Sean O'Ciarain

A HUNDRED years have passed since my father  was  born in an old weather-battered house in the village of Ring, beside the shore of  Broadhaven Bay. So close was it to the sea that at the spring tides the  water came into the house and halfway up the floor. The outlook all  around for miles was bleak and dreary, not a tree or shrub to be seen    anywhere only the heath and rushes of the bog. Every trace of that old house is now long gone, although I can sometimes see it still in my dreams: its thatched roof with holes in it,where sometimes the hens would nest in it held down by home made sugan rope.In proportion to

  its overall size its windows were suprisingly almost ridiculously small,  as were those of all the neighbouring houses. This was a feature common to all of them I was told by some of the old people that as a result of some archaic law relating rates to window space.

  Strange as it might seem today but at one time the bigger

   your windows were the more rates you had to pay, so that 

  being the case it was no wonder that the poor people who

  could only afford to pay a little rent, made sure that their

  windows were very small.

   I remember my father describing that the houses were

   always very dark and gloomy inside. Some of the houses

   had no chimney only a hole in the roof to let the smoke out

   which meant that the inside walls were always covered

   in soot from the turf  fires. Other things which stuck vividly

  in his mind was the area in which a stake was placed to tie

  My grandfather Michael Carey, had two sons John, and

 Anthony, and three daughters Alice, Mary,and Bridget.

 The eldest John emigrated to America,was tragically killed

 in an accident getting of a tram in New York in the 1920's.

  known at home returned with her husband Pake Gaughan

  who was also from the townland of Morahan. Alice married

  and moved to the midlands, where she lived for many ears

  and Mary married a man called Gallagher from Gortmellia

  My father Anthony always said that after too many years

  away in Glasgow, getting used of city life that they would

  lose their Irish identity and never come back,looking back

  in hindsight, he was right apart from one daughter

  maintain their Irish heritage, which was very common in

  Some said it was because they came of such poverty and

  poor times in the west of Ireland that once they had created

  new lives for themselves in Scotland there was no reason 

  to return.

 Following the tragic death of John in America and the

I heard it said by an old blacksmith called Pat Walshe that the sea-shore served as a highway and that was the reason that the people lived there. He could have been partly right but the answer goes back a lot longer than that, to the time of the great famine nearly two centuries ago when for three successive years  the potato crop was hit by blight and failed.

Those who could not pay were in real danger that the bailiffs might turn up and seize their cattle or any other thing of value and then evict them.

Our local community was spiced with colourful haracters remarkable singers, good storytellers and debaters and expounders of all kinds.

The winter nights seemed to pass quickly with this form of enteraiment and merriment along with the card schools which would be held as well.

Old Celtic Festivals

Written By Sean O'Ciarain
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In the ancient Celtic world each of their festivals celebrated at the beginning of the four seasons commemorating some legendary deity or cult and always commenced on the night before the important day. This usually consisted not only of feasting but also dancing and games of other activities; all with some religious or superstitious connotations attached to them. Also as the Celts were a pastoral people fairs and markets often accompanied their religious events.In times of antiquity sacrifices used to be offered of beasts or the produce of the feilds,and they would have had human sacrifices as well.It is well known through information handed down by various sources that in ancient Celtic circles at one stage of their development that human offerings were offered to the Gods on a regular basis,mostly in the form of prisoners captured in battle.Methods of dispatchment of those victims varied, different means being employed including burning,drowning and beheading.These sacrifices were held in all parts of Ireland during the course of the annual celebrations. The first of these quarterly occasions took place on the date we know as the First day of February in our calendar year. This feast was known as sacred to the goddess Bride, Queen of springtime and fertility role assumed in recent Christian times by her successor St Brigid.This powerful female deity was revered and worshiped in most places outside Ireland.In Celtic Britain she was known by the name Brigantia, she was also known as Brigitte throughout Europe.She was one of the most respected known Celtic gods and her worship was not confined to Ireland alone. She was renowned for bringing ewes into milk at springtime, and it is interesting that her Christian usurper St Bridgid followed her not only in feast date but also in being associated with sheep and cattle, and fertility in both beast and crop. With the transition of religion the pagan goddess's part was given over to the Christian saint. The Bridandian cult is much older than Christianity and was practised by the Celts long before came to Ireland.
The next quarterly festival was held on the First of May and was called Bealtaine, some say this feast was dedicated to the universal god Baal who is mentioned in the Bible as having been one of the principal canaanite gods, while others suggest that the feast is connected to another god called Belenos who was worshiped in France, and Italy and whose cult the Celts brought with them to Ireland.In his writings the ninth century Irish monk Cormac explains the word Bealtaine simply means a good fire.And still today as in ancient Ireland people light large bonfires on hilltops to celebrate festive nights, including St John's night on the twenty fourth of June.It is an another custom which has survived down through the centuries.In olden times on such nights it was practice to drive cattle through the flames so that saint or pagan god would protect them from all evil,burning embers would then be thrown into the tillage fields to ensure a bountiful crop the following year.
The third festival was that of Lughnasa,starting on the night before the First day of August.This was predominantly an agrarien occasion having mostly to do with the approach of harvest time.The chief deity connected with this feast was a god known as Lugh known in Ireland as "Lua Lambh Airgaid",translated into English means Lugh of the silver hand,in Gaul what is now modern day France he was known as Lugas,and also popular in Wales he was called Llew.Lugh was a powereful god and had respect throughout all the Celtic lands.And is still worshiped by a new generation of followers who visit his shrine which is situtated in the city which took his name at Lyon in France.In Ireland thousands would gather for the great annual assembly known as Aonach Tailten{The Tailtean Fair}which commenced on the First of August.People would come from all over Ireland to meet at Teltown in Co Meath.The famous Tailtean games,hurling matches and other sporting activities would take place lasting about fourteen days.Sports would also take place at the four other main centres of Eamhain Macha,Aileach,Croaghain,and Cashel.
The final festival of the year was held on the First of November and was called Samhain, better known to us as All Hallow`s Eve.This was the festival when the inhabitants of the never world, ghosts, evil spirits, and fairies were let loose to play havoc after dark. It is still widely practised in the Western Highlands of Scotland and the West of Ireland.Samhain begins just after sundown on the thirty first of October,and children in Mayo still celebrate the event to this day.
As we have just began a new millennium recently, it is good to reflect on our heritage and fairy lore figures largely in all-branches of the Celtic race, among the people of Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and also in various parts of Scotland.The origins of this reach far back into antiquity and nobody knows how it began. Some people who have made a study of mythology hold the view that fairies once existed in the form of an earlier people a diminutive race who once inhabited these lands before the arrival of the Celts and who knew nothing about the working of metals. That it was said could account for the dread they were reputed to have of iron. Those people it was thought, were forced to retreat into underground hideouts before the onslaught of the steel welding Celts, and there survived for a short time but they have become extinct now for many generations, but their memory has still lived on through time. They were if to be belived, to be found in little hillocks, old ring fortes, and other such places, They were very fond of music, and spent a lot of their time dancing and making merry. Tradition tells us it was not uncommon to hear them playing their unearthly music in the vicinity of old fairyhouses, particularly in the mornings early or in the evenings about dusk. The people who danced to it or accompanied them with their own instruments were said to have been given gifted musical talents in return.
In the west of Ireland it was a regular sight to visit what was called a fairy fort but what was really the remains of a pre-historic dwelling place occupying a part of a field belonging to a local farmer who would not interfere with it for fear of superstition and incurring the wrath of the fairies. Many stories have been told throughout the years about families having suffered terrible misfortunes because of their cynicism. The attuide towards of the fairies themselves, it was considered that they were in general well disposed to the human species, and at the same time their friendship could be fragile. They were it seems easily offended and when annoyed are at best mischievous and if really aroused downright nasty and capable have
quite outrageous behaviour. This caused most people to be cautious of them. Some people had a theory to the effect that fairies were fallen angels who had been expelled from heaven at one time. One would have thought that the religious teaching at that time would have expounded on the matter, heaven was supposed to be for all eternity and it was unthinkable that even the fairies could rebel against God.Yet according to the story they were sent to hell, and along with Lucifer after causing civil war in heaven. Some angels who did not take sides in the heavenly war were also flung out but they were not sent to hell. They were sentenced to roam this world until the Day of Judgement and then they became known as the fairies.

In the townland of Shanaghy there was a well known landmark an ancient circular mound called Creagain.It was hollow inside for if one jumped up and down on the top of it a vacant sound could be heard from below, It had an entrance on the north side in the form of a low narrow passage I never heard of anyone having the nerve to venture in and explore it, but I think it would have been possible for a boy or a small man to wriggle into it whether or not he would come out again is another matter.Not on any account would any of the local people interfere with the place because they believed that the abode of the fairies should be left strictly alone and not touched.Now the fairies appreciated this and showed goodwill in return,many an old couple would get up in the morning to find that their house had been mysteriously thatched during the night or some poor old widow the oats would be out stacked and her turf drawn home from the bog while she and the children slept during the night. They were good friends to have on one side but could be very spiteful and vindictive when annoyed, such good deeds carried out were always attributed to goodwill so it was well worth leaving the odd can of milk or slab of butter in return.Sonny Padden a local man was
conventional enough one night in Conways where a crowd of neighbours had gathered to stubbornly argue that there were was no evidence to justify the existence of fairies.There is nothing at all in it at all he insisted,A load of bloody superstition handed down from old Pagan times. Padden got his come-uppance.On rising next morning he discovered that his horse and two donkeys had been let out of the stable during the night, and the gate to his tillage field had been opened and the animals let in to destroy his crops, both gates of the stable and the field had been shut again.Neither horses or asses have the ability to open or close bolted doors or gates, and everyone said it was the work of the fairies expect Padden who blamed his neighbours.Many reports about fairy behaviour emphasise the difference there is of the passing of time in their world and time, as we know it.What might only hours to them could mean years, even hundreds of years to us.This has authenticated by the experiences of people who have actually spent time in their world.The tale I will tell is of two travellers who were well known fiddlers, which showed up at the Christmas Fair in Belmullet hoping to make some money playing in the local pubs.But the December nights get dark early along with a cold bitter Atlantic wind, which according to some people regarded good judges in weather forecasting would say meant an impending fall of snow.The majority of people once their business was transacted were only too keen to head for home, this meant as the evening wore on little notice was taken of, and far lean reward was given to the two public enterainers.Disillusioned, they left the deserted Square and seeking somewhere to shelter for the night made their way along by the canal.They had not gone very far when they met the strange figure of a man.From what they could see of him in the gathering darkness was that he was very small, old, and bearded.They could not recall ever having seen him before, but he seemed to know them well enough to address them both by their first names and in a most familiar manner.They were just the men he needed the right men at the right place and right time.He asked them would they come with him, as he needed two good fiddlers to play at a celebration, which was about to take place at his house.He promised that the payment for their time would be good with plenty of food and drink as well.You can imagine that it did not take much persuasion in the circumstances for them to accept his offer, so off they went with him until they arrived at the hill of Tonmore on the outskirts of Belmullet where they saw a brightly lit mansion and entered a grand parlour full of unusual company,all dressed in very old-fashioned clothes.Sitting themselves on a bench along the wall they placed their fiddles under their chins and started to play their music which consisted of a variety of good old Irish tunes and a couple of haunting melodys.Soon they were given all the food they could eat, never in their lives had they tasted such fine food or drank such great poteen.With the drinking and the dancing the night did not seem long in passing when the strange old gentleman came over to them and said it was near morning and that the function must come to an end.Thanking them kindly he escorted the outside where he presented them with a purse of money as payment for their services.The two fiddlers were delighted and more than satisfied and agreed that is was well worth their time coming to Belmullet, and this had made up for the previous disappointment.
After they gone a short distance one of them turned around to say a final word of thanks to the old man and let him know that they would be happy to oblige should he ever require their services again.It was then he got the shock of his life and his mate along with him for not a sight or sound of the man, mansion or company could be seen or heard The whole seen had evaporated and they found themselves standing beside an old ratheen on the bleak snow covered hill of Tonmore in the dawn of a cold and icy winters morning.To say that they were bewildered was not the word for it.Tired and weary now, they trudged slowly back into the town where more suprises awaited them.No way could they understand that it would have been possible for so many changes to have taken place in such a short time. Slate roofed buildings now stood where there had been thatched cabins.The shops were different with new names over the doors.The pavements along the streets were also different and even the people they had noticed before had altered in manner and dress, so much so that the two musicians had looked oddly out of place to the people making their way to Sunday Mass.So they went into the chapel and knelt down at the back pew.All was well until it was time for the priest to raise his hands in the sacramental blessing and then a strange thing happened.They both instantly became feeble old men and their purse of money turned into a lump of dust in a mouldy old covered rag.It was reckoned that the dance had lasted the best part of a hundred years and they had thought it had only been a few hours.Worse was still to come as they made their way to Morahan where the other travelling families were encamped.No trace of any relations belonging to them,kindred friends and loved ones had all scattered away now dead and gone for years. As it started to pour rain they sheltered in an old derelict barn, surrounded by old fuchsia bushes.It was there they took refuge two pathetic old souls,some of the neighbours brought them soup and potatoes every day, but they were not to live long after some months they were carted off to the Belmullet workhouse where they both died before the year was out.Another strange incident was said to have happened in townland of Tipp four miles from Belmullet and concerned a man called Sonny Connor who went out to the common one morning to cut scraws to cover his potato pits. The place he chose to cut them was within the precincts of an old ancient earthworks, now barely discernible.The man who had recently married into the area did not know that it was rumoured to be a preserve of the fairies from olden times and had he know he would not have touched it. He was not long working when he became aware of a female voice scolding him for removing the roof of her house.Presently she appeared as if by magic, from the ground beside him, a tiny beautiful looking young woman dressed in a long black dress and with long red hair trailing down her back. Surprised with fright he quickly replaced the sods of earth and moved to another part of the common.He was worried afterwards that some mishap might befall him as a result of his mistake but as time passed and nothing disastrous or unpleasant happened he gradually put to the back of his mind.About a year later on his way home from milking the cows he felt suddenly tired as it was a sunny summers evening he sat down to rest himself and he left the milk can beside him.after a while he fell asleep.When he awoke the moon was shinning and stars filled the heavens, he also found out he was not alone. He was surrounded by a group of merry little people holding hands and dancing to a fiddler sitting on a stone.When he went to get up the beautiful young woman he had recognised from before grabbed his hand and made him join the jolly throng.Connor was a good dancer and enjoyed taking part in the revelry. This went on for quite a while until it was near dawn, for suddenly there could be heard a crow crowing from a nearby farm and that was the signal for the fiddler to stop playing and along with all the dancers they all rushed towards and disappeared into a hole in the hillside Connor and the fair one bringing up the rear end of the crowd disappeared as well.He claimed that she had dragged him by the hand and once inside they lay down and made love. She then made him promise that he must never interfere with any remains belonging to her people and he must warn others about preserving the sanctity of the past.Connor gladly gave her his promise that he would respect her wishes.As he returned to collect his pail of milk from the previous evening, he noticed it had vanished it was only when he arrived home that he realised, that some years had passed and his son had grown so tall he did not know the boy, and his wife accused him of desertion.Ten years had apparently lapsed,since what he thought was the previous evening. Connor always said afterwards that things could have been a lot worse that he might still be there yet lost in time.In North Mayo one thing every man contemplating building a new house always did was turn up four sods of earth, one at the back of each of the four corners he intended building on.Then he left them unwatched overnight. If in the morning they were as he had left them he then knew it was safe enough to proceed and build the house in the knowledge that he was not interfering with the territorial rights of the little people.Had the sods been turned he would choose another site. Some people may say that folklore is only a myth, but to these people these things really happened.