‘Brilliantly-coloured Paddy’ might sound like a racy sort of name for a Blasket islander, but there was sound method to the moniker. The story is told by the now late UCD professor of folklore Bo Almqvist in the enthusiastic introduction he wrote to research on this subject by one of his students, Dr Bairbre Ní Fhloinn. The colour “rua” or russet red had an association with the underworld, Ní Fhloinn explains. The practice may have waned considerably, but has not completely died out, and Ní Fhloinn was struck by how much knowledge of it has survived. Cold Iron: Aspects of the Occupational Lore of Irish Fishermen by Bairbre Ní Fhloinn is published by Four Courts Press.

Source: The Irish Times March 27, 2018 04:52 UTC