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there are many stories that attest that the fairies took their opportunity to seek revenge on those mortals on moonlit evenings when speaking of the fairies the names like the good people or the fair folk were often used as a precaution to causing offence sources lady jane wilde ancient legends mystic charms and superstitions of ireland 1887 lady jane wilde ancient cures charms and usages in ireland 1890 illustration by arthur rackham 1867 1939 posted on november 25 2023 by the fading year seasonal irish folklore feast day of saint catherine in ireland despite having spent all of her short life in egypt saint catherine alexandria was at one time among the most revered saints in ireland the many religious institutions named after saint catherine give some indication of the saint s widespread veneration in ireland over previous centuries but it is perhaps saint catherine s bed one of six penitential beds at lough derg that gives the greatest indication of the high position she previously held among the saints of ireland as saint catherine is considered at least in ireland to be the patron saint of seafaring it is natural that her cult has remained strongest in places like the coastal parishes of killybegs in donegal and ventry in kerry both of which have catherine as their patron saint saint catherine s feast day 25 november has continued to be observed in killybegs and ventry with pilgrimages and patrons at holy wells which according to legend were long ago blessed in saint catherine s honour by survivors of shipwrecks often monks who believed the saint had intervened to spare them being drowned in killybegs there is also a more recent legend dating from the middle of the nineteenth century in which a protestant rector named lodge decided to fill the holy well with soil in an effort to put a stop to the well worship in the area only to discover that after doing so a spring shot up through the floor board of his house flooding his drawing room leading the rector to have the holy well restored to its previous state internationally and in the roman catholic tradition saint catherine of alexandria is considered to be the patron saint of many occupations including unmarried women millers and archivists however to the best of my knowledge seafaring is only ascribed to her in the irish tradition above photograph of saint catherine s well killybegs county donegal circa 1940 valentine collection national library of ireland posted on november 13 2023 by the fading year seasonal irish folklore welcoming the new moon in irish folklore in ireland there are a host of traditional beliefs and rituals that were once commonly observed to acknowledge the arrival of the new moon it which was generally believed that at first sight of a new moon a person s behaviour could influence their fate until the start of the next moon cycle one such widespread belief which has survived advised that in order for a person to increase their fortune a piece of silver should be borrowed when the new moon first appeared in the belief that your wealth would increase as the new moon waxed while at least in county clare it was considered lucky to turn the coins in your pocket on the first occasion that the luminary is sighted in a similar manner but with less favourable results it was believed to be unlucky to catch sight of the new moon through glass a correspondent from a 1903 issue of ireland s own warned that sorrow would follow a person who saw a new moon through glass until the following new moon appeared even the position that the new moon was viewed from was deemed to be of consequence to the viewer s fate ideally for luck the new moon should be seen over the right shoulder while to see the new moon over the left shoulder was believed to be unlucky and seeing the new moon directly before you was said to foretell that the onlooker would have a fall direct appeals were also made to the new moon with some believing that a person who demonstrated their veneration for the new moon upon its first appearance would receive protection for as long as the moon lasted in his 1870 book irish folk lore fr john o hanlon provided two accounts of the manner in which salutations were made to the new moon during the middle of the nineteenth in county galway in the first account a person kneels down before the moon says a pater or ave and then recites the following address oh moon may thou leave us safe as thou hast found us while in the second account a person should make a sign of the cross while at the same time chanting in an undertone the following short prayer god and the holy virgin be about me and finally the following verse i see the moon and the moon sees me god bless the moon and god bless me appeals to the new moon were also made by young women who sought insight to the identity of their future husband in the early years of the twentieth century an elderly woman from county tipperary gave a h singleton a detailed account of the following salutation which she had tried in her young day for insight into her future love life when you get a sight of it the new moon kneel down and with a black handled knife lift a sod from under your right knee and from under the toe of your right foot repeating new moon new moon happy may i be whoever is my true love this night may i see once this verse is recited a number of times the lords pray should be repeated after which the sod of earth is lifted from under your knee and foot and hidden outside your house till you are ready to go to bed then bring it inside you must not speak to a living soul once the earth brought into the house then put the earth into the right foot stocking and put that under your head but be sure you talk to no one till morning sources anonymous correspondent ireland s own vol 1 no 8 14 january 1903 donaldson john a historical and statistical account of the barony of upper fews in the county of armagh dundalk 1923 o hanlon john lageniensis irish folk lore traditions and superstitions of the country with humouress tales london 1870 singleton a h dairy folklore and other notes from meath and tipperary london 1904 posted on november 10 2023 by the fading year seasonal irish folklore spilling blood on saint martin s eve the tradition of sacrificing a fowl or a farm animal on saint martin eve was once observed in many parts of ireland and was still going strong into our grandparents times the type of animal slaughtered depended on the means of the household in wealthier households a pig lamb calf or other animal was generally chosen while in the majority of households especially as the nineteenth century progressed the slaughter of a fowl generally a goose gander chicken or duck became the most widespread offering to the saint for those who could neither afford nor obtain a farm animal alternatives were often resorted to in some coastal areas for example seabirds were known to be slaughtered in place of farm animals on saint martin s eve while for those who failed to procure an animal of any kind the spilling of blood was sometimes considered so essential that a member of the family would spill some of their own blood usually by cutting a finger to fulfil the obligation to the saint the slaughtering of the animal was the responsibility of the head of the household if a fowl was to be slaughtered the woman of the house generally carried out the ritual while if a mammal was to be slaughtered the man of the house was thought to be responsible for the ritual whether female or male the head of the household would hold the animal in their hands and proclaim that the animal was been killed in honour of saint martin once the creature was slaughtered to protect the household from evil and to encourage prosperity in the coming year the blood was spilled and sprinkled over the threshold about the windows and in each corner of the dwelling in some instances the byre stables and other outbuilding were protected in a similar manner while as a form of personal protection blood from the animal was sometimes used to make the sign of a cross on the forehead of each member of the household ronald h buchanan tells us that the head of the fowl was sometimes thrown over the roof of the house to ward off evil during the following year while according to lady augustus gregory the claw of a foul killed on saint martin s eve is worth retaining as it is thought to contain the power bring back a child that had been taken by the fairies there are many legends warning of the consequences of failing to make an offering to saint martin on saint martin s eve for example versions of following short county leitrim legend were once well known in many parts of ireland a man who having nothing else killed his only cow in honour of the saint who rewarded him by increasing his riches in the following year so that when st martin s day came round again he was the possessor of many beasts then in his plenty he grudged even a fowl and by the following 11th november was as poor as he ever was the slaughtered fowl or beast was cooked and shared between the members of the family on saint martin s day which along with michaelmas and christmas day were the only holy days when the consumption of meat was permitted amongst the primarily catholic population of ireland sources buchanan ronald h calendar customs ulster folklore volume 9 belfast 1963 duncan leland l whelan barney whelan anne lynch michael mcvittie edward and drumkeeran fairy beliefs and other folklore notes from county leitrim folklore 7 no 2 june 1896 pp 161 183 evans e estyn irish folk ways london 1957 gregory lady augusta visions and beliefs in the west of ireland 1920 mason william shaw a statistical account or parochial survey of ireland london 1814 1819 moutray read dh some characteristics of irish folklore folklore 27 no 3 1916 pp 250 278 ó súilleabháin amhlaoibh the diary of an irish countryman 1827 1835 translated from the irish by tomás de bhaldraithe cork dublin 1970 1979 wilde lady jane ancient legends mystic charms and superstitions of ireland london 1888 painting by edith sommerville titled the goose girl 1888 available to view at crawford art gallery cork posted on november 2 2023 by the fading year seasonal irish folklore all souls day the dead kildare 2 november it is said that on this one day of the year the souls of the dead are allowed to re visit their native districts and if only the human eye had the power to see them they would be observed about one on every side as plenty as thranteens long blades of grass in an uncut meadow at night time it is customary in every house to light a candle in memory of each member of a family who has died they are placed in an unused room and allowed to burn till midnight when after praying for the souls of the dead they are extinguished as by that time the souls themselves have returned to rest at the last thing at night the hearth is swept clean and on it are placed three cups of spring water that the souls of the dead can visit the living is often said of hallowe en and sometimes extends for a two day period from hallowe en to all souls day journal of the kildare historical and archaeological society 1906 8 painting by william gerald barry 1864 1941 an old woman and children in a cottage interior 1887 crawford art gallery cork posted on october 31 2023 by the fading year seasonal irish folklore halloween the fairies in irish folklore encounters between the fairies and their human counterparts are said to be particularly prevalent at halloween for on that dark night like may eve the veil between this world and the otherworld is at its thinnest it is well known that on halloween the fairies shift location and hold their revels in ancient raths on top of hills and around lonesome hawthorn trees many people would avoid going out on halloween as the fairies who are often mischievous and sometimes vindictive were believed to be particularly boisterous on this night leaving offerings to the fairies on halloween was a widespread in ireland although the custom was steadily in decline from the middle of the nineteenth century despite the decline the custom is still carried out in some irish households to this day although the idea of sharing the halloween feast with our fairy counterparts sounds like a friendly gesture these offerings were often presented in an attempt to put a stop to the fairies more sinister activities during his childhood in the 1920s seán o callaghan of ballygrane in county cork recalled that his mother always left a plate of barmbrack and a saucer of milk at the gate of their house on halloween night and that his mother believed that if she failed to leave this offering the fairies would come in and break all the crockery in the house attempts to appease the fairies on halloween were not restricted to rural areas the famous irish playwright william butler yeats recalled being told as a child that offerings were still made on halloween night in the slums of dublin to secure protection against the fairies those who dared to venture out on halloween would often carry charms including items made of iron and crucifixes to repel the fairies elizabeth andrews in her 1913 book ulster folklore noted that on halloween in parts of county derry mothers put salt or oats on the heads of their children to protect them from being abducted by the fairies many who ventured out on halloween found themselves unexplainably lost in what were once familiar surroundings in his 1889 book originally titled donegal 60 years ago hugh dorian provided the following account of the disorientation that was supposed to accompany those who found themselves lost on halloween the passerby can hear the sound of music coming from some steep rock or if a man in the dusk of the evening is looking for some stray animal he experiences their tricks by going astray and wandering about himself and then he hears them laughing aloud at him in his difficulty if you find yourself lost on halloween night or on any other night for that matter a good way to find your bearings is to turn your coat inside out as doing so is supposed to break the fairies enchantment if halloween was a dangerous time to be abducted by fairy hosts it was also a date that provided opportunities to rescue loved ones who were held in the fairy realm father john o hanlon noted in his 1870 book irish folk lore that persons taken away to the raths are often seen at this time by their living friends and usually accompanying a fairy cavalcade if you meet the fairies it is said on all hallows eve and throw the dust taken from under your feet at them they will be obliged to surrender any captive human being the fairies are not always vindictive to their human counterparts and there are many stories where the fairies seem to need the assistance of mortals as midwives musicians and in some tales to carryout abductions while the fairies are thought to be more inclined to harm humans at samhain in some t...