DOI: 10.7925/drs1.duchas_4922055
title: Cnoc Cairn, Imleach Iubhair

description: A collection of folklore and local history stories from Cnoc Cairn, Imleach Iubhair (school) (Knockcarron, Co. Limerick), collected as part of the Schools' Folklore Scheme, 1937-1938 under the supervision of teacher Tomás Ó Dúthaigh.
description: Ye sons of Erin, be of cheer, the day is near at hand, When the Saxon crew will disappear and leave our dear old land... / Ryan, James / Malachy, Ryan -- Ballycohy Eviction -- Procession at Cappawhite in Memory of the Manchester Martyrs -- Where Mulkear River Flows / Ryan, J. -- The four local estates were Brackile, Coolnapisha, Reask, and Cross. The landlords of those estates were men that were led by their agents, and the agents, in turn, were spurned on by their land-bailiffs... -- Faction fights are discontinued in this part of the country for nearly fights years... -- Ryan is the most plentiful name in Grean and Oola, as regards nicknames... -- One hundred years ago there was no travelling by road, only at a slow rate. The roads were bad, and were laid through hilly country... -- Prayers -- It is still a custom for country-people in those parts when killing a pig to fill the bladder with lard and hang it on the ceiling... -- In almost every district in Ireland hidden treasures are to be found, but as the people are very superstitious they seldom try to find it, for fear of drawing down the wrath of the "good people! upon them... / Néill, Máire Ní -- Variations of the "Song of the Wren" in this District -- Dearg-Daol -- The ordinary cock (rooster) up to some 50 years ago played a very important part in the superstition of the local peasantry... -- Gaelic Words Still in Our Spoken English -- The red specks on the edges of the petals of daisies, are supposed to be drops of Our Lord's blood... -- On Christmas Eve Night, local peasant light a long candle in the kitchen window, and put on a big fire and sweep the hearth... -- When old people say the "Let Us Pray" after the Family Rosary at night... -- When a person is very busy at something involving the deft use of the hands... -- The phrase "May it thrive with you! has been changed down to "May it 'thry' with you", in our district. -- The Fitzgeralds of Knockcarron, my own ancestors, were nicknamed the "Gleidire's"... -- An reference to unpopular leaders in our Irish history draws the following comment from the old people locally... -- In former times when a pig was killed, the bodalach was kept and hung on the hob... -- Local old people say that a tailor is only the ninth pat of a man, from being always hunched up on his table... -- There was a famous man living in a poor little hut in the Glen of Aherlow... -- Hedge-Schools in Emly -- Parish Priests of Galbally - Their Succession - 1278 - 1938 -- Saint Ailbe -- Weather-Lore -- Pishogue -- Hidden Treasure -- Old Crafts -- Hedge-Schoolmasters -- The Potato Crop -- Care of the Feet -- The steeple of the old Emly Protestant Cathedral was partially demolished by storm on the Night of the Big Wind, 26th February 1839... -- The Great Famine, 1846-47 took heavy toll from this district... -- Folklore - Herbs -- The road through Knockcarron, and the road from Emly to Knockcarron, th road through Bartoose, and the Emly-Kilteely Road, were built as relief work in 1847... -- The old Catholic Church in Emly was replaced by a new building in 1873... -- Galbally Farmer -- Many of the old tales connected with the rural parts of Country Limerick deal with tight-fisted housewives... -- Praiseach Buí -- Without title -- In thatched country farmhouses, a little plant called a "toirpín" is always placed over the door and set in a cow-dung... -- People say that murderers used be placed face-downwards in the coffin so that they could never rise again. -- Bats rapping at windows portend that someone of the inmates is about to die. -- When cows are being milked, their hind legs are tied together with a spancel... -- Mares generally foal on the brow of a ditch. A four-leafed shamrock is supposed to be found on the spot where the mares foal... -- When a sow farrows, the offspring are taken away according as they are farrowed. This is to prevent their being smothered or eaten by the sow... -- One day, a local wit, who had just come down a step in the world was engaged in breaking stones on the roadside for the County Council... -- Much superstition centres round the hair of a human head... -- Some of the more blood-thirsty of the older generation used keep a human hand to effect certain cures... -- Riddles -- Care of the Feet -- Landlord -- Churning etc -- Old Ghost Stories -- Riddles -- Homemade Toys -- Old Crafts -- Marriage Customs -- Old Games -- Story of a Local Landlord -- Care of Our Farm Animals -- Herbs -- Ruins of the Castle on the Hill of Knocklong -- Fenian Movement -- Saint Peter's Well -- Battle of Moanmore 1151 -- Saint Ailbe's Well -- Saint Ailbe and the Well -- General Tradition of the Glen of Aherlow -- Bread -- Harvesting in Olden Times -- Lore of Certain Days -- Holy Wells -- Old Houses -- Emblems and Objects of Value -- Hidden Treasure -- Local Names - Surnames -- Old Graveyards -- Festival Customs -- Bird-Lore -- Irish Wakes -- Ghost Story -- Local Cures -- Pishogues -- Daw Quinn and the Fairy Hunt -- Lore of Certain Days -- Homemade Toys -- Local Heroes -- Hurling and Football Matches -- Folklore -- Irish Words still in Use amongst the People of Emly
description: Supported by funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Ireland), University College Dublin, and the National Folklore Foundation (Fondúireacht Bhéaloideas Éireann), 2014-2016.