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.
