer used for skimming milk in a dairy.
    A good weight-lifter was Tom Jackie (Thomas McGrath) of Monemore, who used walk around with a 20-stone sack of meal. On a Pattern Day, a stone-throwing contest used take place in the churchyard near St. Ailbhe' Well. This was generally won by Tom Jackie. The stone they used throw was called a "Carraig."
    "Three standing jumps" was a very popular patime in this district, and Will Hennessy of Coolboy was supposed to be one of its best exponents.

  12. Local Cures

    CBÉS 0512

    Page 481

    Local Cures.
    If you saw three trout in the holy well of cllitchelstoun you would get cured of any disease. If you washed your sore eyes in Paradise well it would cure them. If you were walking around and to see water in a stone and to wash your hands in it would cure warts in them. When a dog gets fits if you gave him washing soda it would cure him. To rub vaseline to chilblains it would cure them. To gather sheep droppings and boil them in new milk and give them to a sick person it would cure them. Put a scarf around your neck it would cure a sore throat. To put a frog in mouth and if he screeches three time a sooth ache would be cured. To wash your eyes in the holy well of Ballylanders it would cure them. To put a child under a white hose three times it would cure

  13. Weather-Lore

    CBÉS 0513

    Page 003

    When the cat or dog sits with its back to the fire it is a sign of bad weather. When the swallows leave this country early it is a sign of a bad winter. When smoke rises straight up from the chimney is is a sign of good weather. If the smoke scatters when it gets above the chimney it is a sign of bad weather.
    There was a fierce thunderstorm around this locality in the year 1909. It lasted from twelve o'clock in the day until seven in the evening. Two men named Burke and Coleman were killed near Ballylanders. They were loading hay in a field outside the village when they were struck by the lightning and killed. The horses were also killed.

  14. Hidden Treasure

    CBÉS 0513

    Page 043

    There is a treasure hidden in the More Abbey. It was hidden by the Franciscans in the time of Cromwell.
    Some time ago an attempt was made to unearth it by a few men from Ballylanders.
    They made the attempt in the middle of the night. They started digging and after a while they felt very hard surface and they thought they were near the treasure. Suddenly they heard a great noise and a bull appeared to them and they had to run for their lives. Next day they decided to try for the treasure again and to bring holy water with them. When night came they came to the More Abbey again and they shook the holy water around the spot where the treasure was supposed to be. They began to

  15. Holy Wells

    CBÉS 0513

    Page 090

    There is a holy well in Ballylanders. It is called St. Mary's Well. People visit the well on the 15th August. There are a lot of relics left at the well. Some people leave pieces of rags at the well. They say that when the rags rot that the will be cured of whatever they suffer from.
    An old woman stays at the well and people give her money. She gives the money to the parish priest. Invalids drink the water. It is said that the water is a cure for sore eyes There is a fish in the well and it is said that whoever sees the fish will be cured after eight days. There is a bush near the well.

  16. (no title)

    “There is a holy well near the Moreabbey about a mile from Galbally.”

    CBÉS 0513

    Page 096

    There is a holy well near the Moreabbey about a mile from Galbally. It is called St. Francis' Well. The well is situated under an arch on the road from Galbally to Aherlow. Long ago people used to visit the well and take children there to be cured from the whooping cough. Many cures took place there.
    The tree near the well used to be decorated. Some say the well removed from one side of the road to the other. The rosary was the usual prayer said there.
    There is a holy well in Ballylanders. It is called Our Lady's Well. It is visited eight days before the 15th August

  17. Fairy Passways

    CBÉS 0513

    Page 421

    There is a house between Anglesboro and Ballylanders. During its building a voice was heard saying "Do not build here" The builders took no notice but continued their work.
    When fitting glass into a small window the pane was blown away. Another was fitted with a like result. Still another attempt was made with same result.
    At last a pane was fitted in

  18. The Hedge-Schools

    CBÉS 0514

    Page 053

    Jack Dwyer, father of Mrs. Denis Lenihan of the Angelsboro post office taught a hedge school at the Cross of Gerah, Kilbehenny Co. Limerick c.1867. The school was a little thatched house on the side of the road. He lived in the school. School began about 9 o'clock and ended at 4. There was a break of 1 hour in the middle of the day for dinner when children who lived nearby went home.
    Jackie was a one handed man and was a famous ball player. He also taught for some time in Mrs. Stanton's store house at the cross of Angelsboro, Co. Limerick. This public house is now run my Martin, maiden name Ellen Stanton.
    In 1868 a man called Reilly taught a hedge school in Ballyfaskin Ballylanders Co. Limerick. It was a little thatched house about two fields in from the road and stood beside Paddy Moynihan's house and almost opposite Denis Dwyers cottage.

  19. Local Poets

    CBÉS 0514

    Page 086

    Gilmartin, an N.T. who lived in Ballylanders Co Limk. about 60 years ago made five or six beautiful poems in praise of the Galtees.
    James Carroll already mentioned and known as Jimmy from Limerick composed a beautiful poem on The Galtee Boy; John Sarsfield Casey of Mitchelstown Co. Cork. "The Galtee Boy" wrote on the Sentinal, a paper published in Mitchelstown by John V. Kiely, Barnagurraha, Anglesboro'. "The Galtee Boy" wrote on the condition of the tenants on the Galtee Estate owned by Buckley.
    He suffered a term of imprisonment on account of his connection with the Land League. (This will be seen in more detail later).

  20. (no title)

    “Rents were very high. Any man having a good farm had his rent raised and for any improvements made by him...”

    CBÉS 0514

    Page 276

    Rents were very high. Any man having a good farm had his rent raised and for any improvements made by him, extra taxes were imposed on him.
    The Kingstons were at one time the landlords of this district and for a radius of 10 miles - going to Clogheen on the south - east and as far as Ballylanders on the northwest.
    They built a big wall around the Mitchelstown Castle estate. It was 15 miles and 10 or 12 feet high