UCD LIBRARY CULTURAL HERITAGE COLLECTIONS
Welcome to the UCD Library Cultural Heritage Collections blog. Discover and explore the historical treasures housed within our Archives, Special Collections, National Folklore Collection and Digital Library
A speckled thrush upon a bush pours forth her matin hymn A new-born hope has in her woke; with her 'tis not a whim. Some wondrous thrills her bosom fills - what can she do but sing When back again o'er wood and plain has come the joyful Spring. Tomás Ó Muircheartaigh holding a bird. …
In Irish folk tradition, the calendar is principally split into ‘Quarter Days’, so called as they divide the year into each of its four seasons of autumn (Lammas / Lúnasa), winter (Halloween / Samhain), spring (St. Brigid’s Day / Imbolc), and of course summer (May Day / Bealtaine), which falls on the 1st of May. In marking the transition …
This time last year our guest blogger Dr Elva Johnston looked at St Brigid's family history, her life in Ireland and her highly respected standing amongst the early Irish Church. This year the National Folklore Collection rummage in their archives and.....well read on to find out more! In Irish folk tradition, the calendar is principally …
Traditionally, February marked the transition from winter to spring in Ireland, icy rain watering green shoots. For the early medieval Irish, the month started with Imbolc, one of the quarter-days on which the calendar turned, the others being May 1st (Beltene), August 1st (Lugnasad) and November 1st (Samain). Above all, February 1st was the festival …
Continue reading "St Brigit of Kildare: Patron of the Powerless"
The last evening of October, Halloween, is linked with the spirits and the dead. In Christian calendars the next day is the Feast of All Saints, followed by the Feast of All Souls. As the days shorten these echoes of the dead seem appropriate. The passage from life to death and beyond holds a deep …