Rónta /
Seals
Informant: Liam Mac Coisdealbha, Collector for the Irish Folklore Commision
Age: 33
Address: Co. Galway
Collector:
Date of Recording: 27/02/1939
Reference:

NFC 1306: 196

Grey Seal and Pup [Courtesy of the Irish Seal Sanctuary]

Rónta

[Míníonn Liam Mac Coisdealbha an t-ábhar a bhailigh sé ar rónta in iarthar na tíre mar fhreagra ar cheistneoir a sheol an Coimisiún amach faoi rónta a bheith luaite le daoine.]

 Tá scéalta fá na rónta an-choiteann insa chuile áit chois farraige dhá bhfuil siúlta agam ag bailiú béaloideasa. Ta cuid mhór de na scéalta a chuala mé fúthu i Maigh Eo, i nGaillimh agus i gCo. an Chláir breactha síos agam cheana. Deir lucht na scéalta liom insa chuile áit gurb é a chualadar fhéin ariamh gur daoine faoi dhraíocht atá ins na rónta, agus dar le cuid mhaith nach bhfuil sé ceart baint dóibh mar gheall air sin. I gConamara, luaitear muintir Chonníola leis na rónta, ach ní bhfuaireas in aon áit eile aon chúntas faoi aon dream daoine faoi leith a bheith luaite leo. Déarfaidh daoine leat gur féidir uaireanta na rónta a mhothachtáil ag caint le chéile má bheadh daoine ann, agus nuair a mharaítear nó nuair a chailltear ceann acu go gcoinníonn an chuid eile dá chaoineadh.

Seals

[In a response to a questionnaire sent out by the Irish Folklore Commission about people associated with seals, Liam Mac Coisdealbha explains what he has collected in the west of Ireland.]

Stories about seals are very common in every coastal place I’ve ever visited collecting folklore. I have already noted down most of the stories I’ve heard from Mayo, Galway and Co. Clare. The storytellers from all of these places tell me that what they heard was that seals were people under enchantment, and according to many of them, they should not be interfered with for that reason. In Connemara, the Coneely family is associated with seals, but I’ve never found any accounts of other groups associated with them anywhere else. It is said that you can sometimes hear the seals talking together as if they were people, and when one dies or is killed the others lament it.