Bonfire Night in Cork
Dublin Core
Title
Bonfire Night in Cork
Subject
The customs and traditions of bonfire or bonna night
Description
Noel Magnier describes the experience of a bonfire night in Cork. The customs and traditions around the fire, gathering different materials for burning in preparation for bonfire night and preventing them from being stolen by rival gangs.
Transcript
"Well, of course like Bonfire nights were Bonfire night was a huge part of our life growing up, like, alright and bonfires were held virtually everywhere. And our street was no different and we had the bonfire in, down Bulldog Lane and like we say Farren Street alright was just up from up towards the North Chapel there about midway up, like. Farren Street was a myriad of houses. There was Patrick’s Arch and Farren Street itself and, like, there were many houses up there, and the lads there were sort of rivals to our gang in Gerald Griffin Street, like. In the days leading up to Bonfire night alright we might decide to do a raid on the stuff they were after collecting, right, and if they wanted it back, they would have to sort of pay a ransom, you know? And it might be vice versa as well but there was always that kind of rivalry like. B ut bonfire night was widespread alright that time and the craic around the bonfire like was great, like. And like people would buy, we’ll say, a big bottle of raspberry. Somebody now with a bit of initiative like they’d buy a big bottle of raspberry and they’d pour it into a jug and pour water in on top of that and sell glasses of rasa at the bonfire for a halfpenny or something or a penny or whatever, like you know? Some other people would maybe sell cakes or something like that. There was always that about the bonfire like you know but ‘twas invariably as I said widespread like you know ‘twas a custom that’s still there alright; St John’s night. It’s still there to the present time, but I think it’s more controlled now by the City Council and that’s understandable because we understand a lot more now about the environment than we did then. But all sorts of things were thrown on to the bonfire. Tyres, that time alright, even though they were scarce alright I mean you’d still be able to get your hands on tyres if you knew like where to go and of course going out chopping down trees, branches was a regular thing and that went on for weeks in advance of bonfire night. And it was the protection of that, right, from being stolen by another main crowd, another main gang or street gang or something like that, who might be too lazy to go out and cut them down themselves, like you know? But I mean that’s the way it was, so certainly bonfire night was always, was always great fun."
Transcript
"Well, of course like Bonfire nights were Bonfire night was a huge part of our life growing up, like, alright and bonfires were held virtually everywhere. And our street was no different and we had the bonfire in, down Bulldog Lane and like we say Farren Street alright was just up from up towards the North Chapel there about midway up, like. Farren Street was a myriad of houses. There was Patrick’s Arch and Farren Street itself and, like, there were many houses up there, and the lads there were sort of rivals to our gang in Gerald Griffin Street, like. In the days leading up to Bonfire night alright we might decide to do a raid on the stuff they were after collecting, right, and if they wanted it back, they would have to sort of pay a ransom, you know? And it might be vice versa as well but there was always that kind of rivalry like. B ut bonfire night was widespread alright that time and the craic around the bonfire like was great, like. And like people would buy, we’ll say, a big bottle of raspberry. Somebody now with a bit of initiative like they’d buy a big bottle of raspberry and they’d pour it into a jug and pour water in on top of that and sell glasses of rasa at the bonfire for a halfpenny or something or a penny or whatever, like you know? Some other people would maybe sell cakes or something like that. There was always that about the bonfire like you know but ‘twas invariably as I said widespread like you know ‘twas a custom that’s still there alright; St John’s night. It’s still there to the present time, but I think it’s more controlled now by the City Council and that’s understandable because we understand a lot more now about the environment than we did then. But all sorts of things were thrown on to the bonfire. Tyres, that time alright, even though they were scarce alright I mean you’d still be able to get your hands on tyres if you knew like where to go and of course going out chopping down trees, branches was a regular thing and that went on for weeks in advance of bonfire night. And it was the protection of that, right, from being stolen by another main crowd, another main gang or street gang or something like that, who might be too lazy to go out and cut them down themselves, like you know? But I mean that’s the way it was, so certainly bonfire night was always, was always great fun."
Creator
Cork Folklore Project
Source
CFP_SR00400_magnier_2010
Publisher
Cork Folklore Project
Date
27 April 2016
Contributor
Noel Magnier
Rights
Cork Folklore Project
Format
Mp3
Language
English
Type
Audio
Identifier
CFP_SR00400_magnier_2010
Citation
Cork Folklore Project, “Bonfire Night in Cork,” Cork Memory Map, accessed May 19, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/cmm/items/show/50.