New book draws on children's research of 1938

It might surprise some people to know that hidden in the National Archives, there is an enchanting history of every parish in Ireland. This history contains our local myths and legends, our fairy stories, even our ghost stories. It contains our language, our accent, even our turn of phrase. The resource is the Schools' Collection of the National Folklore Collection which was compiled in 1938.

An Ox Mountain heritage group is about to publish a book that contains the contributions from the children of the four local schools in their area and the collection paints an amazing picture of life in a rural parish extending all the way back to the time of the Famine.

The Schools’ Collection 

The Schools’ Collection is part of the National Folklore Collection now located in the archives of University College Dublin. This collection came about as a result of the Irish Folklore Commission being set up in 1935 by the Irish government under Éamon de Valera. The aim of the study was to collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland. The Schools’ Collection of the archive was compiled between 1937 and 1939 by pupils from 5,000 primary schools.

More than 50,000 schoolchildren from across the 26 counties of the Irish Free State were enlisted to collect folklore in their home districts. This included oral history, topographical information, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, games and pastimes, and trades and crafts. The children gathered this material from their parents, grandparents and neighbours, resulting in over 500,000 manuscript pages. More than 20,000 of the children’s original copybooks containing the stories they gathered are still stored as part of the National Folklore Collection.

Gifts from the Past 

The new book referred to above is Micilín na mBó and is being launched by Cloonacool Heritage Group. The book’s introduction pays tribute to the children of 1938, describing their work as a gift to future generations.

These contributions are a gift; a gift to posterity, a gift to our nation, but most of all, a gift to the people of Cloonacool. Our past is written and presented to us in a most unique way. This is a collection of our own folklore, our own stories. These are stories that combine legend, fantasy, local history and humour, most of them set in our local landscape.

Some of the Cloonacool children, who were all aged between 11 and 15 at the time, remained living in the locality. They became the mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers of a current generation. Many of the children later spoke with considerable pride about the experience of making their contributions to the collection. The following is an excerpt from a piece collected by Philomena Wynne, who attended Corsallagh school at that time. Philomena passed away in 1999.

Micilin na mBó was a little boy that lived on the Ox Mountains long ago minding cows. He had no learning and never heard or knew anything about religion except that Our Lord was crucified by big wild men. Every day he used to fill the cow’s tracks with tears in pity for Our Lord who was so badly treated. On Sunday morning he used to see the people crossing the mountains coming to Mass and he asked where they were going and they said 'to Mass'. So, he said he would go to see what Mass was about.

Four Schools 

Four schools connected to the general Cloonacool district have been included in the project. They are Masshill, Carnaleck, Corsallagh and Cloonacool. These schools closed in 1983, 1956 1968, and 1968 respectively. 

At each school in 1938, the project was led by the principal: Sean Tansey in Cloonacool, Tom Kelly in Corsallagh, Mary Gallagher in Masshill and Mary Small in Carnaleck. The teachers were given a template for both collecting and presenting the work. For the most part, contributions were given a title, the child was credited, their townland detailed and their informant, or source of their story, acknowledged. Cloonacool Heritage Group further explains the process of creating the collection.

It seems that in general, the project was given to the senior classes and among those, the children with the best stories and the best handwriting were selected. As a result, the standard was high. In many cases, particular children made multiple contributions. It is obvious from the quality of handwriting that huge care was taken in presenting the finished piece.

Not every piece was labelled according to the template and some teachers took a slightly different approach. For example, Sean Tansey in Cloonacool school contributed several pieces to the collection himself. These are valuable and entertaining and are of great relevance to our region. Mrs Mary Small, in Carnaleck school, wrote the entire contribution from her school herself. Her contributions are also of great local historical value.

2025 Collection 

In an effort to link the 1938 collection to the children attending school in Cloonacool today, the senior classes at St Michael’s National School were invited to contribute to a similar 2025 Folklore Collection. The children were given the very same set of guidelines as were provided in 1938. The initiative resulted in a set of contributions that the organisers have described as “magical”.

We provided our local school with the original set of guidelines and a few examples from the 1938 collection and we sat back to see what would happen. The results were magical. As well as the high quality of the 2025 contributions, there were connections everywhere with 1938. Many of the 2025 school children were descendants of the original 1938 schoolchildren; children then had become the grandparents of today’s group. One notable contrast between the pieces written in 1938 and 2025 is that the latter-day contributions were written on laptops and submitted by email.

Remembering 

It is an interesting, if somewhat sad fact, that the children who contributed to the 1938 Schools’ Collection from all over Ireland have now passed away. That is certainly the case in the four schools that were connected to Cloonacool. One child, Bridget Johnston, of Mollagh in Cloonacool, lived the longest of all the local children who contributed - she was born in 1923 and passed away in her 100th year, in early 2023. The new publication also includes a biographical note of each of the 1938 participants. These biopics are of considerable interest, showing in many cases a continuous trail of emigration in search of work.

This is a project that can be repeated in any parish, anywhere. It revives the past and helps to remember those who lived it - our forebearers. Together they captured our history, our myths and our legends. To revisit them and honour them in this way is a fascinating community experience.

The new heritage book, Micilín na mBó, will be launched at a special celebration evening in Cloonacool Community Centre on Saturday next, May 10th, at 8.30pm. All with a connection to the region are welcome to attend the event where the book will be on sale. The book is also for sale online at Lettertec Bookstore (just Google it!).