Mayo Alive - 1 January 1998

The following story is taken from my late father's memoirs. John Edward Henry, a native of Swinford, died in 1986 and was a well-known folklorist. This account of the corries along a section of the River Moy, near where he lived, first appeared in his book, "Tales From the West of Ireland." (Mercier Press, 1980) Ö.Eamonn Henry

The Moy Corries

Up to the drainage of the River Moy in the late 1950's and early 1960's, forecasting weather conditions with the aid of stepping stones, or corries, as they were locally called, was a time honoured custom. (In some areas the lines of stepping-stones were called clocháns.) In calm weather, old people living within a mile of the river could predict with uncanny accuracy if a change in weather conditions was imminent or if existing weather was to continue by listening, usually before retiring at night, to the changing sounds of the water passing through the corries. In my neighbourhood, if Cloonacananna corrie sounded loudest, it foretold rain. If Seán's corrie was loudest it meant frost in winter or colder than average weather in summer. If Cruckawn-Aughanna was 'going', to use a local phrase, it meant fine weather.

When anti-cyclones, atmospheric conditions, wind direction and other reasons were given to account for the behaviour of the corries, the old people scoffed at those ideas. They had their own legends and traditions and stuck to them until the draglines lifted all the corries and broke a grand link with the past. In 1947, I can remember Seán's corrie being as noisy as an express train night and day for some days before the onset of a record-breaking frost spell, which lasted for five weeks and culminated in a blizzard which brought all wheeled traffic in the country to a standstill.

With the possible exception of the earthen forts that abound in this part of the country, no other physical feature of the countryside carried such a wealth of folklore and pisreógs as the corries. The Round Towers, being of pre-Christian origin, also carry a wealth of pagan folklore. (It seems strange that some learned authorities regard the Round Towers as being of Christian origin, without a single shred of evidence, not even an etched cross, which should be the hallmark of Christianity, to support their beliefs.)

Seán's corrie was named after a famous Killasser poteen maker who flourished two hundred years ago named Seán Ó Ruadháin. On one occasion he was escaping across the corrie named after him with a jar of poteen, closely pursued by the revenue men. Seeing more revenue men on the far side, Seán smashed the jar on the stepping stones at his feet. Not to be outdone, the revenue men went downstream along the river to Cloonacananna corrie. There they recovered the poteen-soaked cork and convicted Seán on that piece of flimsy evidence. Being a native of a rebellious inclination, he had no chance of acquittal. During Black and Tan days, many men on the run used the corries to escape dragnets and encircling operations.

Mayo Alive - weekly Magazine. E-mail michael@mayo-ireland.ie

tales from the west of ireland