As referenced in a past blogpost on the coming of spring, a folk belief found in Ireland explains that catching sight of the first lamb of the new year will bring luck if the lamb is facing you. If the lamb has his back turned to you, however, this portends ill-luck instead. Apart from its significance in portending luck, the sight of lambs in fields around the country are also a reminder that spring is underway, bringing the busy season for farmers as well as longer days and warmer weather. In celebration of the approaching spring season, this blog post will feature material on sheep and lambs from the National Folklore Collection.
Sheep and lambs. Photographer: Tomás Ó Muircheartaigh, NFC B014.33.00011
Sheep flock, Co. Wicklow. Photographer: Maurice Curtin, 1936, NFC B014.10.00002
Given our strong agricultural history, sheep have played an important role in the lives of Irish people for many years, primarily for their wool but also as a source of meat and milk. When the Irish Folklore Commission began sending collectors to record and transcribe accounts about everyday life, questions about sheep were included into their lines of enquiry on agricultural practice. A Handbook of Irish Folklore, the guide used by the collectors, asks about aspects of the care, management and uses of sheep. These include questions on local kinds of sheep, names and calls for sheep, as well as lambing, milking, pasturing, shearing, etc. They ask about the value of sheep, how they are used and how they are sold, including questions on the production of wool. Questions were also asked about diseases found in sheep, as well as cures listed for them.
Account about orphan lambs collected by Michael J. Murphy from Michael Leech, Glenariffe, Co. Antrim in 1955. NFC 1389: 06
Seán Ó hEochaidh, a full-time collector from Co. Donegal, published an article dedicated specifically to traditional information about sheep in the journal Béaloideas in 1970. Seanchas na Caorach (The Lore of Sheep) is a miscellany of accounts based on information he had gathered in 35 years as a collector for the Commission. He describes how freezing snowy weather puts sheep at risk by cutting and damaging their legs, meaning they can’t walk and therefore risk starvation if they are not found. He describes a solution used by bygone generations:
Chuiread siad na mrá a chriotáil i dtús an Gheimhridh, agus bhíodh na scorthaí ‘méar’ criotáilte agus réidh acu nuair a thigeadh an seachta. Dá bhfeicfead siad cumadh siocáin ag teacht ar an aimsir, rachad siad amach ‘na’ chroic, agus bhéarfad siad ar oiread de na caoirí agus a bhfuighead siad greim orthu, agus tharrainneóchad siad ‘méar’ acu seo suas thaire na rúitíní acu. Bhí lúb bheag ar íochtar ar an mhéar seo, agus chuiread siad an lúb seo ins an scoilt atá sa rúitín, agus shábháilead sin nó chuidíod sé á sábháil ar an tseachta shiocaithe na cosa a ghearradh acu.
They would have the women knitting from the beginning of winter, so that they had scores of knitted ‘fingers’ [i.e. socks] ready for when the snow arrived. If they saw signs of frost on the ground they would go out on the hill and would catch as many sheep as they could and pull the socks up over their ankles. There was a small loop on the end of the socks and they would put this loop over the split in the ankle and this would save or help to save them from being cut by frozen snow.
Sheep in the Burren, Co. Clare. Photographer: Caoimhín Ó Danachair, 1946. NFC B014.19.00003
Sheep and lamb surrounded by bogs at Maum, Co. Galway. Photographer: Caoimhín Ó Danachair, 1954. NFC A001.01.00351
Stories about sheep, as well as other aspects of folk belief were collected in tandem with information about care and management. Weather was predicted by the habits of sheep, and lamb would have been eaten as part of festive celebrations in the traditional calendar. Sheep also appear in various folktales, including versions of the Cinderella tale-type, and spirits are sometimes said to appear in the form of sheep or lambs. Folk tradition also provides explanations for the association between sheep and Christ. One common religious story explains the difference between sheep and goats:
Long ago Our Lord asked the goats, which were then covered with wool, for shelter. They refused. He then asked the sheep, then covered with hair, to give him shelter. They gave it to him. He was so pleased that he took the hair off the sheep and put it on the goats and put the wool of the goats on the sheep.
NFCS 233: 612
Young boy feeding a goat, Co. Longford. Photographer: Leo Corduff. NFC M002.14.00020
Bríd Ní Mhurae, with lamb in the background, Tonranny. Co, Galway. Photographer: Séamus Ó Duilearga, 1937. NFC M003.01.00019
More information on sheep and lambs can be found in the National Folklore Collection and on Dúchas.ie. With any luck, all of the lambs to be spotted in the coming spring months will be facing us, bringing good fortune for the coming year!
Further Reading:
Kelly, F. 1997, Early Irish Farming: a study based mainly on the law-texts of the 7th and 8th centuries AD, School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin.
Ó Héalaí, P. 2012, An Slánaitheoir ag Siúl ar an Talamh: innéacs scéalta faoi phearsana an Tiomna Nua i mbéaloideas na hÉireann maille le réamhrá agus staidéir, An Sagart, An Daingean.
Ó hEochaidh, S. 1969-1970, “Seanchas na Caorach”, Béaloideas, 37/38, pp. 131-209.
This post was written by Ailbe Van Der Heide, National Folklore Collection Curator