Irish folklore in Meath and Laois: Gates that won't close and the House of Death

Eva Osborne

Folklore, mythology, and superstitions form a huge part of Irish culture, and each county has its own tales to tell.

In The Anthology of Irish Folk Tales, Richard Marsh explores the phenomenon of gates that won't stay closed in Moynalty, a small village in Co Meath.

The village is best known for its annual Steam Threshing Festival, held on the second Sunday of August, which has undoubtedly been a catalyst for these stories to be told and live on.

Marsh reports that it was well known that the gates of a Big House outside Moynalty were always closed in the evening but were always found open in the morning.

"Something opened them after midnight," he said. "One night, a group of lads were returning from the pub in a car after midnight. As they passed the Big House one of the passengers, fortified with Guinness courage, said to the driver, 'Stop the car. Them gates are open. Back the car and shine the headlights on the gates. I'm going to close them bloody gates so they stay shut.'

"The driver manoeuvred the car so the lights illuminated the gates. Our hero got out, marched to the gates and closed them and fastended them with a heavy iron bar. He came back to the car, dusting his hands in triumph and said, 'Now, I'd like to see anything open them bloody gates.'

"The wide-eyed, pale-faced driver said, 'Well, then, you'd better look now.'

"He turned around and saw that the gates were already opened."

The man who relayed the story to Marsh, Hughie McCusker, said that the man nearly went through the side of the car trying to get into it.

The house is said to be called Westland House, and is situated a couple of miles south of Moynalty on the road to Kells.

Marsh credits Danny Cusack of Kells with explaining that it was owned by the Barnes family for generations but is now vacant.

Apparently after Mrs Barnes died, the locals were disappointed that the things about the gates staying open did not hold true.

"The late Tommy Murray of Trim told a related tale in his 2006 book Meath Voice. Local pranksters closed a gate one night that had never been closed, and in the morning the postman, expecting to find the gate open as usual, was killed when he drove into it," Marsh said.

"That was the story that was circulated, but it never happened. Someone was only playing a grisly trick on the lads who had closed the gate.

"Tommy said it was Niblock's Gate on the Navan Road from Trim. A similar story is found in Conor Brennan's Yellow Furze Memories, where he mentions a gate in Yellow Furze that was closed at night but found open in the morning."

Fionn MacCumhaill and the House of Death

In The Anthology of Irish Folk Tales, Nuala Hayes tells the story of Fionn MacCumhaill and the House of Death in Co Laois.

"Fionn learned the skills of hunting from the women in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, so it was no wonder that it was there he often went to hunt many years later, when he eventually became the leader of the Fianna, that legendary band of warriors," Hayes writes.

"One time Fionn was hunting in the mountains with his companions, Conán Maol Mac Mórna, Diarmuid O'Duibhne, and his own son Oisín and his grandson Oscar.

"They stayed out too late and when evening came, they had no shelter for the night. They walked on for a while, then Fionn saw a house in the distance.

"By the light which shone in the window, they could see that it was inhabited. They went up to it and banged at the door. The door was opened by an ancient old man with a long, white beard."

Fionn and his companions were welcomed in by the man, who claimed to know them and said he had heard stories of Fionn, the Fianna, and tales of their skills and courage.

"In they went. The room was comfortable enough. A fire was burning and a big wooden table in the middle of the room, laid out with delicious food, was all set up for eating," Hayes said.

"In the corner of the room there was a lamb tethered to the wall. Sitting by the fire sat the most gorgeous-looking girl they had ever seen. Her beauty alone would light up a house. A black cat sat by her feet."

The man offered the men something to eat, and Fionn accepted on the group's behalf.

They couldn't take their eyes away from the young woman. The old man nodded at the girl and told her to get the food ready.

"Just then the lamb broke away from his tether and leapt up on the table, causing consernation. Oscar was the first to move. He would impress the young woman. He leapt on to the table and caught the lamb, but the lamb was stronger than he looked.

"It shoved him away and he landed on his backside. Oisín, Oscar's father, had a go, but the lamb kicked out at him, tossed him over, and he landed head over heels.

"Then Diarmuid was heatbutted and thrown to the ground. Conán Maol Mac Mórna, a huge lump of a man, was a bit slow on the uptake, but he was a great fighter. But when he approached the lamb, he was also thrown across the room.

"Now, thought Fionn, I suppose I'm the next to go. He grabbed at the lamb, but it was as steady as a rock. One little nudge and Fionn, the great warrior, landed flat on his back and couldn't move a muscle."

Fionn said to the man: "That's some lamb you have there."

Then, the cat who was sitting by the fire, came over and lifted the tether from around the neck of the lamb. The lamb followed it meekly back to its place in the corner.

"This caused some astonishment but the lads said not a word. It was all very strange," Hayes said.

"Then when the food was ready, they sat down to eat and enjoy it. Afterwards the old man showed them the room they would all sleep in for the night. There were plenty of beds there.

"They weren't long settling in when the door opened and the girl they had all been admiring walked in carrying a candle and went over to a small bed by the window. She got in under the blanket and blew out the candle.

"None of the men in the room could get a wink of sleep, but they pretended they did. When the odd snore could be heard and Oscar, the youngest, thought the rest of them were asleep, he got out of bed and quietly went over to the girl in the corner. She opened her eyes.

"'Oscar,' she said, 'you had me once, but you thought little of me and you will never have me again.'

"Oscar returned to his bed, disheartened. Then Oisín slipped over to her, and he too got the same response, as did Diarmuid and Conán Maol. They all returned like gentlemen to their beds, each wondering what she might have said to the others.

"Fionn, who was still awake, was well aware of what was going on. But he was the leader and therefore, he assumed, very attractive to women. So he approached her, smiling. She looked at him and smiled back.

"'Fionn,' she said, 'I once was yours, but you thought so little of me and I will never be yours again.'

"Fionn had been with a lot of women and thought he remembered them all, but this beautiful woman, he didn't recognise at all. The next morning, before they left the house, Fionn spoke to the old man.

"'We are grateful for the hospitality,' he said, 'but this is a very strange house. What's going on here? That lamb was so strong, none of us could lift it, but the cat, who is much weaker, just carried it off as though it was as light as a feather.'

"'Ah,' said the man, 'That lamb is Life. Life has its own will. And the cat - well, the cat is Death. Only Death can control Life.'

"'And that young girl?' said Fionn. 'Who is she? She seems to have known us all. But I can't recognise her at all?'

"'That girl is Youth. You all had her once, you know, and you were careless and thought little of her, and now you will never have her again.'

"'And who are you?' Fionn asked.

"'Ah,' said the old man. 'My name is Time and I hold power over Life, over Death and especially over Youth.'"