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Pilgrimage to St Brigid’s Well in Clondalkin with @drkarenwardtherapist@moonmna and @la_fheile_bride_festival – 16 kilometers
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So grateful to have spent St Brigid’s Eve in Kildare and to Solas Bhride for leading a lovely ritual and pilgrimage to St Brigid’s garden well. Missing my @baltimorereclaiming folks this Imbolc, but excited to connect in new ways. My Brat Bríde is tied around the door handle for Brigid’s blessing and time for sleep. Solas Bhride…
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Excerpt from the School’s Collection from the National Folklore Collection 1937-1938 St Brigid’s Night NFCS 0126: 469-470 Corrower, County Mayo “In this part of the country the people have several customs that they practise on the thirty-first of January – “Brighideóg Night.” They greatest custom of all is the practice of going out as “Brighideógs.”In…
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In preparation for the abstinence of Lent, families and neighbours gathered at the hearth to feast on meat and dairy products. Like on Oíche Shamhna, young people of marriageable age participated in divination rites to determine their luck in matrimony for the following year. There was a common practice of flipping pancakes over the fire…
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The Bhean Ghlúine, midwife or handy-woman is a person skilled in overseeing the ritual of childbirth. She protects the mother and child from evil forces with charms, spells and/or herbs and wields a great deal of power in a predominately patriarchal society, due to the dangerous circumstances and the taboo around discussing health and sexuality…
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Changelings are fairy substitutes for human children or adults that have been abducted. They may function as a coping mechanism for rationalising neurodivergence, disability, high infant death rates or any behaviour which violates patriarchal social norms (Ballard, 2014; Eberly, 1988). Within the rites of passage structure, separation occurs when the loved one is abducted, unusual…
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In Irish and greater European tradition, particularly with Catholicism, the rite of baptism combines folk and religious belief to bring an infant and their soul from the land of the dead (separation), through the cleansing ritual (liminality) and to incorporation into the community/sanctification. The ceremony, whether lay or official, involves purification symbolism, naming and special…
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The Strawboys were small bands of disguised men, who traditionally arrived as uninvited guests to weddings in most of Ireland. Their disguises varied, but always included straw and often women’s clothing. They were particularly focused on anonymity, wearing hats or masks that covered their faces and often obscured their height. Otherwise known as Buachaillí tuí,…
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Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were scholars in 18th century Germany, whose prolific works included a vast collection of folktales and other lore. The chance combination of their personal values and circumstances uniquely situated them to influence both generations of readers and the study of folklore. The contribution of the Grimm brothers to the development of…
Bridging Appalachia
A Baltimorean folklorist in Ireland to explore story as medicine and the preservation of traditional foodways and medicine techniques in Irish lore.
Bridging Appalachia 