Irish
Customs & Superstitions
The
House : Materials & Luck
Certain
materials were considered unlucky and should not be used in building
a house. Some types of white stones are included in this category
(cloch scáil in Co. Kerry; cloch éibhir in Co.'s Galway
and Mayo). A tale from Ballyferriter in the Dingle peninsula tells
of a family who had nothing but bad luck until the ghost of a long
dead grandfather appears to the head of the household and told him
that a white stone was built into the house wall; once this stone
was removed the families luck changed for the better. Some held that
white stone's attract lightening.
Also,
the stones from an old ruined house could not be used in the building
of any house although there was no objection to a house such as that
being used as a byre or shed, and the stones from the walls of old
houses could be unsed in erecting farm buildings. The use of stolen
material would definitely bring bad luck!
A
Galway tradition says that a stone which falls from the hands of a
mason or his helpers, while they are at work on a wall must not be
used in masonry, by fallingthe stone has become unlucky and if used
may cause the wall to collapse. Should a wall fall down or scaffolding
collapse, or any other untoward happening, while a house was being
built then , doubts might arise as to whether the unseen-world had
not in some way been offended, and a series of such minor disasters
might even cause the abandonment of the building as something too
dangerously unlucky to be continued.
Attainment
of the highest point in the building often called for some special
note or celebration. The highest point was generally considered to
be either the top of the gable or the top of the main chinmey.
In
northwest Connaught, the top of the gable was regarded as the highest
point of the house and may have been because there were no stone chinmeystacks
in many houses in the area in former times. The stone that crowns
the gable was known as "cloch an phréacháin'',
the crow's stone. When this was set in position the owner of the house
called the workmen together and provided them with a drink of whiskey
or póitín, or, at the very least, tea. In Louisburgh,
County Mayo, the neighbours gathered on this occasion and were entertained
by fiddlers. An informant from Co. Mayo reports: "For some reason,
which so far I have not found out the cloch phréacháin
was never finished. The mason would leave some opening or space around
it without finishing with mortar, he would deliberately use up the
mortar so that he would not have sufficient to plaster around the
stone, or if he had enough mortar he would, when the work was almost
finished accidentally (mar dheadh!) tumble the bucket of mortar and
say "We must leave that!" or some words to that effect."
(From The Luck of the House, Information from Mr. Mícheál
Mac Énrí, Bangor Erris, Co. Mayo.)
At
Inistiogue in county Kilkenny, the mason marked a cross on the plaster
of the highest point of the gable. A religious medal, a piece of blessed
palm, or a little bottle of holy water, was tied to the ridge pole
as soon as it was set in a number of places.
In
some northern counties the custom was to erect a flag or a substitute
for one when the building of a new house had reached the chimney stage.
This reminded the owner that some incentives would speed up completion
of the work. i.e. some refreshment or gratuity should be given to
the builders. This custom was widely established in County Down, from
where it appears to have spread to county Antrim, Derry and westwards
to Fermanagh. Gailey (The thatched houses of Ulster, Gailey, Alan;
Ulster Folklife, 7 (1961), 16-17: The Ulster Tradition, Folk Life,
2 (1964), 28-29) who recorded this custom in Ulster, concluded that
it is of fairly recent origin in Ireland. The same Custom seems to
have spread to other parts of the country. In Louth, a red flag was
flown to indicate a victory for the men who were building the house
and once it was up the owner treated the men.
An
old shirt was hoisted on a pole in Sligo town, in Limerick an old
piece of white cloth was tied on a stick like a flag and displayed
on the highest point, and in Dublin an old pair of trousers was flown.
In
other places where the main chimney was regarded as the highest point,
the first fire was laid on the hearth, and the workers in places in
Clare, Limerick and Tipperary expected to be treated to drinks or
some other form of minor celebration. The same custom is reported
from Beltra, county Sligo and Carrigtee, county Monaghan. From county
Monaghan too we hear of the placing of a bone on top of the newly
completed chimney.
From
the Castleblayney district of county Monaghan we are told that 'when
a house was built up as far as the ridge board it was custom to have
a party to celebrate the occasion. All the friends, family and neighbours
were invited A night of feasting, dancing and story telling was spent.
It was known as a 'topping up party'. Another source from Monaghan
says that this occurred when the wall-plate was reached.
Care
was taken to begin the building of the house on a lucky day. Lucky
days depended on local tradition, also in taking possession of a new
house the timing was very important. This could not take place during
Lent. It seems that Friday was a lucky day to move, and Monday in
general an unlucky day, although there is an old saying which restricts
this: "a move to the north on Friday, to the south on Monday,
or to the west on Tuesday never brought any luck in its train."
While Dean Jonathan Swift says "Friday and Childermas day are
two cross days in the week and it is impossible to have good luck
in either of them" Irish tradition agrees with Dean Swift as
regards Childermas Day: this is the 28th of December, the feast of
the Holy Innocents, which in Irish is known as 'Lá na Leanbh'
(Day of the Children), but also as Lá Crosta na Bliana, 'the
cross day of the year' when no work of any kind should begin.
A
restored fireplace, Glengarriff, Co. Cork
Some coals of fire from the old house were often taken into the new
one, but the croch (chimney-crane for hanging cooking vessels) was
always left behind. So too was the cat, and various tricks and restraints
were employed to make sure the cat would not be brought, however,
if it was sent to the new house a few days previously then that was
acceptable in some places. A new cat straying in betokened the best
of fortune, if it happened to be a black cat it was an extremely happy
omen. . Sometimes also, a fragment of mortar from the old fireplace
was laid upon or built into the new hearth
In
the past, the fire was physically and socially at the centre of the
house. In very early houses (peasant cabins) it was literally in the
centre of the floor. Turf-fires were the norm in most parts of rural
Ireland, and they were smoored or banked (covered with ashes) each
night . Some stories claim that many domestic fires remained burning
for hundreds of years. "To fail to keep your fire raked betokens
bad luck". If the hearth had to be repaired or cleaned then some
of the old burning fire was set aside in a bucket in order to replace
when the repairs had been done. It was a real indication of bad housewifery
to have to go to a neighbour in the morning to ask for some burning
embers had your fire died! No one liked letting a lighted coal out
of a house "for fear of giving luck away." On Candlemas
day the fire could be completely doused after a bogdeal cipín
had been lighted and from it the blessed candle. The hearth was cleaned
out and a new fire set and re-lit using the blessed candle and this
was kept going until the next candlemas day. A prayer such as the
following was commonly recited when the live embers were being covered
with ashes each night:
"Coiglim an tine seo mar choigleann Críost cáidh;
Muire ar mbullach an tí, agus Bríd ina lár;
An t-ochtar ainglí is tréine I gCathair na nGrás
Ag cumhdach an tí seo's a mhuintir thabhairt slán."
"I
save this fire, as noble Christ saves;
Mary on top of the house, and Bridget in its centre;
The eight strongest Angels in Heaven
Preserving this house and keeping its people safe."
The
fire was kept burning or smouldering day and night and not allowed
to go out completely but for one or two reasons. If a member of a
family died outside the house, the fire was put out before the corpse
was brought into the house. Or, when the corpse was brought to church
to remain there overnight until burial, the fire was allowed to go
out and not lit the following day. Another example of the deliberate
allowing of the fire to go out was on the occasion of the 'need-fire'
as described by Wood-Martin (Wood-Martin, W.G. 'Elder Faiths: Traces
of the Elder Faiths of Ireland (2 vols. 1902) I, 36.) as a remedy
for a cattle disease all the fires in the townland were quenched,
a fresh fire was then made by rubbing sticks together, the cattle
were treated with smoke from this fire and the hearth fires re-lighted
as soon as the remedy had been applied. It is said that this cusom
appears to have been confined to a few places in Ulster where it probably
spread from Scotland, however there are similar customs associated
with May day celebrations which are through to go back to pagan times
in which people jump through the fire.
The
prosperity of the house and farm were through to be closely associated
with the fire - the fire then had to be kept intact from evil-minde
person, especially on May Day. The fire was symbolic of life, if someone
from the house died the fire was allowed die and if there was someone
sick in the house every effort was made to ensure that the fire did
not die by accident!
Various
objects were hung in a house or kept there to ensure good luck. A
caul-clay from Tory island off the coast of Donegal, or house-leek
(Sempervivum) would save the house from being burned and from
lightening, this was grown on the roofs of thatched houses, or in
specially made niches or nooks in or about the roofs or porches of
houses covered with other materials. It is known by various names:
'houseleek' is widespread, but 'roofleek' occurs in parts of county
Cork, 'buachaill tí' (houseboy) in Galway and Mayo, 'luibh
a' tóiteáin' in west Limerick and Kerry, 'tóirpín'
in Clare and Tipperary, and waxplant in Offaly and Westmeath. It was
also valued as a medicinal herb. Other plants grown on or about the
roof of a house brought good luck and guard against fire, 'stonecrop'
(Sedum acre) around Tramore, county Waterford and 'snapdragon'
(Antirrhinum majus) in county Westmeath. The elder tree which
grew near many houses, would protect them from lightening; the skin
of a king-otter would avert general harm; there is seldom a town in
Ireland where a horseshoe may not be found nailed over some house
or dwelling, this was believed to bring good luck, although some believe
that the shoe of an ass or donkey was much more lucky.
Take
the following from a prescription in a medical manuscript of 1794
"Gaibh cheithre crúgh fiorasail agus dein dhá leath
do gach crúgh fiorasail dein dhá leath do gach crúigh
dhiobh. Cuir lethchrúgh díobh ar an ttairsicc agus leathchrúigh
dhíobh ar an bhfuinneoig agus mar sin leathchrúgh ar
gach doras agus fuinneoig dá mbia at an tigh agus nochan tiocfaidh
sioghbhradha ná deamhan aedhir isteach tarsa."
(Take four shoes of an entire ass, and make two halves of each shoe.
Put a half-shoe on the threshold, and a half shoe on the window, and
thus a half shoe over each door and window that is in the house, and
there shall come no fairy or demon of the air in across them.)
St.
Brigid's crosses (placed in parts of the house and outhouses on the
31st of January, the eve of her festival; blessed palm (usually fir,
yew or similar evergreen) blessed in church as part of the liturgy
on Palm Sunday, holy water (blessed on Easter Saturday) brought home
and sprinkled in the house, the blood of an animal or fowl slaughtered
at Martinmas and likewise sprinkled in the house or a black cock (which
had it's perch over a door inside) would ward off sorcery and harm
by supernatural beings; a black cat, crickets or freak eggs (placed
inside the roof of the house) would ensure luck for the house and
bunches of yarrow collected on the eve of St. John (June 24th) as
well as May flowers (but not Whitethorn), would keep illness and mis-fortune
away. People were careful never to sweep out the floor dust on a Monday,
lest they sweep out their luck as well
In
the everyday life of the household there were numerous omens pertaining
to the luck of the house, and these are a selection:
It
was considered very lucky if a bird or a honeybee flew into the house
and great care had to be taken to capture the creature and release
it or otherwise ensure that it left the house unhurt. On the other
hand it was believed that if a frog or a worm came into the house
it was very unlucky and should be killed. Bread or meal and salt should
always be in the house. The hearth should be swept clean at night,
but sweepings and ashes should never be taken from the house on a
Monday. Dirty water should not be thrown after dark without calling
out a warning to any of the fairy or spirit world who might be near
the door; this applied specially to water used for cleaning the feet.
The
person who enters the house by one of two doors must go out again
by the same door. Whitethorn or elder blossoms must not be brought
in. Inside the house no umbrella should be opened (or you'd bring
rain) and no agricultural or other implement place on the shoulder.
