64 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Coals from this fire are taken home or thrown into the potato fields 

 for luck. 



As might be expected a good many things are supposed to bring 

 misfortune or ill-luck, and some curious methods are employed for 

 averting it. If the fishermen in one boat have to obtain bait from 

 those in another, they always exchange by return of a ballast stone or 

 something similar, lest they might take the luck away with them. 



There is full belief in the " bad eye," and " overlooking " among 

 the older people. 



It is thought to be unlucky to meet a red-haired woman first thing 

 on starting out to work or on a journey. 



l^othing must ever be taken away from Caber Island, but all 

 visitors must leave something, a button, fish-hook, coin or something 

 of the sort, in the curious old stone bowl in the ruined church there. 

 It is allowable, however, to take away the clay or gravel from this 

 island^ as it is believed that no rat can live on the island or in a house 

 into which this clay is brought. 



In his letters to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, Dr. John 

 O'Donovan mentions that, in his time, the boatmen when passing 

 Caher Island used always to take off their hats and say, umlufgmit) 

 bo^bia rh6p na n-uile cumacca a5up t)o pdopuig mfopbutlceach, 

 i.e. ""VYe bow, submit, or make reverence to the great God of all 

 powers, and to the thaumaturgus Patrick." 



Blacksmiths are believed to possess some magical powers, especially 

 powers of cursing. The strongest and most fearful curses can be 

 brought about by the ceremony of " turning the anvil." Another 

 curse is brought about by boring a hole in a coin on the anvil. Who- 

 ever wishes to curse in this manner must first undergo a fast for 

 several days, and then must make the hole in the coin in the name of 

 tlie devil, giving utterance at the same time to the evil wished to the 

 person cursed. These ceremonies, however, are looked upon with 

 horror as acts of extreme wickedness. 



Ghosts are believed in by many. The belief in fairies, too, is com- 

 mon, and several men are reported to have seen them. One man 

 (John Neddy) claimed to have seen about a hundred of them, clad in 

 white, running on the side of the mountain in the spring of 1896. 

 The legend as to their origin is that found throughout Ireland, that 

 they are fallen angels, condemned to wander the earth until the day 

 of judgment. They are mischievous in disposition, and are believed 

 to damage people and cattle. They carry off or change children, and 

 a tale is told of their having once attempted to steal a child which 



