Rag Trees, Blessed Fish and Blind Horses: Some Traditions around Holy Wells in Ireland
Ireland has at least 3,000 wells that are, or were at least up until recently, looked upon as holy or blessed.
Author: Conchúr Mag Eacháin
Conchúr is a research editor based in Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University, and works primarily on the Dúchas.ie project to digitize the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.
‘Gather far, gather near, gather all the milk and butter here!’ Some May Day Traditions from Ireland
In Cork, on May morning before sunrise, a person went out and brought back a branch of hazel, holly and mountain ash and returned to the house singing the above verse to ‘bring in the summer’. In Ireland, as in many parts of Western Europe, May marked the beginning of summer…
St Patrick’s Day Traditions: ‘My Patrick’s Pot on you!’
St Patrick’s Day, 17th March, is a key fixture in the Irish calendar, and indeed in many other places throughout the world. It may not have the wealth of traditions associated with the traditional Irish quarter days but its popularity and the festivities associated with it make it central to the Irish year.