IRISH-AMERICAN-L Archives

From: Pat Connors <>
Subject: [Irish-American] July customs
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 08:19:12 -0700

from the Chronicles of Celtic Folk Customs by Brian Day...

CELTIC. In this month much of June's activity continued. With the hay
stored and cherries picked, eyes were on the weather portents for the
coming harvest. Oysters were almost ready for gathering, and in
Cornwall the pilchards were at their best. But in rural Ireland in past
times there was anything but abundance. The month there was known as
Hungry July, because landless people had often run out of stores put by
during the previous harvest. Their problem got worse during the period
from the second half of the 18th century until the mid-19th century when
landowners ploughed up as much land as possible for crop growing,
leaving little to rent out to landless labourers. Potatoes were the
staple food, but the variety they grew was of poor eating quality in
July, leaving them with a monotonous diet of cabbage, oatmeal, and
anything they could gather from the wild. Summer potatoes were
generally not ready until after Garlick Sunday, the first Sunday in
August. A further problem was the shortage of work in the period before
the harvest.

Pilgrims and other devotees took advantage of the fire weather to make
their journeys, and those whose propensities were more secular continued
to enjoy outdoor sport and recreation.

IRELAND. Pilgrimage to Crough Patrick, Co. Mayo
This takes place at the end of July and is an ascent to the place where
St. Patrick was alleged to have banished snakes from Ireland. It marks
the end of summer and the beginning of harvest.

I have pictures and history of Crough Patrick on this website:
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/mayo/murrisk.html

--
Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com
Professional Genealogy Research
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