Growing up in rural West Cork in the fifties, practically every housewife kept a flock of hens. Domestic hens are direct descendants of wild Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) and grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratti) from southern Asia. These domesticated birds have spread to every corner of the earth. There are hundreds […]
It is surprising the number of phrases, which were once used only in nautical situations, that have been adopted into everyday speech. Many nautical terms derive from the ‘Age of Sail’, the period of time between the 16th and 19th centuries, when masted ships ruled the seas. Ahoy – This […]
Our ancestors believed that there is only a very thin veil between this world of mortals and the Otherworld. This veil disappears completely twice a year, at ‘Bealtaine’ (May Eve and May Day) and ‘Samhain’ (November 1). On these pivotal dates the spirits of the Otherworld intermingled with mortals. Supernatural […]
Single combat was a high point of many of the old heroic stories in the Fianna Cycle and Ulster cycle of Irish Mythology. In the Táin conflict between Ulster and Connacht, Cúchulainn fought and killed many of Queen Maeve’s warriors. Finally Cúchulainn was pitted against his closest friend, Ferdia, who […]
Following on from last month, Eugene Daly continues sharing some of the legends and sayings around cats in Ireland and other countries. There are many legends of cats in other countries. In Brittany a silver or ‘money’ cat (chat d’argent) could serve nine masters and make them all rich. In […]
In part one of two-part article, Eugene Daly shares the many superstitions and stories connected with the cat in Irish folklore. A traditional Irish greeting on entering a house was; ‘God save all here, except the cat’, on account of its association with the devil. Despite this, it was believed to […]