Magic of Local Lore Archives - Helena Byrne https://helenabyrne.com/product-category/exhibitions/magicoflocallore/ Irish Storyteller & Singer Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:58:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 185618525 ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsowingthepotatoes/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsowingthepotatoes/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:14:06 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1783 The post ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

My Dad Sowing the Potatoes
By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

When my dad Michael Connery was around my age, he would help his dad sowing the potatoes. My dad’s job was to drive the tractor. The tractor was a Ferguson TE 20. He drove while my grandad and my uncle sat behind him.

THE PROCEDURE
Firstly he woke up and got dressed. Then he got breakfast. He would eat cereal and drink tea. After that he helped his father bring the seed potatoes to the tractor. Then he checked the tractor for diesel. He started the tractor and brought it out to the field. Then he started sowing the spuds.

My grandad and my uncle sat on the back dropping the spuds down a pipe so the spuds go under the clay to grow. My dads job was to drive the tractor straight. After a while my granny Catherine would bring out sandwiches and tea.

The type of spuds that he grew were called records. He felt very happy that he got to drive the tractor. Months later he got to harvest the spuds and put them into the shed for winter. When he tasted them they tasted nice and floury. After a long day they all would feel tired.

And now you know what it was like to grow spuds and how my dad grew them.



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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsowingthepotatoes/feed/ 0 1783 ‘Maura Breen’ ~ By Zara Renwick, 6th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/maurabreen/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/maurabreen/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:09:28 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1771 The post ‘Maura Breen’ ~ By Zara Renwick, 6th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

Maura Breen
By Zara Renwick, 6th Class

Today I am going to tell you about my great gran Maura Breen.
Once upon a time in a far away land called Dublin lived an incredible person called Maura Breen. She grew up and lived on top of Harcourt train station, with her mother, father, her 4 brothers and her sister. She went to a school called St. Louis Rathmines. She was a girl who loved school and her transport every day was a tram.

She loved sports, especially camogie. When she was 16, she got an amazing opportunity to play in Croke Park with her school. What made it even more special was she was captain. She had to do loads and loads of practice, but also had to write an Irish speech for if they won.

It was the day, the day she was going to play in Croke Park! They were all really nervous waiting in the tunnel before the match, but when it was time to walk out they were amazed with how big the stadium was. There weren’t many supporters because back in the day women’s sport wasn’t as big as men’s sport was, so they were almost as amazed to see the small group of people that showed up.

Then the teams got into their positions and the whistle blew! Maura’s team got the ball out of the tackle and scored! They were one point up but then a point went over the bar for the other team then another one point went over the bar for both teams, and at the last minute it was a tie game and the supporters from the teams were sitting on the edge of their seats and then Maura scored the winning point! The whole team were bursting with excitement and the crowd were on their feet in shock.

But now came the next challenge, the Irish speech. She was nervous but still in shock from the win but she nailed the speech and got a Croke Park medal.

Maura was one of the first girls to play in Croke Park.

She had a great life as an adult because she worked in a bank, got married and had children.

Not many people can be proud to be called Maura Breen’s Great Granddaughter. Born September 1929 – died 22nd September 2023.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/maurabreen/feed/ 0 1771 ‘A Spooky Evening’ ~ By Liliana Wernicka, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/aspookyevening/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/aspookyevening/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:06:15 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1749 The post ‘A Spooky Evening’ ~ By Liliana Wernicka, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

A Spooky Evening
By Liliana Wernicka, 5th Class

When my grandma was 11 years old she had a very spooky experience.

In 1973, near the end of September, my granny called Danuta, lived in the countryside in Poland, in Gacki. It was around 3pm and Danuta was at her house just having a rest when suddenly her parents called her to come downstairs. They told her to go on a walk to some neighbours that lived in the middle of nowhere. They sent her to give a 25th anniversary card, which she didn’t mind because her very good friend lived there so she was pretty excited.

When she left, she walked past a field with a very deep pond. It was said that during WW2, a German soldier rode on a horse in the dark. He was going very fast and couldn’t see where he was going. Then, there ahead of him was the very deep pond and he fell into it and unfortunately drowned. But Danuta wasn’t really scared of it. She safely arrived at the house, gave them the card and stayed at their house for a while with her friend.

As time quickly went by and it was around 5 to 6pm, she was late! So then she started to head home and it was dark. Then she was walking past the field with THAT lake where there was the saying about the WW2 German soldier.

Then she saw it…. THE SOLDIER! Staring into her soul with a very serious face. Danuta wasted no time and ran as fast as she could. And as she was running away, she thought about it. It didn’t make sense…. It was the horse on top of the water at the lake with the soldier on it. But the lake is deep? She was very confused.

After a bit of running she eventually made it to the closest house she saw. She told the people what had happened and they actually believed her, because they said that things like that have happened before at THAT lake. Luckily the people walked her back to her house safely.

Everything was okay, but now… that memory still haunts her every single day for years.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/aspookyevening/feed/ 0 1749 ‘Eamonn Wallace, the Best Hurler’ ~ By Emily Wallace, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/eamonnwallace/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/eamonnwallace/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 20:03:03 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1737 The post ‘Eamonn Wallace, the Best Hurler’ ~ By Emily Wallace, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

Eamonn Wallace, the Best Hurler
By Emily Wallace, 5th Class

Back around the 1960s, my great uncle Eamonn was born. Eamonn was born in a family with his mam, dad and four siblings. They all grew up in the town Castlecomer.

Castlecomer has changed, there was not as many shops back in his day but now there are many shops. Eamonn started hurling around 12 or 13. He liked it a lot. Then Eamonn decided to join Erin’s Own senior team. Eamonn’s Brother Waltie also played hurling.

Eamonn played in midfield. He loved it. Then one day Eamonn made it onto the Kilkenny senior team. Eamonn played many matches with the team. Until the day came Eamonn and his team were going to Croke Park to play against Cork. As Eamonn was standing in the dressing room he was delighted but nervous at the same time. But he knew somewhere in the crowd his family was proud of him and screaming his name loudly and proudly, and he wanted to make them even prouder.

When the time came he took his first step onto the pitch. He heard all the people who came to cheer them on.

The president Mary Robinson came to watch but must first shake everyone’s hand. As she started all Eamonn was thinking oh she is getting closer and closer then she shook Eamonn’s hand. Then the game began. It was a tough game with a lot of sweat but…..THEY WON!!!

Then cheers and screams came from the crowd, Eamonn could not believe it. And that’s the day Eamonn would never forget.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/eamonnwallace/feed/ 0 1737 ‘My Mam’s Stories’ ~ By Áine Ring, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/mymamsstories/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/mymamsstories/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:56:38 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1725 The post ‘My Mam’s Stories’ ~ By Áine Ring, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

My Mam’s Stories
By Áine Ring, 5th Class

One day when my Mam was little, her dad was taking her and her siblings to the beach. They were all very excited. They were on the way and about to pass through a small town, the town was flooded. All of my aunts and uncles were crying but my grandad drove through floods. Then they had a great day at the beach.

Many years ago my great granny would bring her entire family to Knock, they would say three rosaries and another prayer afterward. If you sang all of your hymns you could choose the music on the way home. They would always buy rosary beads, sweets and medals.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/mymamsstories/feed/ 0 1725 ‘My Dad’s Story’ ~ By Andrea Varghese, 6th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsstory/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsstory/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:53:18 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1713 The post ‘My Dad’s Story’ ~ By Andrea Varghese, 6th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

My Dad’s Story
By Andrea Varghese, 6th Class

Today I’ll tell you one of my Dad Manu’s childhood stories about him and his two sisters which ended in laughter.

My Dad grew up in Kerala, India.

This story begins on a heavy, monsoon night with thunder and lightning. My Dad was always scared of lightning. On this particular night, when he was about 7 or 8 years of age, where lightning was bad, my Dad woke up with a fright, seeing the flashes of light outside his bedroom window and the loud, pounding thunder. He was trembling with fear and afraid to sleep on his own, so he decided to go to his sisters’ room, which was next to his.

He sneaked into their room, on his tippy toes. One of his sisters saw someone creeping into their room and thought it was a thief. She was so scared. She then whispered to her other sister and they both sprinted closer to the wall in fear.

By now, my Dad was sitting on the side of their bed. My Dad thought they knew it was him and assumed that they were making space for him. He then climbed into the bed with them. His two sisters let out a scream and the whole house had woken. First, his brother Shajan ran into the room, then Joshi rushed in, then Shibu, followed by his parents, with worried faces!

With everyone gathered in the room, my dad explained that it was only him and there was no thief in the house. Once everyone found out what actually happened, they all burst into laughter.

Thankfully my dad is a lot braver now and he’s not afraid to sleep on his own anymore.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/mydadsstory/feed/ 0 1713 ‘Wedding Traditions In Lithuania’ ~ By Lukne Petraityte, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/weddingtraditionsinlithuania/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/weddingtraditionsinlithuania/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:48:20 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1701 The post ‘Wedding Traditions In Lithuania’ ~ By Lukne Petraityte, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

Wedding Traditions In Lithuania
By Lukne Petraityte, 5th Class

When my mom was about 10-12 she lived with her parents and 3 brothers. She lived on a farm with cows, pigs, horses, goats, and so on. They lived in a quiet neighbourhood with lovely surroundings in Lithuania.

My mom and her siblings always loved getting up to something together. They knew it was going to be a great day when rumours started spreading about a wedding taking place soon. Weddings back then were strictly on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday being the formal day where they signed the papers, got married and took pictures. Sunday was when they relaxed.

My mom and her siblings would be over the moon when hearing a wedding was taking place soon. There would be 5 main couples attending a wedding. 3 couples there to watch the wedding, two being young and one being a senior couple, the bride and groom-obviously- and a witness couple who are proof the couple are dating. The rest would be guests. That would equal about 5 cars attending the wedding.

My mom and her siblings would block off the road with a rope. One person would hold one end of the rope, on one side of the road , and another person would hold the other end on the opposite side of the road. The rope would be decorated with pretty flowers. When a car would come by the passenger would have to pay a handful of sweets for the rope to be lifted up so they can drive by, they would only do this when weddings go on since people attending the wedding would have bags full of sweets.

Sometimes my mom would have decorated baskets that the person paying the sweets would drop in there. Every once in a while they would fill a basket with sweets, since the place they lived in had a gorgeous river opposite their house and people would plan on taking pictures there and have a talk or drink.

Some people would even take an extra 10-20 minutes just to drive a different route not to pay the sweets. Other people would trick them and change the time they got there.

You may be thinking, why would you take an extra 20 minutes just so you don’t have to pay the handful of sweets? Well, it’s not only my mom and her siblings that would do this, other kids in the neighbourhood would catch on and do this too, and 1 handful of sweets could end up to 5 handfuls of sweets. I bet you wouldn’t like to pay 5 handfuls of sweets just to take pictures somewhere!

My mom and her siblings would block off the road with a long rope when a wedding would go on. They would do this so the person trying to drive by would have to pay a handful of sweets to drive by their neighbourhood. This was a great and fun way to waste their day since back then they didn’t have technology or as many toys as kids have these days!

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/weddingtraditionsinlithuania/feed/ 0 1701 ‘Grandad Pat’s Army Days’ ~ By Ava Phelan, 6th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/grandadpatsarmydays/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/grandadpatsarmydays/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:44:21 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1689 The post ‘Grandad Pat’s Army Days’ ~ By Ava Phelan, 6th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

Grandad Pat’s Army Days
By Ava Phelan, 6th Class
My Grandad Pat Phelan is 70 years old and he was in the army for 24 years.
He first joined the army in August 1970, and left in May 1994.
He started in McKee barracks in Dublin. He was stationed there for 4 years. He enjoyed the 4 years in McKee barracks Dublin. Then he was stationed in James Stephens barracks in Kilkenny for 20 years.

He was a driver in the army. Part of this driving involved cash escorts, the army would drive in front and behind the cash delivery vans, delivering cash to the banks. Also helping to escort prisoners from court to Portlaoise prison.

He worked on border patrol on the northern Ireland border. Keeping watch on who was crossing between North and South of Ireland. Being away from home for weeks.
The army also worked helping the Garda when there were bank robberies and kidnappings. Sometimes they spent weeks looking for people.
He spent time away from home training in the Glen of Imaal in Co. Wicklow.
What really stands out is his mission overseas to Cyprus when he was only 18 this happened in 1972. The mission was to provide peace between the Turkish and the Cypriots. The island of Cyprus was divided and still is divided by a wall. The Turkish lived on one side of the wall, and the Cypriots lived on the other side. The Irish Army made sure both sides didn’t cross the wall. They also had to bring guns and machinery over the wall safely.
My grandad Pat joined the army because there was very little work in Ireland. At the time, people went to England to work for or joined the army.
He really enjoyed his time in the army. There was great camaraderie and he made friends for life. This was the best part of his job making friends for life.
The worst part of the job was being away from home and family. Sometimes being away on Christmas, Easter or birthdays. It was hard on my Granny Mary minding 3 children on her own while Grandad Pat was away. It was also hard for my Dad, auntie and uncle but all together my Grandad loved his time in the army.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/grandadpatsarmydays/feed/ 0 1689 ‘Nora’s Life in London’ ~ By Doireann Byrne, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/noraslifeinlondon/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/noraslifeinlondon/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:38:42 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1677 The post ‘Nora’s Life in London’ ~ By Doireann Byrne, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

Nora’s Life in London
By Doireann Byrne, 5th Class

Imagine moving to England all alone at 15 years of age. No-one there to mind you, talk to you or even help you. Well if you’re wondering who would even want to move to England alone at a young age, my great grand aunt Nora did in 1949. Nora was brave to make that choice, anything could’ve happened in a blink of an eye. She was very nervous.

When Nora moved to England it was because her family needed money and her sister lived in England too, but her sister lived in Birmingham and Nora stayed in London.

Nora worked around 5 jobs there. Her first job was learning how to cook. Nora had to learn how to cook because she didn’t finish school. The cookery school was run by nuns. She learned how to cook for 2 years.

Next job was a cook. She went to Harrod’s School for Boys, where King Hussein of Jordan and Winston Churchill went. Nora didn’t teach them, she fed them. She worked there for 2 years too.
After that, she worked for McVities during the day. There was a constant smell of biscuits in the factory and all around the local area.

While Nora worked there they made Queen Elizabeth’s wedding cake. She didn’t make the cake but she remembers all the excitement. All the biscuits were the same as today, just in different wrappers.

During the night she worked at the cinema, operating films. Nora worked at the cinema for around a year. After two jobs per day she would be exhausted. Nora was happy and healthy, and that’s the main thing.

Nora worked for Heinz. She worked in the cafeteria for them.
Next she attended the Queen’s Coronation June 2nd 1953. Nora wasn’t invited to the Coronation. She camped out the night before to get her place on the street. Nora didn’t actually camp there, she just sat on a chair for the whole night.

When Nora had enough money she decided to go home. Nora’s sister came over to say one last goodbye. Nora was very upset, but she pulled herself together. The reason Nora left was to look after her dad, after her mam died. Nora ended up staying there for 20 years. She said she remembers it all and will never forget it.

I think Nora is a great, strong and brave person, she is brilliant.

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]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/noraslifeinlondon/feed/ 0 1677 ‘The Apparition’ ~ By Isabelle Grinsell, 5th Class https://helenabyrne.com/product/theapparition/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/theapparition/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2024 19:31:31 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1665 The post ‘The Apparition’ ~ By Isabelle Grinsell, 5th Class appeared first on Helena Byrne.

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  • ‘My Dad Sowing the Potatoes’ ~ By Kathryn Reason-Connery, 5th Class

The Apparition
By Isabelle Grinsell, 5th Class

A long time ago when my great grandad Jim Kavanagh and my great aunt Mary Costigan (nee Kavanagh) were small, the locals of Castlecomer told them a story.

One day the locals of Castlecomer saw an old white two story house where a rich couple lived. This house is called Ballycomey House now.

One dark winter night, they walked past Ballycomey House and saw an apparition of a green fearsome serpent in the window up the stairs.

This same apparition was seen numerous times by other people. Every time someone saw this mysterious apparition, they were terrified and ran away.

The owners of the house, upon hearing of the apparition, decided to call the local priest. When the priest called to the house he banished the apparition down to the river that flowed behind the house.

To this day the locals of Castlecomer would never go down to the river at night because they were afraid the apparition would get them.

If you ever pass by Ballycomey house, make sure to look up at the middle window up the stairs. If you do, you might just get a scare!

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