Excerpt

This is a comprehensive study of various genres of folklore which have survived in Irish America, particularly in the New England area. Eileen Moore Quinn has painstakingly compared proverbs; idioms and other customary sayings; foodways; names and nicknames; children’s lore; superstitions, charms, and folk beliefs; customs connected with births, weddings, and wakes; blessings, toasts, and prayers; cursing traditions; historical memory; and music, song, and rhyme. She includes examples in Irish Gaelic and/or collected in Ireland compared with North American versions to ascertain whether there is a likely Irish origin for a given item of folklore.