Spring 2021 Landscapes, Folklore & Magic

27th April 2021
Hello and welcome to another series of photo-blogs. We still patiently await the return of our beloved school and college groups, our adult groups and events, but in the meantime we have continued our rambles around Donegal and surrounds, this time with a focus on stories, folklore, myth and magic. Our main sources for folklore are the fantastic Duchás archive at University College Dublin. We are so absolutely grateful to the organizers and the collectors of this archive- what foresight they had in recognizing and recording the unique, magnificent folklore that had been passed down for generations. And now much of this is available online, so if you have an interest in Irish history and culture, there is no better place to spend time than in this archive. Here is some further information on the archive from the Dúchas website.

The Main Manuscript Collection

The body of material that makes up the Main Manuscript Collection,assembled by the Irish Folklore Commission and its successors, which has preserved an important record of Ireland’s oral tradition and material culture. It is recognized as one of the largest collections of its kind in Western Europe. It features folklore recorded from across the 32 counties of Ireland, in both Irish and English. In recognition of the ongoing decline of the Irish language, and the likely loss of tradition associated with this process, the Commission directed considerable resources to recording Irish-language tradition bearers in the early years of its operation. It also recorded significant amounts of material in Scots Gaelic and Manx. The Main Manuscript Collection consists of 2,400 bound and paginated volumes — approximately 700,000 pages of material. The bulk of the Collection was assembled by full-time collectors working for the Irish Folklore Commission, These collectors were thoroughly familiar with the dialect and lore of their respective districts. The Collection can be said to encapsulate the following 14 key subject areas of Settlement and Dwelling, Livelihood & Household Support, Communications & Trade, The Community, Human Life, Nature, Folk-Medicine, Time, Principles & Rules of Popular Belief & Practice, Mythological Tradition, Historical Tradition, Religious Tradition, Popular Oral Literature and Sports & Pastimes. The Main Manuscript Collection features transcribed tales from some of Ireland’s most famous traditional storytellers, including Peig Sayers, the Great Blasket, Co. Kerry; Éamon a Búrc, Carna, Co. Galway; Anna Nic a’ Luain of the Blue Stack mountains, Co. Donegal, and many others besides. The Collection also includes in-depth descriptions of the Famine period in Ireland (1845-1849), first-person recollections of the historically significant 1913 Lockout and the 1916 Rising, as well as oral traditional accounts of historical figures such as Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), making it a valuable primary source for scholars and educationalists. A great many part-time and voluntary collectors contributed to the work of the Commission. A number of these were school teachers from throughout Ireland who had developed an interest in, and an understanding of, folklore in their local districts from their participation in the 1930s Schools’ Folklore Scheme. In addition to submitting occasional items of local folklore recorded by them, these men and women also sent detailed responses to more than a hundred different Commission questionnaires concerning a variety of topics. The topics investigated varied greatly, the earliest questionnaires dealing with subjects as varied as Holy Wells and ‘Tally Sticks’ (‘Bataí Scór’). Other subjects included The Feast of St Martin, The Last Sheaf, The Blacksmith, Roofs and Thatching, Ball Games, Matchmaking, Hurling and Football, The Great Famine, Funerary Custom, Food, Dress etc. The replies to the questionnaires comprise an important element of the Main Manuscript collection.

The Schools Collection

Approximately 740,000 pages (288,000 pages in the pupils’ original exercise books; 451,000 pages in bound volumes) of folklore and local tradition were compiled by pupils from 5,000 primary schools in the Irish Free State between 1937 and 1939. This collecting scheme was initiated by the Irish Folklore Commission, under the direction of Séamus Ó Duilearga and Séan Ó Súilleabháin, Honorary Director and Registrar of the Commission respectively, and was heavily dependent on the cooperation of the Department of Education and the Irish National Teachers’ Organization. It was originally to run from 1937 to 1938 but was extended to 1939 in specific cases. For the duration of the project, more than 50,000 schoolchildren from 5,000 schools in the 26 counties of the Irish Free State were enlisted to collect folklore in their home districts. This included oral history, topographical information, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, games and pastimes, trades and crafts. The children recorded this material from their parents, grandparents and neighbours. The scheme resulted in the creation of over half a million manuscript pages and is generally referred to as ‘Bailiúchán na Scol’ or ‘The Schools’ Collection’. The Photographic Collection, Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

Day 2 Disert Graveyard March 2021

Hello, and welcome to a new series of visits around the Northwest region of Donegal, Leitrim & Fermanagh! Thankfully, our lockdown restrictions have eased up a bit, and we can now roam around the countryside and take you on some interesting journeys. For this particular series, we are going to focus on places that are associated with local folklore – stories and legends that have been passed down. My sources will include the Dúchas schools project, and the wonderful work done locally by historian Anthony Begley. I’m going to begin today in the Bluestacks Mountains, about half an hour from our base here in Bundoran. This morning, I was up before dawn to bring you to the Disert Graveyard. This is very typical of many sites in Ireland- it has a megalithic structure, called ‘The Arch’, a beautiful portal opening with standing stones dating back to stone-age times. Later, this same site became associated with St. Colm Cille, and there is a holy well associated with a 6th century church- this site was used as a mass rock in penal times, and it was also a burial site, particularly for unbaptised babies. People still come here, as the site is associated with healing -backache, toothache, warts, and eye infections are among some of the ailments that will be cured, subject to certain rituals around the landmarks here. Apparently, there’s a stone-lifting exercise that tests male virility… – I did circle the megalith three times, partly to get a photo of the sun rising through the portal, partly because, you know, a cure these days might be wise to have in your pocket! It’s a really beautiful site, so peaceful, spiritual, historic and a lovely place for us to begin this series of exploratory adventures. Enjoy!

Day 3 Bluestack Brackets

we’re in the bogs of Donegal today, doing a close-up of fungi, lichens and mosses, which are not only so lovely to look at, but they frequently feature in Irish folklore- as the fairy folks are believed to live in nature’s undergrowth, it’s no surprise that there are associations between both the appearance and the effects of these odd and wonderful things, and magic. In this collection, you’ll see elf-cups, turkey-tails, navelwort with their cute wee belly-buttons, some bark lichens and mosses- but it also gives me an opportunity to tell you a story- I found it in the Dúchas folklore collection and it made me laugh out loud – it goes something like this:
Two men from Donegal once went to Africa. One day they saw some small white plants that looked like mushrooms they used to eat back at home. They picked some of them, and, said one man giving some to the dog “if they don’t poison the dog they won’t poison us.” The dog ate them and the man waited, but as nothing happened him they began to eat some themselves. Just when they had finished eating , a boy ran in and shouted. “The dog’s dead, the dog’s dead.” The men, thinking it was the mushrooms poisoned him, ran as quickly as possible to the doctor and got a stomach pump from him. Having extracted the mushrooms from their stomachs, the doctor went to see if he could learn anything from the dead dog. He asked the boy where the dog was and he answered “The dog got run over by a car.’ See yiz tomorrow!

Day 4 River Eaney

This is the Eany River, which tumbles down from the Grey Mare’s Waterfall, which we will visit in due course. We are still up around the Bluestacks area of Donegal, and I hope you love the bright yellow gorse bushes and the wild primroses that are rampant at the moment, gold everywhere! And speaking of gold, there is, according to folklore, a pool further down this river, with a hidden cache of gold. Unfortunately, it is apparently guarded by a monstrous eel-like serpent, which saw off previous treasure-hunters in an unpretty manner. So on our behalf, we’ll just stick to the natural yellow of the river bank. Enjoy

Day 5 Boho Like You

We are in County Fermanagh today, which borders Donegal, and is so underrated, it’s shameful! The lakelands are gorgeous, but it also has lots of little townlands across the hills to the west of Lough Erne that definitely deserve exploration. This area is known as Boho – who wouldn’t love that as an address? and on my walk from Boho up to Monea Castle, I found what appeared to be someone’s clearances of a garden – it gave me the opportunity for some odd photos, appropriate to the location I think. This area is associated with St. Faber, who, according to folklore, had a pet deer, who carried her holy books for her. Her deer was attacked by dogs at a nearby castle, and jumped into the local Sillees river, ruining the books. St. Faber was very annoyed by this, and put a curse on the river, turning its flow backward, to make it ‘good for drowning and bad for fishing’. The river does, indeed, run into the lake and not the sea, and I like St. Faber’s style. We’ll come back to her again on another Boho ramble. Enjoy!

Day 6: The Steeple Tower

Today’s ramble is a flashback in history. We are in East Donegal, on land that was redistributed to Scottish and English nobles after the Flight of the Earls, (the collapse of the Irish Lordship). By the 19C, a descendant of the Steward family, who came to Ireland in 1610, had built the Tircallen Estate, including, if you don’t mind, his very own observatory. This might sound odd, but astronomy was of great interest to the monks of Ireland, and the tradition of interest in the mysteries of the skies re-emerged in the 19th Century amongst Anglo-Irish gentry. Sir Henry Steward built himself a tower on the highest point of the land, offering amazing views of the surrounding lands, distant mountains and the expanse of the starry skies. Unfortunately, a descendant of Sir Henry lost the deeds of Tircallen to the Marquis of Coyningham in a card game in London (as you do!), and Coyningham had no interest in the place, and it fell into ruin – except for the tower. I heard about this, and decided you and I should investigate. First of all, the land itself is now run by Coillte, our Forestry management agency (the word ‘coill’ in Irish means a wood or forest), and it is glorious right now, absolutely exploding in green, almost psychedelically! Beautifully maintained too, with trails and picnic benches. But secondly, the observatory is still there, in all its ugly glory. Not particularly aesthetic (or at all), it is built of stone and lime, with a spiral stone staircase – but here’s the thing, my friends, it was open, (thank you Coillte!) and so we were able to use it for exactly its function, and marvel at wonderful views across Donegal and Tyrone, and at the same time, think about those who had stood here, centuries ago, observing the same Ulster hills and sky beyond. It was well worth the hike. Enjoy!

Day 7 – Ahhh Sheep!

 
This time of year, it’s hard not to just fill the camera full of lambs, gambolling around the fields, shaking their tails. They are so cute! However, as I’m forever telling our visitors, they don’t think we are cute at all, and don’t want us around their babies, so to be clear, for these photos, I was in the company of the farmer who owns them (thank you Drew and Con.) Anyway, the story I wanted to tell you today is from the Dúchas Irish schools folklore archive, and it goes like this; There was an old woman who had a number of sheep, but her animals were a source of much annoyance to a rich landowner who lived near and on whose lands they were constantly trespassing.
One day the farmer set his two hounds after the sheep and gave them such a chasing that nearly half the number died. The old woman in great fury went down on her knees cursed her neighbour and told him that her sheep would come between him and his dearest wish. Years went by, the old woman died and the rich farmer was about to pass away. The night he was dying, his family sent for the priest. There were no cars in those days and the priest had to walk. When he came within a few fields of the sick man’s home, he walked into the midst of a flock of sheep. Try as he could the priest could not get through them. About an hour before the dawn they suddenly vanished and the priest got to the sick man’s home. Reaching there he was told that the farmer had died five minutes before his arrival and that up to the time he was calling, calling for the priest… hell hath no fury, folks! Enjoy!

Day 8 Belshade Lake 

and I wanted to show you a few things today, based around a legend about some treasure, a secret hidden lake, and a vicious underwater monster. How can you resist? To get where we are going, you need to come back to the Bluestack Mountains with me- that means up through bog, but your eye will be drawn to big slabs of granite, and here and there, marvelous chunks of white shiny quartz. The further we go into the Bluestacks, the more remote it gets, absolutely stunning in its expanse of mosses, reeds, a few impressive waterfalls. Ah, grand, you think, and then you come over a hill, and OMG the view! There, on top of the mountains, almost surrounded by sheer walls of granite, is Belshade Lake, or Lough Belshade. It gets the name “Shade” from the Irish “Seoid” which means “jewels. And that’s why we’ve come here.
It is said that after the fall of the O’Donnells, the monks of the Abbey in Donegal (if you’ve been with us, you should remember it) removed the treasure and hid it on the island on this lake, so it wouldn’t be sacked by the invaders. It is also said that this treasure is guarded by ‘The Durko’, (In Irish, the ‘Dobharchú’ or water-hound, a dog-sized animal with fox
coloured hair and the paws of an otter. The Durko is supposed to be partial to redheads, so I wasn’t scared. That aside, there is such phenomenal silence up here, the photos cannot do it justice, but I sat down for us on huge soft sphagnum mosses and just absorbed to utterly stunning scene. That in itself was treasure.
The way back down was an absolute bog-fest, me boots were well soaked! But worth it folks, enjoy!

Day 9 TeeTunney Graveyard

Today’s ramble was not far from our base- a small forgotten burial ground just beside the Donegal-Fermanagh border. I read about it in the schools’ folklore collection, but had never visited it, and it would seem no-one else has either, in several years. It is a lovely old graveyard, with a circular wall, lots of old carved stones, and a large vault, which holds the dust of the Treddenick family, who occupied the Camlin estate for generations. You can still see their martlet crest and coat of arms carved on the heavy stone slabs. There are lots of other names on stones there, and it was a beautiful, serene morning, so I paid my respects silently, wondering if the dead care what their beds look like, or do they love how nature eventually creeps over them, and the weather blasts their names slowly and steadily from the face of the earth. We shall find out!

Day 10 Brody at Cliffoney

Intrepid doggie-guide Brody is taking over today to show you Cliffoney beach in County Sligo, on an absolutely glorious April Saturday. The Castle you see in the distance on this hill is Classiebawn, former resident of Lord Mountbatten, who was the uncle of the recently deceased Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen of England. Brody doesn’t care about that, but he thought you might like to know 🙂

Day 11 Doon Well and Doon Rock 

 
 I’m taking you to another of those strange places in Ireland that are filled with a mixture of myth, folklore and faith. I mean strange, as in an odd juxtaposition of pre-Christian and Christian traditions that have survived in ways that should be incompatible, but they are not. We are at a place called Doon, where you will find Doon Rock, and Doon Well. The rock is believed to have been the site of the inauguration of some of the great lords of the O’Donnell clann, who were the most powerful family in this part of Donegal for centuries up until the Flight of the Earls in the early 17C. There is now a small monument to the O’Donnells at the top of the rock – it’s not terribly attractive, but the views from up there are astonishing, offering a panorama of the county that I cannot do justice to with my pics. One can readily imagine that it would be an appropriate place for a new chieftain to behold his kingdom. There is no doubt that the O’Donnell’s existed, they are well documented by the Four Masters, but some of the rituals that were carried out were definitely exaggerated by disapproving observers (Giraldus, I’m looking at you!). Anyhow, the O’Donnells were routed, and then during Penal times, when the Catholics of the area were forbidden to attend masses, a mass rock close by was used for secret services. The rock is still there, and enjoys many visitors.
There is also a well at Doon. Holy wells again begin in pre-Christian times, but the clever early saints never missed an opportunity to appropriate a sacred site, and wells that were blessed by holy men and women were believed to be curative and restorative. This particular well is thought to have been blessed by one Lector O’Friel, who was known as a healer, and well is still visited by people who will pray, and take water from the well for their well-being. Right by the well is a rag-tree, another pagan tradition carried into Christianity. Even though Doon Well is in quite a remote place, a lot of visitors come, and it is a beautiful and peaceful place, full of atmosphere and a definite sense of the historical, the spiritual and the mythical. So I said a prayer to all the Gods for y’all.

Day 12 Dunlewey 

 Welcome to Dunlewey, in one of the most beautiful settings in Donegal, between the Poisoned Glen, and Mount Errigal. I’ll tell you more about these places later in this series. Right now, we’re exploring Dunlewey’s own Taj Mahal. This church was built by Jane Smith Russell for her husband James, who was landlord of the Dunlewey estate until his death in 1848. The church is built with marble and quartzite and must have been spectacular in its time, but it unfortunately fell into disuse and disrepair, and eventually the roof, furniture and fittings were removed. However, the local community spearheaded a restoration in the late 80s, and it is now a treasured landmark and still a beautiful building. Its regal and proud symmetry seems to sit well in the curve and sweep of the glens behind it, which is unfortunate for James, who lies quietly under the church floor and can’t see a thing. Or maybe he can…. enjoy!

Day 13 Carrickfin

Once a little island, Carrickfin is now connected to the mainland by a roadway, and blessed by arguably some of the most beautiful beaches in Ireland. Our walk today took us down along the bottom of the island, where I was lured by the expanse of the sands at low tide. Despite the increase in tourism to this gorgeous part of Donegal, it’s quite easy to find coves and corners with uninterrupted views of the wild Atlantic, which, on a sunny day like today, would give anywhere in the world a run for its money. Enjoy the ramble.

Day 14- Protection!

Hi everyone. I’ve a bit of folklore to share with you now, and I’m also sending you protection 🙂 you may not realize it, but this evening we move into Bealtaine, or one of the four very important quarter days in the pre-Christian calendar. You are all familiar with Halloween, which is another quarter-day that marks the journey into Winter, and we are used to the ghosts and ghouls on that day – but the entry into summer on May 1 is the other date when the boundaries between our earthly world and the underworld is at its most permeable.
The coming of summer is a time when you have to protect your property, and this is the evening it is at risk, so you loan nothing, you put out your fires, and you scatter yellow flowers and hawthorn on your doorstep and windows to keep your stuff safe. Luckily, I have collected the usual yellow spring flowers here for you (without picking them, obv), so here you go – primroses, gorse bush, marsh marigolds, dandelions, and lucky magical hawthorn. Phew! One more thing – tomorrow morning, if you get up early and apply morning dew to your skin, it will remove wrinkles, prevent headaches, soothe sore feet enable you to untangle or unknot things, – how much of yourself you want to expose to this magical elixir is up to you, but be mindful of the neighbours. Happy May Day!

Day 15- Arranmore Part 1

So we’re on tour, you and I, this weekend. We are visiting one of the many beautiful islands off the coast of Donegal. This is Árainn Mhór (Arranmore island), and we are taking the ferry for a 15 minute voyage from the quaint little harbour of Burtonport. Step off the ferry, and you are in the most extraordinary world- the island is Irish-speaking, and as you ascend from the shore up towards the bogland in the centre, the most amazing views of the Donegal coastline appear. However, I was literally stopped in my tracks as I hiked across towards the lighthouse, by one of the most beautiful sculptures I have ever seen. In the centre of a mountain lake is a monument with the Irish and USA flags. It was built to celebrate the link between emigrants from this island, and Beaver Island on Lake Michigan, where many island families settled after the famine. I hadn’t seen this before, and on this beautiful day, with the flags flying briskly and in tandem, and miles of Atlantic stretching out ahead, and me surrounded by bog and sea, it really had an emotional impact. I cannot find out who designed this, but the otter represents Arranmore, the beaver, Beaver island, and the fish connects the two. I loved it. More island discoveries tomorrow! Enjoy.

Day 16- Arranmore part II

Can we be more impressed than we were with the Beaver Island monument? Yes we can. Let’s continue on to the far side of the island, towards the lighthouse, and incredible views of the sheer cliffs, sea-stacks and a sheer flight of stone steps that take you down to an inlet that just begs you to take a quick, sneaky dip. Not a soul around, just the squawks of the gulls and the swoosh of the ocean. Did we go in? You betcha!

Day 17 part III of Arranmore Island.

As we walked back from the more remote parts of the island, we saw lots of deserted cottages. The islanders had really hard lives out here in days gone by, and the signs remain on the landscape. However, there are many beautifully restored buildings and quite a few new and modern homes, and about 400 people make their home there, and many more come for day trips and longer stays- I could have stayed for a week, and that’s with no pubs or hotels, if the usual island hospitality was available, I might still be there. It’s a paradise for hikers, bird watchers, wanderers and ramblers, Irish language lovers, history geeks – I hope you enjoyed the weekend with me.

Day 18   Ardara 

You probably know a little bit about the wealth of fairy folklore and mythology in Irish culture, and I will be talking a bit more about The Good People in future posts. People can be very dismissive of fairy folklore, but a deep dive into the customs and traditions surrounding the stories reveals a lot about local history and customs, and the way the Irish landscape, language and history provides a multi-dimensional canvas for investigating who we are and where we came from. We can’t say for sure when the stories began, we know the early Christians brought writing in the 6th century, but the landscape, the Irish language and the history pre-date all of this, and when you consider what it might have looked like, you can begin to see why our ancestors’ imaginations were so creative. The photos today are of two portal tombs near Ardara, Donegal. These incredible stone megaliths are over 5000 years old. How did stone age people get that enormous cap stone onto the standing stones? What kind of rituals took place here? What magical properties did the internal spaces have? Was it a door to the otherworld? Each aspect of the dolmens looks different – walk with me towards it, around it, and finally inside it. Landscapes like this still take my breath away, and much of the reason that these monuments are still here is that they were protected by superstition and folklore. And, in this case, some donkeys. Enjoy.

Day 19 – today’s guide to your ramble is our cutest guide, the all-curious Brody, who is taking you down to the caves by Bundoran’s Thrupenny pool. Take the shoes off, and roll up the trousers, for some investigation of those rock pools and caves.