Click here to visit Biddy and Joe's Cottage

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During the past thirty or so years, I have been Postman in the Cloghan area and on my rounds I have had the privilege of becoming well acquainted with the people from the townlands on both sides of the Reelin river...Galwolie, Ardlaghan, Cloghan, Commeen, Ballykerrigan, Letterhillue, Carrickalangen, the Croaghs and also the Parish of Iniskeel.

The people in both Parishes of Kilteevogue and Iniskeel are noted for their friendliness and hospitality; they assuredly have the qualities of welcoming friend and foreigner alike and live up to the name of "Ireland of the Welcomes".

At the extreme end of my itinerary lies the region known as 'Na Cruacha Gorma' - the Croaghs, as it is called. A sparsely populated area now alas, but here I met people whose vast repertoire of folklore seemed to be unending. Much of the folklore has been recorded by folklorists not only from our own country, but from as far afield as Switzerland, Germany, Iceland and North America.

Michael inside Biddy and Joe's Cottage, Cloghan

It was from conversing in their native language with the people of this area that I first became interested in weather forecasting all those years ago. Most of the people from na Cruacha could forecast the weather accurately for a month or a season in advance and even a year ahead at times. They had such a knowledge of nature, learned from their daily struggle with the elements that they believed each feature of God's Creation was linked by them with climatic conditions. The knowledge of what we call 'book learning' was sparse but they had a rare wealth of lore and wisdom that was a souce of amazement to all who came in contact with them. These, coupled with their natural vitality, enabled them to eke out a fairly comfortable living for themselves on their mountain farms in a remote area without the benefits of modern equipment.

In the course of my travels, I discovered - among other things - that clocks and watches were almost unknown in that area until after World War One. Thus, the sun was their guideline, and here are a few hints I gathered about Time. Incidentally, I never learned how they managed on the countless days when the Sun refused to shine!

Sheep realise changes in weather early on and set out to prepare themselves

Anyhow, when the sun cast a shadow on the inside of the door, it was ten o'clock am ; time to put out the cows and feed the calves, and time for the scholars to take to their heels or they would be late for school.

Twelve o'clock noon ; the sun shone overhead and no shadow showed at the door. That was time to put in the cows for milking, "am eadarra" as they called it. When the shadow of the sun reflected outside the threshold it was four o'clock pm, and tea time. But when the rays of the sun slanted from the west, it was time to bring the cows in for evening milking.

'Summer Time' was a myth to which they paid not the slightest attention - theirs was 'old time' with the twenty minutes (or a bit!) deducted, and it was called 'God's Time'. Sheep farming was their livelihood generations before EEC and Government subsidies were even mooted, and so they depended on the rugged mountains which surrounded the region and practically isolated the area from the rest of the county. The outline of the mountains against the horizon and their ever-changing hues from day to day portrayed to the people of the Croaghs the type of weather that could be expected.

View of the Blue Stack Mountains at sunset

A blue haze on them meant heat, while mist meant rain. The outline of Cruach na mBoc or Gaigin appearing further away in the distance meant fair weather. Imagining that the mountains were looming ever so near meant heavy rain in the near future.

Frogs, insects, bats, bees, butterflies, birds and animals by their owtward appearances, moods or movements, indicated the weather that could be expected in the days or weeks ahead. The cat was regarded in ancient Egypy as sacred, but in the Cruacha it was regarded as prophetic as regards weather.

An anecdote I have heard on my travels deserves to be included in this account.

Cats on the mat with their backs to the fire...a sure sign of cold weather approaching.

An old man in the Croaghs, after some very bad weather had rotted all his hay, said "If I had a full grown cat, as my next door neighbour has, I would not have rotten hay". Alas, the poor unfortunate man had only a kitten.

In my travels I was the lucky one, as over thirty years I have met some of the great old people who had the knowledge of the time which was handed down by their past generation. Fortunately, they have passed most of their knowledge to me. May they rest in peace.

Many more anecdotes about signs and portents regarding the wather could be penned. Perhaps some bright student from the Kilteevogue of Iniskeel Parish might be sufficiently interested and motivated to research the subject, base a thesis on it and so preserve it for posterity.

Beannacht De ar an obair!