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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jun 28, 2019 9:38:03 GMT
"that 1923 final was nearly not played at all. Kerry had refused to play at all. And their action was being endorsed from elsewhere. A letter from the Erskine Childers Cumann Sinn Fein, Denmark Ho.,Dublin appears in the columns of the KERRMAN on July 5 1924: A chara At meeting of the above Cumann held on June 17 the following resolution was passed unanimously- that the members of the E.Childers'Cumann Sinn Fein appreciate the action of the Kerry team in refusing to play the Dublin team until the prisoners are all released...the latter was signed by Tomas O'Boirne, Runaidhe But with the general amnesty that followed the game went ahead after all and it was refixed by the Central Council for September 28 1924,the Kerry co. Board giving it's approval to the game at a meeting in Tralee Courthouse on August 23" YEARS OF GLORY,a 1977 booklet about Kerry's GAA history And people in our time often complain that sport gets too political these days Sport has always been political! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_Warwww.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/two-bishops-and-a-football-ireland-and-the-balkans-in-the-1940s-and-50s/(On the other hand, sport can transcend politics just as often-- much MORE often, surely.)
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Post by Séamus on Jun 29, 2019 9:44:56 GMT
"that 1923 final was nearly not played at all. Kerry had refused to play at all. And their action was being endorsed from elsewhere. A letter from the Erskine Childers Cumann Sinn Fein, Denmark Ho.,Dublin appears in the columns of the KERRMAN on July 5 1924: A chara At meeting of the above Cumann held on June 17 the following resolution was passed unanimously- that the members of the E.Childers'Cumann Sinn Fein appreciate the action of the Kerry team in refusing to play the Dublin team until the prisoners are all released...the latter was signed by Tomas O'Boirne, Runaidhe But with the general amnesty that followed the game went ahead after all and it was refixed by the Central Council for September 28 1924,the Kerry co. Board giving it's approval to the game at a meeting in Tralee Courthouse on August 23" YEARS OF GLORY,a 1977 booklet about Kerry's GAA history And people in our time often complain that sport gets too political these days Sport has always been political! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_Warwww.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/two-bishops-and-a-football-ireland-and-the-balkans-in-the-1940s-and-50s/(On the other hand, sport can transcend politics just as often-- much MORE often, surely.) Seems almost contradictory that the article would boldly state that McQuaid 'got his way' and was 'at the height of his powers' but also states that the anti-communist feeling was then general? It seems strange calling Yugoslavia godless when,on ground level,one realises how devout so many Croatians remained. And remain. Kerry seems to have had it's fair share of clashes with rail officials also,almost pulling out of a major game once due to lack of services for it's fans. In 1903 "the KERRYMAN commented 'the overcrowding in the carriages in the ordinary was well nigh unbearable. A more realistic reproduction of the Black Hole of Calcutta could not possibly be accomplished. It's a marvel that there were not many deaths from congestion and excessive heat. When a dealer consigns pigs the company are careful to see that there is no overcrowding,but when it is only a question of mere human beings the Railway officials seem to think anything is good enough'. The ordinary stopped two miles from Tipperary where it remained for an hour. Those on the special fared worse. They only saw the second half as the train arrived at Tipperary at 3:20pm. To make matters worse still,the special left for home sharp at 6:15pm and most of the Killarney people were left behind" I'd be curious to know who actually ran the Irish rail system in 1903? With the mention of pigs we see that humane treatment of animals is hardly new. In Kerry anyway. An article marking the 50th anniversary of the last episode of Skippy -only 1969- remarks that the poor kangaroo(s) had their mouths pulled with elastic to match the tick-sound,which sound the animals actually don't make,and were kept in sacks beween scenes,so that it would be too groggy to hop away. An American guest star actor remarked "if that's the star's dressing room what the...is mine like!"
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 9, 2019 10:30:20 GMT
One Irish custom I dislike is the custom of buying rounds in pubs. It means that even if you sit in for one drink, even if you have a Coke or an orange juice, you have to buy a whole lot of alcohol.
For all my love of tradition, this is one I would happily jettison.
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Post by cato on Jul 9, 2019 10:37:42 GMT
One Irish custom I dislike is the custom of buying rounds in pubs. It means that even if you sit in for one drink, even if you have a Coke or an orange juice, you have to buy a whole lot of alcohol. For all my love of tradition, this is one I would happily jettison. It is very unfair to the tee totaller but in fairness rounds developed in groups where everyone was drinking roughly the same priced alcoholic beverage. That seemed to be the unwritten rule. Nowadays you can be fleeced if your 3 partners order designer gin and tonics and you are nursing your humble pint of porter. The only solution is to join them .
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 27, 2019 11:02:57 GMT
As I mentioned elsewhere, my father died in May. My family never got a memorial card printed-- there was so much to do, I didn't even think of it.
I'm not sure whether it's customary for this to be done immediately or after an interval. I'd like to do it anyway, even if it's belated.
Does anyone know what the custom is, and does anyone have any good recommendations for printers? I looked on the internet but there's not much information on this.
I think he would probably appreciate one as he went to some trouble over my mother's memorial card.
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Post by Séamus on Aug 27, 2019 11:35:06 GMT
As I mentioned elsewhere, my father died in May. My family never got a memorial card printed-- there was so much to do, I didn't even think of it. I'm not sure whether it's customary for this to be done immediately or after an interval. I'd like to do it anyway, even if it's belated. Does anyone know what the custom is, and does anyone have any good recommendations for printers? I looked on the internet but there's not much information on this. I think he would probably appreciate one as he went to some trouble over my mother's memorial card. Just looking at our forbears and other relations' ones, it's interesting how it's changed from indulgenced prayers and holy pictures to comforting verse and scenery. But this probably reflects the change in the immediate families' attitudes as much as what images are available. Lalor press, eternity cards and Allen press seem to be the three Irish printers in our collection. The old Lalor ones are very devotional
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Post by cato on Aug 27, 2019 16:06:40 GMT
As I mentioned elsewhere, my father died in May. My family never got a memorial card printed-- there was so much to do, I didn't even think of it. I'm not sure whether it's customary for this to be done immediately or after an interval. I'd like to do it anyway, even if it's belated. Does anyone know what the custom is, and does anyone have any good recommendations for printers? I looked on the internet but there's not much information on this. I think he would probably appreciate one as he went to some trouble over my mother's memorial card. Just looking at our forbears and other relations' ones, it's interesting how it's changed from indulgenced prayers and holy pictures to comforting verse and scenery. But this probably reflects the change in the immediate families' attitudes as much as what images are available. Lalor press, eternity cards and Allen press seem to be the three Irish printers in our collection. The old Lalor ones are very devotional Lalors still produce memorial cards. I agree with Seamus that more recent ones have become less devotional ; some look like holiday post cards. There are a few local companies that produce cards as well. It is a pity there is little or no contemporary catholic art that actually appeals to the masses. Most of the stuff that sells originates in the 19th century or earlier. Most of the stuff produced at great expense for the new church is hideous cold abstract and strangelessly lifeless.
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Post by Séamus on Aug 29, 2019 13:51:36 GMT
Although this passage (from a Mother McAuley biography) has little in the way of tangible traditions,besides mention of a tartan shawl,due to it's charm and otherworldlyness it might fit nicely here: "the colour of the Irish countryside passed seasonally before her eyes in her journeyings, by canal and by coach, the breath of Ireland and crosswise to the south. Hawthorn appliqued along the roadside,whin running in sun-gold brook fashion down the rough-meadowed hills,appleblossoms recklessly escaping reckless espailers,rose-petaled dogwood proclaiming summer,fragrance of woodbine up the boreens,knobs of bog cotton embroidering fustian stretches of turfland,eyelets of scarlet poppies on the wheat-fields,heather bleeding ecclesiastical purple in high places,everywhere the little rouge-kissed Celtic daisies and somewhere unexpectedly the blue sky fallen on a field of flax. The kaleidoscopic aspect of nature north,east,south and west did not escape Mother Catherine but the dark procession of human misery absorbed her. The merry sun-muted sound of harness bells on the tinker's-shaggy-piebald cob might arrest the casual traveler,an artist's eye might find pleasure in the sight of the barefoot girl herself with wild hair and clean complexion,her tartan shoulder-shawl and other bright clothes indicating the magpie nature of her mind,but the experienced social worker in the nun saw only the magpie mind and untutored soul" Mother M Bertrand Degnan rsm
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 12, 2019 15:09:58 GMT
The National Services Day Parade was in the news recently. It's a day when all the Irish emergency services go on parade and are thanked for their work, and it was instituted six years ago-- though I'd never heard of it before.
It seems like a rather good initiative. I wonder is Ireland the first country to do this?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 12, 2019 15:13:42 GMT
Incidentally, I heard someone on Twitter claiming, not so long ago, that "Nollaig na mBan" was a modern usage and he'd never heard it until a few years ago.
I couldn't find any indication to the contrary. But recently I've been reading old copies of Comhar, a very good Irish language magazine, and I saw reference to Nollaig na mBan in any issue from 1948! Perhaps it only migrated to English recently...
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Post by servantofthechief on Sept 12, 2019 20:01:09 GMT
Incidentally, I heard someone on Twitter claiming, not so long ago, that "Nollaig na mBan" was a modern usage and he'd never heard it until a few years ago. I couldn't find any indication to the contrary. But recently I've been reading old copies of Comhar, a very good Irish language magazine, and I saw reference to Nollaig na mBan in any issue from 1948! Perhaps it only migrated to English recently... Its definitely not a new thing. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_ChristmasThat it is known as Women's little Christmas is an Irish peculiarity I believe, but the phenomenon of 'Little Christmas' or 'Old Christmas' is rather widespread. Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and even parts of England still celebrate it in different ways, on eredemptorist order on a remote part of Scotland celebrate it the 25th of every month barring December, where they celebrate Christmas day on the 25th. The Irish tradition is nowadays strongest in Cork and Kerry if this article is to be believed, wheremenfolk take care of the household chores and the womenfolk go off to celebrate in parties. Which may explain why the rest of us civilized Irishfolk have heard so little about these traditions. That said I have heard the term Little Christmas or Nollaig Beag as it were, and knew it happened on the day the Orthodox insist is the real Christmas day (although our disagreements about which day it was supposedly go back to the 4th Century at least due to differences in Liturgical calenders) but didn't know about it being Women specific in Irish traditions, though it is a neat little thing.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 13, 2019 12:18:11 GMT
Incidentally, I heard someone on Twitter claiming, not so long ago, that "Nollaig na mBan" was a modern usage and he'd never heard it until a few years ago. I couldn't find any indication to the contrary. But recently I've been reading old copies of Comhar, a very good Irish language magazine, and I saw reference to Nollaig na mBan in any issue from 1948! Perhaps it only migrated to English recently... Its definitely not a new thing. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_ChristmasThat it is known as Women's little Christmas is an Irish peculiarity I believe, but the phenomenon of 'Little Christmas' or 'Old Christmas' is rather widespread. Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and even parts of England still celebrate it in different ways, on eredemptorist order on a remote part of Scotland celebrate it the 25th of every month barring December, where they celebrate Christmas day on the 25th. The Irish tradition is nowadays strongest in Cork and Kerry if this article is to be believed, wheremenfolk take care of the household chores and the womenfolk go off to celebrate in parties. Which may explain why the rest of us civilized Irishfolk have heard so little about these traditions. That said I have heard the term Little Christmas or Nollaig Beag as it were, and knew it happened on the day the Orthodox insist is the real Christmas day (although our disagreements about which day it was supposedly go back to the 4th Century at least due to differences in Liturgical calenders) but didn't know about it being Women specific in Irish traditions, though it is a neat little thing. I wasn't clear in my initial post-- this chap wasn't claiming that Little Christmas itself was a new thing, but that the term "Nollaig na mBan" was. He wanted to tie it to rampant feminism! And it's funny, when you try to remember when you first heard a phrase, it's very difficult....so I half-wondered if he was right until I found that old article.
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Post by Séamus on Sept 14, 2019 8:25:26 GMT
The National Services Day Parade was in the news recently. It's a day when all the Irish emergency services go on parade and are thanked for their work, and it was instituted six years ago-- though I'd never heard of it before. It seems like a rather good initiative. I wonder is Ireland the first country to do this? Perhaps so. The emergency services did take part in Easter Uprising parades,going back to DeValera's time. I quoted a piece about this under Beannachtaí na Cásca,which was intended to be a thread of Easter customs. The passage would have been too long to write in full,I would have skipped mention of some of the participants' presence. I saw an article two weeks ago about 'culinary Belfast',written to mark the city's designation as this year's city-of-food, or some such thing. The bar's and restaurant's different types of locally sourced seafood were nicely described,but some of the quoted prices would,I'd imagine,cause a spike in fishing-rod sales. One thing I read earlier this year and meant to add to the Cásca thread was the fact that, in some localities in Ireland, Good Friday morning's seafood gathering was a custom,and the things caught or gathered for eating that day were actually deemed to have small-'s' sacramental values. Dúlamán na binne buí Dúlamán Gaelach!
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 1, 2019 8:41:24 GMT
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Post by Séamus on Dec 16, 2019 8:17:45 GMT
I'm finally finishing Irish Folk Ways,a 1950s book written by an Northern academic who was still able to observe much in his own time,such as curragh making by fishermen who actually made them for the actual purpose. Much of the book deals with traditional day-to-day living and farming,not traditions-for-tradition but they might be worth an overview: -booley houses and the rundale farming systems -thatched houses came in various methods (ie, roped thatch,scollop thatch,some more common in one county than another);there was also a Halloween thatching game 'Building the House' -clochaun buildings (as pigsties,for poultry or humans[therapeutic sweat-houses]) -tools such as gowl-gobs,steveens,graffans -cutting turf,stacking peet etc. My father(b.1935)mentioned that this was considered a basic skill for boyscouts in his time -hay and flax making were perhaps quite universal and utilitarian but the harvest knots were a folk custom "girls would wear them in their hair,boys in their coats" -much is said of sea harvesting,both seaweeds and fish (including non-fish animals) I was surprised that eels were so important,eel rakes are illustrated. Pens to hold the seaweeds are illustrated from Waterford, Down and Mayo. Elvers were mixed with milk to make eel-cheese
The uses of straw might concern us most here: "rushes,grasses and straw have long been playthings for young folk...we described St Brigid's Crosses elsewhere...among the many toys and playthings made of rushes we find baskets for wild strawberries and blaeberries,rattles,butterfly cages,fishing nets,caps,bracelets,belts,hatbands,mock-ceremonial whips,canes and swords and imitation birds feet and flowers...many of them are associated with particular occasions of the year for example imitation flowers with Easter and the blaeberries baskets with Garland Sunday" St Stephen's day,Halloween, wakes and weddings are briefly dealt with. Straw boys still existed in Kerry in the 50s in a memoir I read a while ago. Competition over a bottle of whiskey seemed to serve the same purpose as catching the bouquet. There was supposed good luck attached to arriving at the bride's home first at one stage.
Interesting- A small cluster of thorn trees in a field were said to belong to fairies and bring death to anyone who walked beneath them. Is it possible that this could have been an inspiration behind Tolkien's ents who defeated armies of orcs the same way?
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