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Féile Chultúir Chiarraí 2005
We are happy to announce that Féile
Chultúir Chiarraí will once again take place on
Muckross Traditional Farms from Monday 9 to Friday 13 May. As
usual, the festival will consist of a series of ‘Hands-on’ workshops
for Primary School children. Assembly will be at 9.45am each
morning. The workshops will commence at 10am and will conclude
at 2 pm. Muckross Research Library works closely with Muckross
Traditional Farms in the running of this event.
The workshops will include:
• A Working Horse Demonstration.
• An Introduction to the Traditional Irish Dwelling and its
•
Furnishings.
• Butter-making.
• Bread-making.
• Traditional Irish Music – a workshop hosted by the
well-known singer/songwriter Mr Jimmy Crowley.
Allocation of places is limited and bookings will be taken on a ‘first
come first served basis’. School groups will be asked, when
booking, to choose between the bread making and the butter making
activities. They will be facilitated, where possible, in their
choice of these two activities.
There is a charge of €4 per child attending
the event
(i.e. €1 per
workshop).
Each school group must be accompanied by at least one adult. Suitable footwear
and rainwear is essential for all participants. Children must provide their own
lunch but soft drinks will be supplied in the festival marquee at lunchtime.
In 2003 Muckross Traditional Farms was awarded the Sandford Award for Heritage
Education, for Féile Chultúir Chiarraí, by the UK based
Heritage Education Trust. This is the first time the award, which is valid for
five years, has been made outside of the UK.
The purpose of this page is to provide some preparatory background information
for those participating in Féile Chultúir Chiarraí 2005.
We hope you find it of interest.
May Day – Bealtaine
Lá Bealtaine (May Day) is traditionally one of the most
important days in the Irish calendar. The month of May is, therefore,
an appropriate month in
which we can celebrate the folklife and culture of Co. Kerry, with ceol agus
craic.
May Day marked the first day of summer (samhradh) and on the farm it also marked
the beginning of the new season of grass (féar). The farmer now turned
the cattle out into the fields having sheltered and fed them indoors during the
colder months of the year. The tilling of the soil to produce crops was generally
completed by May Day. At this time also the farmer turned his attention to the
bog (portach) and started cutting turf for the long winter months ahead.
On May Eve it was the custom for young children to pick posies of fresh flowers.
These were used to decorate the dwelling or were placed at the foot of a holy
statue or May altar.
The May flowers (Bláthanna Bealtaine) in bloom at this time include:
Primrose - Samhhhaircín
Gorse – Aiteanna gallda
Cowslip - Bainne bó bleacht
Marsh Marigold – Lus buí Bealtaine
Meadow buttercup – Fearbán feoir
There are many May Day customs and beliefs (crediúintí) associated
with Butter and its production. This reflects the important role butter once
played in the household economy. Almost anything taken from the dwelling, or
from any part of the farm, at dawn on May Day could be used ‘to steal the
butter’ (im a ghoid). This meant that the victim’s churn would not
produce any butter, while the evildoer would be left with an increased quantity
of it.
No fire was allowed to leave the house on May morning. A man who lit his pipe
at the fire had to smoke it before leaving the house. Otherwise it was believed
that the luck of the house would be lost and this could affect the butter. No
milk utensil was allowed to leave the house either. The farmer might guard his
well, the fire might not be lit, and often the cows remained locked in the byre,
until the danger had passed.
Some people avoided churning on May Day. Others did churn but added a pinch of
salt (salann) or a drop of holy water to protect the butter.
During the churning anybody, young or old (óg nó cnóna),
who entered the kitchen or dairy had to take a turn at the churn. Some people
said this was to lessen the labour of churning. Others believed that it helped
to protect the butter.
If, while churning, butter did not appear within a reasonable amount of time,
then it was suspected that an evil spell had been placed on the butter. One way
to counteract the spell was to heat an iron tongs in the fire and to plunge it
red hot into the churn.
Breadmaking – Ag Deanamh Arán
In some parts of Europe bread was baked occasionally, in large quantities, and
stored until required. However, in Ireland, bread was baked fresh every day.
In Irish folk belief it was considered unlucky to waste bread
or to treat it
with anything other than respect.
Soda bread (Arán bán) was traditionally baked in a pot oven over
a turf fire and is recognised as one of the finest bread types in the world.
The leavening agent in soda bread is bicarbonate of soda, usually helped by sour
milk (báinne gear). However bread soda, as a leavening agent did not come
into use until the first half of the 19th century. Fresh thick buttermilk (bláthach)
was also always used in the baking.
The pot oven (oighean) was an excellent baking utensil. The deep flat-bottomed
pot had a closely fitted lid on which glowing pieces of turf, in order that the
gentle heat was distributed evenly. The lid of the oven could not be lifted until
the baking process was complete.
At Bealtaine (May Day) special cakes were at one time baked and offered to the
dead or given to beggars in the name of the dead. On the eve of All Souls’ Night (1st
November) it was the custom to leave bread (arán) and water (uisce)
on the kitchen table at midnight for the return of the dead.
Recipe for Soda Bread
5 cups of plain Flour
teaspoon of Bread Soda
teaspoon of Salt
pint Sour Milk or Buttermilk.
Method
Put all the ingredients into a basin and make a ‘well’ in
the centre of the mixture. Pour in the milk and mix with your
hands until the mixture forms a soft dough. Knead well and form
into a round shape. Cut a cross in the centre of the dough and
place it in a warm oven or bastable. Hang the oven over the fire
and place red embers from the fire on the lid. Bake for approximately
45 minutes.
The Dwelling – An Teach/An Tigh
The traditional Irish dwelling is rectangular in plan and
only one storey in height. The roof (díon) is supported by the solid walls, which are built
of stone or tempered earth. The roof is normally steeply pitched. In the past
this allowed for the rapid run-of of rainwater as most dwellings had a thatched
roof (díon tuí/ceann tuí). Doors and windows (doirse agus
fuinneóga) are normally located in the long sidewalls. The windows
are small in size and splay inwards. From the late 19th century onwards the
walls
were usually white-washed (aolta), mainly for hygienic purposes.
Beneath the thatch there was usually a layer of sods or scraws, which had
been skimmed off a good thick bog, to form the underthatch. These scraws
were normally
tied to the roof timbers with straw ropes (súgáin). The thatch
was pinned to the underthatch with scallops (scolb) or spars made from bog-deal,
hazel or sallys. Because ceilings were generally inserted into dwellings only
in relatively recent times, the underthatch was usually visible directly overhead.
You can see the underthatch in place when you visit Kissane’s and Foley’s
dwellings on Muckross Traditional Farms.
Internally the traditional dwelling contained a number of interconnecting
rooms without a central hallway or passage. Each room (seomra) normally occupied
the full width of the dwelling. In Irish folk tradition the kitchen hearth
(tinteán) was the social centre of the house. A visitor (cuairteoir)
to the house was usually invited to take a fireside seat. The fire was never
allowed completely die out (Bhí an tine lasta an t-am ar fad). Not
only was it an important source of warmth, it was also the only means of
cooking
food, drying the clothes and boiling water.
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