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…
A horse or a dragon? Anyone who has seen May Day’s ‘Obby ‘Oss of Padstow may conclude that it looks like neither.
The Jack-in-the-Green was (and indeed is) a traditional participant in May celebrations and May Day parades in the UK.
The narrative of witchcraft in Ireland is a subject often left out of major surveys of the wider history of witchcraft. Dr. Andrew Sneddon’s research explores the presence and complexities of witchcraft beliefs and traditions in an Irish context.
Maypoles are often seen as a quintessentially English tradition, yet in Bavaria the raising of the Maibaum (or May Tree) is also an important event, and it is not the only time a tree is hefted aloft in celebration.
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