I’m a firm believer that everybody has a story to tell but as I have encountered in my own travels and meeting the people in the Lee valley, we all have different stories to tell.

Arising out of the life stories, I have been inspired by narratives that draw inspiration from the natural and human landscape, for example the beauty of the Lee valley at sunset, the tranquillity of Inniscarra Reservoir, the up and down topography of the river banks, the rolling fields, the old outhouses, the dry stone walls, the inscriptions on gravestones. In fact, one of the things I like learning about is about the ordinary things in the valley that people I have met always seem turn into extraordinary lessons within the broader university of life. This week I again highlight some of the comprehensive, fantastic and interesting folklore compiled by Domhnall O’Drisceoil, principal of Berrings National School and his students in 1938 for the Irish Folklore Commission. So lets start with a riddle!

The Eight Gallon Jar:
“I have an eight gallon jar full of water and you have an empty five gallon jar and an empty three gallon jar and you want to get four gallons of water from me how would you manage?

You would fill first the three gallon jar and pour its contents into the five gallon jar.

You would again fill the three gallon jar and fill the five with it and then you would have a gallon of water left in the three gallon jar. You would then pour the five gallons of water of the five gallon jar into the eight gallon jar and you would pour the gallon of water in the three gallon jar into the five gallon jar and then you would fill the three gallon jar again and then you would fill the three gallon again and then you would have your four gallons of water”.

Foxe’s Cross:
“One of our fields is known as the High Field. It is called that name because it is higher that the other fields. Another field is known as stony bog. It is said that the field was once very boggy and full of stones and I think that is the reason it is the reason it is called the stony bog. Another field is called Paddy Brien Cross field. It is called that name because the field is situated near a cross where once lived a man named Paddy Brien. There is a bridge called Foxe’s Cross. It is said that the Muskerry hounds were hunting a fox near the bridge, and he went behind a stone but when he was coming out, his tail got caught and he died there and for that reason the bridge is called Foxe’s Bridge”.

Carraig an Aifrinn:
“In the townland of Ballyshonin [O.S. Ballyshoneen) Baile Sheainín-Jennings Townland], Berrings and adjoining the road from Cork to Kanturk via Barrachaurin is a rock (amongst many rocks) known as Carraig an Aifrinn. It is said that mass was celebrated here in the penal times. On the roadside quite near is a projection of rock, resembling a human head and believed locally to be a image of a priest’s head. Perhaps from the fact that mass was said at the nearby in the penal times and also the fact that on close examination, there is something in what represents the neck that would remind one of the Roman Collar as worn by priests. The projection of rock resembling a priest’s head was probably caused by blasting operations when making the road now running by Carrig an Aifrinn”.

Hill of the Dead:
“The townland of Knocknamorrive is in the Berrings district in the parish of Inniscarra, Co. Cork. it is said that at some period of Irish history a battle was fought in a certain field in this townland and because of the slaughter that took place there, the townland got its name”.

The Pound Field:
“In the townland of Callas [Calaidh-Riverside patches] Inniscarra is a field about the acre in extent known locally as the Pound Field. It appears a corner was used a cattle pound many years ago, when cattle were suited for non repayment of rents or rates. At one side of the little filed was a laneway, which was continued south of the present priest’s house at Callas Berrings. This laneway of which no trace can be seen connected the Callas Berrings Road with some marshes near the present priest’s house and one old inhabitant, Eugene Lane of Berrings, Inniscarra played ‘bowls’ in this laneway when a little boy”.