Customs for May Day in the Ballyshannon area 2023

May Day Customs would have been popular in the 1920s in the 

Back Street and in the town and countryside

24th March 2020. "If you got up before the sun rose on May morning and washed your face in the dew, you would be good-looking for the rest of the year." Today's local history blog "Customs for May Day in the Ballyshannon area" has lots of quirky gems. This is the 5th most popular blog on Ballyshannon Musings. Good to see so many following on Facebook. No. 6 in the top ten follows tomorrow. 

People long ago had great faith in customs and traditions which were handed down through the generations. People were also very much in tune with the seasons and had customs to go with particular times of the year. Certain times of the year such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, New Year’s Day and May Day had their own special customs in this area.

·      A May Eve custom was to collect yellow flowers like buttercups from the meadows. They were made into wreaths and hung over doors. These flowers were supposed to bring good luck all the year round to those who passed under them

·         On the evening before the First of May ashes were put on the doorstep and in the morning, if a footprint was turned inwards in the ashes, it was a sign of a marriage in the house, but if the footprint pointed outwards it was a sign of a death in the house

·          If you got up before the sun rose on May morning and washed your face in the dew you would be good-looking for the rest of that year

·         On May-Eve some people went out and gathered a branch of a rowan berry tree. This was put around the churn dash and people say they will never want butter the whole year round. In some places a May Queen was chosen and on May Day she was crowned with a wreath of flowers.

·         May day was an important day of the year as it was the beginning of summer. It was a lucky day to move cattle to pasture.

·          The 1st of May was Hiring Day.

·         Old May Day, 11th of May, was when young calves were put out for the first time and then they wouldn’t get a cold.

·         Any person suffering from bronchitis was said to get worse or even die in May.

·         Marriage in May was considered unlucky and also it was unlucky to see strangers walking on the land on May morning.

·          It was lucky to pull a rope through the dew on May morning, and then put it under a churn which would be filled with butter the next day.

·          May flowers were pulled and one put at each door and window, and the Blessed Virgin walked on these on May Eve. The McNamara family carry on this custom on West Rock and others robably do the same elsewhere

·          The water to be used for churning on May Day had to be the first water taken from the well before sunrise on May morning.

·         A householder watched to see his neighbour’s smoke before he would put on his fire. No coals were let out of the house on May Day, neither was milk given to a neighbour that day.

A  Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

"Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene. It contains the full story of  The Green Lady which  was  performed in Ballyshannon  to great acclaim. The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before. 
Available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands in Ballyshannon and 4 Masters Bookshop Donegal Town whenever things return to normal. Also available from Anthony Begley for postal enquiries email anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

The Mystery of Munday's Field in Ballyshannon

Camogie Photo courtesy of "A Century of the Ash in Ballyshannon" (Billy Finn and Alan Kane)

Friday 24th April 2020. The mystery of the tunnels in Munday's field was the second most popular blog on Ballyshannon Musings. Check out the 5 Fun Quiz all answers in the blog below.
1. What did John Munday use the field for before it became a G.A.A. training ground?
2. According to legend what happens at 12 o'clock every night in Munday's field?
3. What did Dr. Gordon think the tunnels might have been used for?
4. What did Mickie Rooney's father find in the field?
5. Complete the following from the 1910 Aodh Ruadh AGM notice in the blog. Irish paper-?

Saturday 25th April 2020. The most popular blog will be posted tomorrow and it was a clear winner as it was the first post to exceed 1,000 hits in its first day and has continued to be read. On Monday 27th April 2020  Ballyshannon Musings will be posting new posts. 

The Mystery of Munday's Field in Ballyshannon

Over thirty years ago the Aodh Ruadh club in Ballyshannon purchased Munday’s field in 1987 from a local shop- keeper and farmer, John Munday of West Rock. The field has been transformed into a centre of excellence for Gaelic games.  When the local Aodh Ruadh G.A.A. hurling and football club was founded in 1909 their teams played their first hurling and football matches in what was known as the Workhouse Meadow and is today known as Munday's field. The presence of a series of tunnels in the field has given rise to much speculation as to their use. The former owner John Munday, operated market gardening from the field and on occasions part of the tunnels collapsed. His opinion was that the tunnels of brick may have been sewers of some type which probably originated in the nearby workhouse. Some speculation that the tunnels travelled to the Erne at Portnason and were used to bring bodies from the workhouse can be discounted. Records indicate that the remains of Famine victims were brought through the centre of the town, on handcarts to the Pauper’s grave, for burial in the field next to St. Anne’s Church on Mullaghnashee which has been recently opened to the public.  In later years the coffins were brought by horse and cart.  Portnamara It is possible that the suggestion of tunnels leading from Munday’s field to the Erne is linked in some peoples mind with Portnamara a favourite fishing place on the Erne at the back rear of Inis Saimer. The use of  Portnamara dates to a much earlier period than the Famine and was used to carry remains to the Abbey cemetery in the days before bridges were built.  John Munday, at one time, was ploughing and uncovered the outline of tennis courts, near the West Rock gate, which indicated the field being used as a recreation park. There is a mystery about a park called Carson's Park in this area but it has still to be found. Munday's field on the left. Fr. Tierney Park bottom right.

The Tunnels in Munday's Field.
An interesting speculation as to the purpose of the tunnels in the field was raised in a survey in 1942. The survey refers to a souterrain in a field at the rear of Dr. Gordon’s house (now Conor Carneys) on West Rock in what is now Munday’s field:. The report is as follows: 

Remarkable series of underground passages running in various directions thro’ field covering a couple of acres. Entrance now closed up, but many evidences of subsidence. Dr. Gordon has had several caved-in parts filled up, owing to grazing cattle. We raised sod and stones at one of these holes and saw part of passage, about 6 foot deep and 6 foot wide, roofed by large flat hewn stones. Roof few inches below the sod. Dr. Gordon says passages are built of these stones and also partly with bricks, with timber baulks. No account of origin available. Possibly used by smugglers. Two high mounds, built, one at each end of field, may have been look-outs. (In 1662 Ballyshannon was made landing port for customed goods.) 

The mention of two high mounds recalls that these mounds were visible in the field up to about 30 years ago when they were levelled. 
In former times Munday’s field was formerly known as Mc Clelland’s field, as the Mc Clelland family lived in the residence at the entrance to the field, from West Rock, where I live. There is a ghost story connected with a tree in Mc Clelland’s field:

 It is said that a soldier hung himself on this tree. Every night at 12 o’ clock he rides around the field on a white horse. He stands on the horses back, takes the reins and ties on to a branch. Then he puts the rope around his neck and then he hits the horse a kick. The horse goes to the gate and onto the road. Then the horse goes out the Finner road. 

Mc Clelland’s Field was also known as the Rock Enclosure and a folklore story of about a hundred years ago tells of a discovery in the field. This story told by Mickie Rooney Bundoran whose family came from the Rock.

"In Mc Clelland’s field, now known as the Rock Enclosure, my father tells me a story when he was a boy thirty years ago. He and some other boys from the West Rock where he was born used to go up to the field to play and they found this cave. They got some candles, lit them and went into the cave and found some old English swords and brought them to their homes. They were told by the aged people who lived on the Rock who owned the swords and that the caves were a place of hiding for our priests and people of long ago from the English soldiers."

1910 Notice of Aodh Ruadh A.G. M. Note Irish Paper-Irish Ink

Munday’s field will witness generations of football, hurling and camogie players carrying on a proud sporting tradition as they train and play on the ground where Aodh Ruadh played their first match in 1909. Munday's field was officially opened on 29th May 2009 and provides new state of the art  flood lit playing fields.
 So this field was known in the past  as the Workhouse Meadow, The Rock Enclosure, McClelland's field and for well into the future will be known as Munday's Field.

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available when things return to normal in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com