Today is St. John’s Eve, or Oíche Fhéile Eoin.
Bonfire Night (in the south).
It comes around so fast, to be fair.
The National Folklore Collection at UCD write:
On St. John’s night, June 23rd, there are bonfires lit all over the place. Each village has its own bonfire. All the boys and girls gather the firewood and pile it in a heap.
There is a custom of jumping the bonfire, to keep diseases from the cattle during the year, others drive the cattle between two bonfires for the same reason.
Farmers used to throw a piece of the burning wood into their fields and gardens, so as to drive away the fairies and to bring good luck on the crops.
To learn more about St. John’s Eve you can listen to the most recent episode of #BlúiríníBéaloidis, Episode 25 – Midsummer (at top).
National Folklore Collection UCD
Meanwhile…
The night was also rich in folklore, much of it concerned with fertility. Prayers and rhymes were recited to ensure a plentiful harvest.
Indeed, the fire itself was thought to have magical powers. Burning weeds in its flames would prevent arable fields from becoming overgrown, while scattering its ashes would guarantee the land’s fertility.
Similarly parading through the fields with lighted branches from the bonfire would protect the crops from disease and pestilence. It was also deemed particularly lucky to bring the ashes home to light the kitchen hearth.
St John’s Eve (irish Archeology)
Hah! That reminds me of many years ago the St John’s Eve bonfire in my hometown. It had not been celebrated for years, so the Community Council decided to revive it as an effort to instil a new sense of community. The town had grown and many blow-ins did not really know their neighbours.
The evening went very well. Out of an abundance of caution, the bonfire was lit in an upturned old VW Beetle bonnet supplied by the local garage (sadly now gone), broken pallets supplied by the local hardware store (ditto), and refreshments by the local ICA (still going strong). The local céilidh band provided the music, and their was dancing and craic. Drink was allowed, but you had to go get it from the pub yourself, so not too much in reality.
The funniest bit was I remember one particular person who was in the middle of the lot of it, leppin’ and twirlin’ and singin’ and shoutin’ and drinkin’ and generally having a ball. Then she got tired and went home.
10 minutes later the local Garda Sergeant arrived and I overheard him tell the main organisers that said lady had lodged a noise complaint, complaining that she could not sleep. Typical!
Needless to say, the craic continues until the last of the embers were gone, with the full blessing of the Sergeant, who was quite aware that the lady had only just left :-)
One thing I do remember, though not the details, is they had organised a seanchaí who told wonderful stories at various times through the evening.
Then they developed that park, and that was the last such event in the town :-(
thanks for this bemused, a bit of a seanchai yerself :)
+1 Slightly
+1 more :)
As a kid in the 60’s my hometown had at least four bonfires on this night:
Each bonfire was associated with a street, and with no small amount of competition as to who would have the largest/smokiest.
Raw material was collected for weeks in advance and stored as secretly as possible.
Late-night raids would take place in an attempt to steal opponent’s supplies.
Old car tyres were particularly popular because of the dense black smoke they gave off!