The stories told on these pages are from  a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s. 
The children recorded (over&nbsp740,000 handwritten pages) of this material from their parents, grandparents and neighbours.

These are their stories in their own words.

Signs of Good and Bad Weather


SCHOOL: Cill Iubhair | ADDRESS: Killure Beg, Co. Galway


Irish signs of good and bad weather
Signs of Rain and Sun

Weather Lore

Signs of rain

  • Soot falling
  • A dog eating grass.
  • Blue flames in the fire.
  • A cat with his back to the fire
  • The rooks flocking
  • A ring round the moon at night.
  • A person feeling drowsy in the morning.
  • The dust blowing off the road in Summer
  • White stripes in the sky at night.
  • The sun clouded
  • Hens picking themselves
  • No stars in the sky at night
  • Cattle standing with they backs to the breeze
  • The train making great noise
  • The hearth-stone being damp
  • A person suffering from rheumatism
  • The wind blowing from the west
  • A rainbow in the morning
  • The starlings boring the thatch
  • A flock of crows flying together
  • The spider peeps from the cobweb
  • The blackbirds voice is shrill
  • A persons corns aching

Signs of Fine Weather

  • The sun going down red in the evening
  • The frogs having a yellowish color
  • The smoke going up straight in the sky from the chimney
  • The sky to be blue in the morning
  • The sky to be red in the evening
  • A fog in the morning
  • The salt being dry and hard
  • The swallows coming back early in the Spring
  • To see a robin on the top of a branch
  • The swallows flying high

Signs of Frost

  • The chimney not to draw
  • A clear sky
  • When there are a great deal of stars out
  • A fog in the evening

Signs of Snow

  • The wind blowing from the North or West
  • When the sky is clouded
  • When the weather is very cold
  • The robin flying round the door

Signs of Storm

  • The cat scratching the leg of a chair
  • The linnet to fly from the bog to the applaud
  • The dust to be blowing off the road
  • The clouds passing quickly across the sky

Bibliography

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0028, Page 0017” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

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