Transcript

Sceach an óir.

Do bhí fear ann fadó agus do bhí sé ina chónaí ar na Garránaibh i gcontae Chiarraí. Aon oíche amháin do taibhríodh dó dá raghadh sé go dtí Droichead Eochailleach go bhfaigheadh sé a dhóthain don tsaol. D'éirigh sé go moch ar maidin agus do nis sé dá mhnaoi é. Agus dúirt sí leis fanúint sa bhaile. Ní dhéanfadh sé rud uirthi. D'imigh sé leis agus do chuaigh sé go dtí an droichead so. D'fhan sé ann ar feadh an lae agus ní bhfuair sé aon ní ann. Tháinig sé arís ann a(r) lá arna mháireach agus d'fhan sé ann ar feadh an lae agus ní bhfuair sé aon ní. Tháinig sé an tríú lá agus im thráthnóinín deireanach tháinig seanabhean chuige. Agus d'fhiafraigh sí dhe cad a bhí á choimeád[1] ansan le trí lá.

"Neosadsa dhuit," ar seisean. "Do taibhríodh dom dá dtiocfainn anso go bhfaighinn mo dhóthain don tsaol."

"Arú, a amadáin," ar sise, "táthas dá thaibhreamh san domhsa leis na blianta so go léir. Dá raghainn go dtí na Gránaibh i gcúlaibh tí Sheáin Uí Shé, go raibh tor ann go nglaoidís Sceach an Óir air. Agus dá raghainn go dtí an tor úd go bhfaighinn mo dhóthain don tsaol."

"Is dócha é," ar seisean.

Tháinig sé abhaile i dtráthnóna agus do nis sé a chúrsa dá mhnaoi. Do chuaigh sé a chodladh. Agus d'éirigh sé go moch ar maidin agus do thóg sé leis piocóid agus ringear agus siúd ag réabadh é. Agus ba ghearr go bhfuair sé an próca óir curtha fén dtor.

Translation

The golden whitethorn.

There was a man long ago and he lived in Garranes in county Kerry. One night he dreamed that if he went to Youghal Bridge he would find riches for life. He got up early in the morning and he told this to his wife. And she told him to stay at home. He wouldn't obey her. He set off and went to this bridge. He stayed there all day long and he didn't find anything there. He returned the following day and he stayed there all day long and he didn't find anything. He came the third day and late in the afternoon an old woman came to him. And she asked him what had kept him there the last three days.

"I'll tell you," he said. "I dreamt that if I came here I would find riches for life."

"Ah, you fool," she said, "I have been dreaming that all these years. If I went to Garranes at the back of Seán Ó Sé's house, that there was a bush that used to be called the Golden Whitethorn. And if I went to that bush that I would find riches for life."

"I suppose so," said he.

He came home in the evening and he told his wife of his journey. He went to sleep. And he got up early in the morning and he took with him a pickaxe and a crowbar and off he went digging up. And it wasn't long until he found the pot of gold buried under the bush.

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a rendering of international folktale ATU 1645 The treasure at home. Early literary versions can be traced back as far as thirteenth-century Persia, and it has been found throughout Europe and Asia. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). It is very popular throughout Ireland, with many examples to be found throughout all four provinces. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968).