Mumming in Ireland (feat. Mohill Mummers' Parade 2023)

[@LeeCurrid]

Loved this, big fan of unearthed lost Irish customs and traditions! Great video!

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Thanks Lee, me too! 😀

[@eileencregg6754]

How beautiful I love this, something more Thank You so much

[@reginafinan2819]

Love seeing how many were taking part in Mohill! My dad was a Straw "boy" for most of my childhood but they would wear masks/makeup/disguises instead of the traditional straw 'hat'. The amount of weddings and wakes himself and the lot would go to is kind of mind boggling to think about now. In for a few dances, do the rounds & out the door again. I'm so happy this tradition isn't dying out. It's been years since I've seen it practiced in person.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

That's fab Regina, I'd say he had some stories 😅

[@reginafinan2819]

@@DiaryofaDitchWitch A whole slew of them 😂.

[@steveroberts9757]

Fascinating tradition. Very jolly, but also has something of the otherworldly and mysterious about it, what with strange headgear and masks. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@claresugrue1577]

Great video! My mom is from Mohill & I spent many summers there. Lovely to see the old traditions being kept alive. Thanks so much for the video, it was fab to catch a wee glimpse of Mohill. 😊

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Most welcome Clare 😊

[@laurelronan1777]

Ah fantastic! Looks like a rad time at the procession too! 🥳

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Twas indeed 😅

[@emiliemilcarek2670]

This is so amazing!! The Mummers parade is huge is Philadelphia and I was always thought it was more Polish than anything (told to me by my Polish family so there ya go), but it really was a blending of similar traditions around the holidays in very specific neighborhoods in Philly. This is so awesome. I can’t wait to show this video to my family! Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge and your experience. It looked like it great time!!!

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Most welcome Emilie, it really was awesome! 😀

[@susanquilliam1296]

Great recording, thank you

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Most welcome Susan!

[@yardmanrootikal]

Jamaica 🇯🇲 with Irie brought me here! Fascinating to see the similarity with the Jamaican tradition of Jonkonnu. Big up Ireland 🇮🇪👊🏾

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Big up Jamaica! 😍 I look forward to learning about Jonkonnu over the holidays, love from Ireland 🖤💛💚

[@prushimush]

I'm happy to hear the tradition is making a comeback in Ireland. I'm in a Philadelphia Mummers string band club and we take New Years Day seriously. We do holiday parade and wedding jobs year round to raise money for it. One of the Philadelphia clubs performs in the Macroom St Patrick's Day parade in County Cork, some of my friends are going this year. Hope I make it over sometime!

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

That's fab to hear! I'm still surprised at how many Irish people still aren't aware of this practice.

[@brandyjean7015]

Fond am I, of the old customs. Always happy to see a revival, of what would otherwise, become lost.

[@dianewatier50]

So exotic ☺️ who knew this takes place in Ireland.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

It wasn't a common practice over Dundalk way during my lifetime, but there are little bubbles of it still happening around the place....hoping to see the tradition spread in years to come!

[@davidbellew]

That was a wild nights craic. Next year we'll have to make the straw hats.

[@TheElfay]

There was a Mummers mask making class here in Manorhamilton in preparation. There's a mask at the Fulacht Fiadh cafe at the Castle. It's all really delightful and interesting to me.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Me too Elfay 😊

[@Kim-J312]

That's where the saying "Mumms the word" comes from 👍

[@tonyforsythe5819]

Never seen or knew that, thx for the info, Looks like a good bit of craic.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

Most welcome Tony! And the craic was 90!

[@smurf904]

Was that Rosie O'Donnel in the red shirt? 2:01 on the clip...lol

[@smurf904]

She is actually my Cousin..lol I'm a Murtha and so was her Mother.

[@indigoblue4791]

....but the poor wrens! 😔

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

They don't harm any wrens today IndigoBlue, that was a practice of times past.

[@stepash77]

This is refreshing compared to the italian mummers parade in Philadelphia that has way too many racist trope issues for me to ever attend again. This is so much better! 🥰

[@Wotsitorlabart]

Bit of confusion here. Wren Boys, Mummers and Strawboys are not the same thing at all. The Wren Boys is an lrish tradition first recorded in 1824 but no doubt older (although for it to be pagan it would have to have existed for over 1300 years). It was also found in areas of Irish influence - the Isle of Man, West Wales and Galloway in Scotland. Strawboys and their fantastical conical straw masks are an Irish wedding tradition - they would bring good luck to the bride and groom. The Mumming tradition is an English import and dates to about 1700. It most definitely is not 'pagan' in origin. It was found in the North and the East of Ireland - areas of English influence. The original English characters in the mummers plays (such as St George) over time being replaced by the Irish ones we see today.

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

The only confusion is on your part I'm afraid. Nobody said they were the same thing, and my info is lifted from our own folklore and living practice, but thanks for projecting and mansplaining all over me anyway. Try putting your listening ears on and listening again to what I said, before you correct what you *think* I said.

[@Wotsitorlabart]

​​​​@@DiaryofaDitchWitch Perhaps you should actually listen to what your own video says. "The mumming tradition is thought to have its roots in pagan times" "Mummers at this time of the year were called Wren Boys". But I misheard your narration regarding the Straw Boys which you clearly identify in the video as a similar but different tradition. The 'Mansplaining' comment was uncalled for, however. A cheap sexist jibe the like of which I would not dream of throwing in your direction.

[@caracarter1157]

We always called it mumming at Halloween and I wondered why, of course the terminology has now been replaced with the ‘trick or treat’ Americanism 🙄

[@DiaryofaDitchWitch]

No way! You called trick-or-treating 'mumming' when you were a kid?? Did that cone from Nanny??

[@caracarter1157]

@@DiaryofaDitchWitch yes. we all called it that in Mountain View. No idea where it came from