Leap and Glandore: Fact and Folklore

By Eugene Daly

In 1937-38 children in 5000 Irish National schools collected folklore from their parents, grandparents and neighbours.  This was done with the co-operation of the teachers and the Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin, where it is now on microfilm.  There were six schools in the Kilmacabea/Kilfaughnabeg parish: Kilmacabea, Knockskeagh, Corran, Maulatrahane, Glandore and Reenogreena.  The material collected is also on microfilm in Cork County Library, Model Farm Road, Cork.

     The material collected consists of stories about hidden treasure, ghosts, haunted places, stories of the Fianna, phantom funerals as well as information about famous people such as Fr. John Power, Seán Ó Coileáin (famous hedge school-master and poet), Micheál Chormaic Ó Súilleabháin (poet), William Thompson, known as Ireland’s first socialist.  There are stories about the Famine, Mass Rocks, faction fights and boating disasters.  We read about customs connected with Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, Lent, May Day, Halloween, etc; we find old cures, plant lore, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, weather-lore, songs, poems and prayers.

Skibbereen and District Fact and Folklore by Eugene Daly was launched in the Skibbereen G.A.A. Pavilion on Saturday, December 1^st.   Mr. Brendan McCarthy, Mayor of Skibbereen, launched the book.

     The book contains a selection of folklore collected by the teachers of the Skibbereen area in the 1930s.  There are stories from the schools of the town and from the rural schools – Lough Ine, Tragumna, The Abbey, Lissalohorig, Dooneen and Ringaroga – a selection of ghost stories, old customs, superstitions, tragedies, weather-lore, old cures, etc.

     Skibbereen, which was only a hamlet in the early 17^th century, grew in importance during the following two centuries and by 1900 was considered the ‘Capital of the Carberies’, the main centre of trade and commerce in West Carbery.  The book traces the development of the town from earliest times up to the 20^th century, highlighting the organisations and personalities which influenced its growth. There are chapters on the Great Famine, 1845-1850, which devastated the Skibbereen area, the resultant emigration, the evictions, the workhouse.  In 1856 O’Donovan Rossa and his friends formed the Phoenix Club which became the nucleus of the Fenian Movement which kept alive the revolutionary spirit begun by Wolfe Tone and which led to the 1916 Rising.  There are chapters on the Gaelic League, the G.A.A., the United Irishmen, the Tithe War, the Land War and the War of Independence.

     Some of the personalities portrayed include O’Donovan Rossa, Timothy McCarthy Downing, Canon James Goodman, Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin, Peadar Ó hAnnracháin, James M. Burke, Timothy Sheehy and Jasper Wolfe, among others.

     Skibbereen had two newspapers, the Eagle and The Southern Star.  The book looks at their influence on the town.  The Eagle, edited by the famous Fred Potter was probably most famous for its assertion that ‘it was keeping its eye on the Czar of Russia.  The Southern Star, established in 1889, has kept Skibbereen to the forefront for over a century.  Among its former editors were Earnán de Blaghd, Séamus Ó Kelly, D.D. Sheehan, James M. Burke and others.

          Lovely and unique Lough Ine, with its rich flora and fauna is described in some detail.  The book also has personal memories of Neilly Bohane, Dromadoon, John O’Sullivan, Lissalohorig, Sadie Walsh, High St and Lawrence Roycroft, Baltimore Road.

     There are many poems and songs, some never previously published, received from the oral recitation of Neilly Bohane.  The book contains tales of sadness and joy, old customs, politics and patriotism, religion, famine, freedom and oppression, people and places, townlands and antiquities.

     The book was printed by Inspire Print and Design, Skibbereen and is for sale in West Cork bookshops and online on emara.com.