Transcript

Tuairim céad bliain ó shin ní rabh aon teach amháin siopa i bparáiste Bhaile Chruaich a dhíolfadh ní ar bith (dhá dheoin) dho mhuintir na tíre, ach ceannaíonnaí ag teacht agus pacaí leofa ag goil ó bhaile go baile, ó theach go teach, ag díol achaon ní dhá bhfóinfeadh dho mhná tí, i dtaobh éadaigh agus earraí beaga eile. Agus nuair a bheadh sin díoltaí acu cheannóchadh siad stocaí agus earraí cniteáiltí (thart ag...) ó mhná na mbailte agus bheadh ualach leofa ag imeacht uafa[1] ar ais go dtí bailte móra i bhfad ó bhaile, go ndíoladh siad iad agus go ndéanadh siad airgead. Agus ansin cheannóchadh siad stoc eile earraí, lán paca, agus thiocfadh siad ar ais dhá ndíol. Agus bhí an ceannaí seo mar sin ag teacht agus ag imeacht ar feadh trí nó ceathair dho chuartaí. Ar deireadh thiar d'imigh sé agus níor phill sé.

Agus bhí teach maoir ar an bhealach amach fríd na cnoic. Ní rabh aon bhóthar eile ag teacht ná ag imeacht. Agus casadh leis an mhaor gur mharaigh sé an ceannaí. Agus an fear a chas leis é, bhuail fear a bhain dhon mhaor an fear a chuir an bhréag air, agus bhuail sé le bata é agus leag sé é. An Domhnach dhár gcionn, buaileadh an fear a bhuail an chéad fhear an dara Domhnach. Agus an tríthiú Domhnach, bhí dhá scór fear ag goil ar a chéile. Agus an ceathrú Domhnach, bhí dhá oiread ag goil ar a chéile. Agus an ceathrú[2] Domhnach, bhí an tír uile go léir ina dhá leith. Agus gan aird ar aifreann ná ar ord. Agus choinnigh siad ar feadh bliana ar fad mar sin, gan aifreann ná ord a éisteacht ach ag bualadh agus ag leanúint a chéile. Agus leanadh siad a chéile ar feadh thrí míle in amannaí. Agus bhíodh na mná leofa ag cruinniú cloch agus ag briseadh cloch.

Agus ar deireadh thiar, cé a thigeas chun na tíre ar ais ach an ceannaí. Agus ansin bhí a fhios gur bréag a cuireadh ar an mhaor. Ach bhí na páirtíonnaí chomh mór in aghaidh a chéilí, agus bhí páirtí amháin acu dho mhuintir (Chuana), fir láidre, agus bhí tuairim dó nó a trí dho scórú[3] fear acu ag teacht aon Domhnach amháin le go maraíodh siad an mhuintir eile agus go gcascraíodh siad iad agus go gcuireadh siad fúfa iad i gcruth agus nach mbeadh siad ábalta éirí ní ba mhó. Agus bhí an sagart ag dúil le go n-éisteodh siad an t-aifreann agus ní rabh aon aird acu air. Ach tháinig sé an bóthar ina n-aghaidhe agus d'fhuagair sé orthu a ghoil abhaile agus síocháin a dhéanamh agus gan a bheith ar an chaoi a rabh siad, ag coinneál muintir na tíre óna n-aifreann a éisteacht. Ní thabharfadh siad aon aird air chor ar bith. Agus ní thear'[4] sé ach pilleadh uafa agus cead an bhealaigh a thabhairt dófa. Agus dúirt sé go n-iompróchadh asal gan mórán moill an méid dhon dream sin a bheadh le fáil ná dhá sliocht i mBaile Chruaich. Bhí sin fíor. Chonaic mise nach rabh dhon dream sin i ndéidh go mbudh iad an dream ba láidre iad a bhí insa tír... agus ba éadrom an gásúr beag a bhí fágthaí dhon dream uile go léir.

Translation

Around a hundred years ago there was not one shop in the parish of Ballycroy selling things they wanted (?) to the local people, but traders with packs going from townland to townland, from house to house, selling all sorts of things that would be of use to housewives, such as clothing and other small items. And when they sold those things they would buy socks and other items of knitting around... (?) from the women of the townlands and they would have a load with them when they went off back to the big towns far away, which they would sell to make money. And then they would buy more items of stock, a full pack, and they would come back selling them. And so this one trader came and went away three or four times. In the very end, he left and did not return.

And there was a rent collector's house on the way out through the hills. There was no other road in or out. And the rent collector was accused of killing the trader. And the man who accused him, one of the rent collector's men hit the man who accused him falsely and he hit him with a stick and knocked him down. The next Sunday, the man who hit the first man was hit the second Sunday. And the third Sunday, forty men were at each other's throats. And the fourth Sunday, there were twice as many at each other's throats. And the fourth [5] Sunday, everyone in the land was in one of the two factions. And no thought for Mass or clergymen. And they went on like that for a full year, without going to Mass listening to clergymen but hitting and pursuing each other. And they sometimes pursued each other for three miles. And the women would be with them gathering stones and breaking stones.

And in the end, who returned to the country but the trader. And then it was known that someone had accused the rent-collector falsely. But the two sides were so strongly opposed to each other, and one side were Cooneys(?), strong men, and about forty or sixty of them were coming one Sunday to kill the other crowd and defeat them and oppress them so that they would not be able to rise up anymore. And the priest hoped that they would attend Mass but they paid him no heed. And he met them on the road and he called on them to go home and make peace and not to carry on as they were, preventing the local people from going to Mass. They paid him no heed whatsoever. And all he did was to leave them and let them carry on along the road. And he said that soon a donkey would be able to carry all who would be left of the two groups or their descendants in Ballycroy. That was true. I saw that after being the strongest group of people in the land, all that was left of them was… only a small slight little boy was left of the whole lot of them.

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a local legend or historical account about a feud and faction fighting in the parish of Ballycroy, county Mayo. Faction fighting was a common phenomenon in nineteenth-century Ireland, and those involved in the feuds could number into the hundreds. For more on the subject see Patrick D. O'Donnell, The Irish faction fighters of the 19th century (Dublin, 1975). Stories of feuds and faction fighting were of interest to researchers in the Irish Folklore Commission, and examples similar to the present narrative would have been recorded as part of fieldwork collection. See Seán Ó Súileabháin, A handbook of Irish folklore (Detroit, 1942), 123. It is not known whether the story is based on true events, but at any rate it could be seen to contain international folk motifs, K2116 Innocent person accused of murder or K2116.2 Man falsely accused of murder. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8).