A family named Herons who lived in Balla were digging a foundation for a cottage where stands the McEllin Hotel at present. They came on a pot of gold supposed to contain 2,000 guineas...
COLLECTOR: Mary A. O' Doherty, female INFORMANT: Patsy Ansbro; Gender; male, Age; 84, Tawnaghmore, Co. Mayo
Read MoreSome riddle by Mary Kate Kelly. See how many you can answer?
Read MoreGlug and Grug were two giants who lived in Ireland.
Glug was as tall as a flag pole and he had an eye in the back of his head. Grug was not as tall as Glug but he was as wide as a hay stack. INFORMANT: Tom Adams, Age 47, Prison North, Co. Mayo
In the olden times all the people used to live in thatched houses. Slates were unknown at that time.
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They then go to the houses in the district selling their wares. The woman do the selling generally, the men do little jobs of work- making cans, saucepans, soldering damaged pots etc.
Read More1st crop of wheat is set in February.
Turnips are set in May. Turf is cut in this month too.
The last week of Lent is a week for great prayer and devotion because it is the week of Our Lord's crucifixion. Easter is a time of rejoicing for His Resurrection from the dead.
Read MoreIn my grand-father's time they used to make wooden spoons for Easter Sunday out of wood
Read MoreWhen they came home they had a feast and a wedding. They invited the people of the village and had a big supper and dancing and singing until morning
Read MoreEvery night we play this game around the fire........
Bí o néal, néal a brobán, brobán súla, súla seicne, ár lomán, lóman leic, cor na giell isteach go Flaitheas.
They keep saying that rhyme until every-one has his foot pulled in.
Read MoreThe ruins of a prison stand in this place and from that prison this district got its name....The hangman's name was Neilén Brady. He had a farm of sixty acres of the best land in Prison and this land is to this day called "Trían Neilén."
Read More"Straw-boys" or "clubberas" visit the houses on the night of the marriage feast. They dance and make fun. They dress in straw hats with sugans round their knees, false faces etc.
They expect to get drink and make mischief if they don't.
The people then brought it to a little kiln on their farms and dried it there. It was then beatled with a beatle (a beatle resembled a cricket bat I am informed). It was then scutched with a scutcher ( a scutcher is also made of timber but is much lighter than the beatle, it is almost as thin as a knife).
Read MoreThere was a Jack Mahon in Ballymahon, Balla parish , who was supposed to have a "charm" for mowing. He would whet his scythe in the morning and mow till night and he could do as much work in one day as two men would do in two days.
Read MoreAnnie Reilly was one of the pupils that contributed to the school collection. Her informants are:
Jimmie Adams was 12 when he wrote his stories for the school collection. His informants are:
