Irish Customs

Synopsis

This collection of Irish customs deals with such subjects as love and marriage; farming and fair days; food and drink; prayers and superstitions: the whole gamut of life as lived in traditional Ireland. The author notes that many customs are disappearing in a fast-changing Ireland, but that many others survive. As he notes in his Introduction to this little book: Before one Christmas past, I participated in a television discussion and felt obliged to take issue with a lady who claimed that the Christmas candle burning in a window was a thing of the past. At least three houses in the small avenue in which I live, my own included, still observe the custom. Just a few months ago, I purchased a car in a midland garage. When the deal was made and I paid over the agreed sum, the vendor handed me back a Euro20 'luck penny'. As the custom required, I 'dry spat' on it (hygiene disallowed the full treatment!). Passing near the delightful town of Inistioge in County Kilkenny a few days later, I noticed a gaily decorated May Bush on the roadside. The survival and continuation of such folk customs is a cause for celebration. This book recalls them in the popular style that Padraic O'Farrell has made all his own.