Memories, Folklore, Customs and Sayings from Gerry O’Keefe, Branch, Newfoundland 

I'm born and raised in Ontario Canada...but I'll tell ya' my parents, oldest sister and brother were born in Newfoundland...and all my family, Aunts & Uncles. And when I hear that lovely accent, no matter where in NFLD they're I feel right at home. ❤ Same when I hear the Irish accent, even though I've traced many of my ancestors to Southwestern England. But some of my Cousins have Irish last names.

Thanks for taking time to produce this recording, it's good to hear knowledge of the past from these hard working people. As a hobby farmer,like to hear of their decades of experience in growing and raising their own food.

Fantastic documentation. Thank you!

Thank you Michael for your fine work in recording these conversations. They truly are precious and bring me great joy. I always think of my own Granny when I watch your videos. God bless you and yours and long may your great work continue.

There's something so sad about our far flung Irish diaspora, we'd love if they could all come home to Ireland😢

The Newfoundland accent is a mix of the accent in the south east of Ireland , Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford and the West Country of England.,like Somerset and Wiltshire. A lot of the early settlers there were from these places. I lived in Toronto for a couple of years and my Irish accent was mistaken for a "Newfie " one many times. I used to go to this Newfie dancehall on Danforth Avenue and the music had a strong Irish and Scottish ring to it. The Irish Gaelic name for Newfoundland is Talamh An Eisc, which means the Land Of The Fish." I have fond memories of the Newfies I've met,a lot of heart and soul there in that part of the world.They're not shy about having a few drinks either ,a characteristic in a people which I find endearing!

What a nice ol feller he is. And a hard worker. Waterloo stove I heard my dad talking about that he was born in 1919 . I can listen to him all day. Fine feller he is

When I was a lad growing up in the 90s in Kilkenny Ireland , I had warts on my hands . My Ma’s auld friend said spit on me warts every morning for 10 days and by jaysus I’ve never had a wart since . Lillian lawler was her name , she owned a clothes store in Castlecomer across from holohans newsagents . A cafe now I think.

Contents of this chat: • Where he was born in Great Barrisway • The settlement and relations • His surname and Irish roots • His mother and father • His first name and his brothers and sisters. • Note the way he says ‘Catherine’ - the same as we’d say in Wexford, Ireland • When he was born. 9th May 1937 • Loves working outside. • Lighting the ‘firun’ - we say ‘firun’ in Wexford too for firewood. • Didn’t like fishing and got a job in Argentia - the American Naval base. Also ended up in Toronto in Canada and Pennsylvania in the States. • He got married when he came home • He built his house • How he stacks his ‘firun’. (firewood) • Types of sticks and when and how he cuts them • He cuts his own wood still • Types of wood • Where they source their timber • Local people who uses stoves • Oil and electric heat used by some people these days • Hauling wood home • Collecting ‘bresneys’ - bundles of small sticks. From the Irish. • Baking bread in stove • Blessing bread with the sign of the cross before cooking • Type of pancake left over from the bread dough. (Toutons) • Making pancake batter • Trying to remember the name for the fried dough bread. Maybe toutons? • Mother blessing them as children going to bed with holy water • Saying morning and night prayers - mother reminded them • Mother kept holy water in a bottle • Drenched word • Bless the axe and chainsaw or anything he uses • He said ‘we were learned that’ - thats still used in Wexford too. • Blessing the axe or ‘cutting the sign of the cross on it’ • Afraid of an axe. Great faith in the blessing. • Blessing his chainsaw every time the chainsaw would stop. • He relates a story of how the chainsaw hit his coveralls and he attributes how he was saved due to the blessing • Tells a story of a man who had an incident with a skilsaw. • Stacking cut timber • Saw horse - home made • His potato beds • He uses kelp (seaweed) and compost on his potatos • He sets four beds • He gathers kelp from the beach from Autumn to Spring • ‘Rotten Kelp’ - known as it was so smelly • He sets his potatoes in May if weather is right. • His father had a cellar for storing vegetables. • Saving small potatoes for seed potatoes • Splitting the eyes on the potatoes when setting them. They called it ‘cutting the potatoes’. • Keeping the split with the eyes • Dates to dig the potatoes. 1st and 2nd week in October. • The taste of spuds - different with artificial fertilizler • Type of spuds. Blue and white ones. • Shovelling potatoes when growing • Covering the growing potatoes beds with capelin (little fish) • Capelin come in around the last week in June and early July • Scrarce in recent years • Vegetable cellars • He grow strawberries for grandchildren. He remembered wild strawberries as children. • Names of local berries • Old cellar belonging to a local man called Willie McGrath • Cellar is about 6 foot deep. • Lined with wooden studs. • Cellar sectioned off inside. • Eating potatoes and seed potatoes • Also stored turnips and cabbage. • Storing onions in a potato sack • Plaiting onions and hanging • Mick says ‘ingins’ • Catching rats in the cellars • Jerry chatting about singing • A mention of Tom Tobins Dicky Bird • He shows me his old weighing scales • Chats about his uncle and aunt making fresh butter • Types of butter churn • Blessing the butter • Churn in a large pan with a big wooden spoon before they could afford a churn. • His mother blessing the butter in the bowl • Putting bread in your pockets in case the fairies would take them • T’shirt on ‘backways’ - different reading from ours. We would leave it on the wrong-side out. • Playing cards and man taken by the fairies. • Hearing fairy music • Cutting sticks • Don’t curse on anything or anybody • Don’t go out on All Souls Night as he mother beloved the souls were around. • The day is for the living and the night is for the dead. • Never throw out water on All Souls Night - same as us in Wexford as you’d wet the souls. • Don’t go to the stable at 12 o’clock on Christmas Eve night. • They said that the animals would be talking on Christmas Eve night. • Sun dancing on Easter Sunday Morning • Old people were very religous • A Robin - but different that ours • Bird in the house - sign of a death. • Shows me his seaweed/kelp • Tatties for potatoes • Wouldn’t set a sally tree. They were seen as bad luck. He recalls a story of a family who lost their son because they set a sally tree. • Didn’t use the word willow - only sally. • Saying ‘Set a sally to flog your family’ • Old people would not allow him to cut an alder stick • Shows me his cellar and how its laid out. • His cellar is about 5 feet down but the old people had them about 6 feet down • Onions, ingins and hunyons • Scrawb from a raspberry thorn • The use of the word scrawb. • Criosheens - word used in Branch for stilts. (Irish origin from críos) • Words - quare and forenent (opposite) • Getting you hair scalped • Little sayings like - Driving me up the walls, get our from under my feet and come here I want you. • The ‘gall’ of someone • Haysers Rock and Haysers Point - Local Placename • Marking the sign of the cross on the boat • Bottle of holy water in boat tied on with a piece of string. Same as us in Wexford. • Bottle of water in the front of the boat like. Same as with us. • Talks about a trees. • Extracting turpentine from pines (turkintine?) • Use turkintine? for cures • Use boiled sea water for sore feet • The first snow in May was used for curing sore eyes. This was kept in a bottle. Same in Wexford but down with rain and dew. • Chalk cure for warts. Rubbed on the warts. • Marking the number of warts on the back of a stove - cure for warts. • Afraid of a doctor and a dentist. • His father warned them about cursing and using the lords name in vein. • Ok boy he says and we go off for lunch.

Folklore at its finest. Great job recording these treasures. Keep it up.

I'm from the west coast of Newfoundland, I can watch your videos all day. Love hearing the stories from all the amazing people on your channel. The Irish-Newfoundland connection sure is a strong one.

I’m from Central Newfoundland. We use firs for Christmas trees. Spruce are too gnarly. Dad used to get “frankum”, dried sap, from spruce trees for me because I used to get ulcers (in my mouth). It was pretty grainy at first but after chewing it for a well it was ok-ish, lol. If we got a sty on our eyes, mom would use her gold wedding ring and rub it on the sty. It worked! We had wart cures too. It was various things that was rubbed on a wart and then buried or you threw it behind you and not look at it again. We called snails (from the ocean), wrinkles. Dad said he drank kerosene for a bad cough. Mom said that her mom would get the rind of a cherry tree and rub it on a wound and definitely put a bread poultice, with elder blossoms sprinkled on it. Theres tons more stuff I remember them saying and doing but my ancestry is mostly British so we had different traditions and sayings.

This was so very interesting! I was familiar with about a fourth of the stuff he talked about since I am from the American South and my background is half Scotch/Irish. He was easier to understand after listening for a bit. Great interview!

My mother always blessed the bread, and any left over pieces of bread dough,, she fried them up for us kids. It was so good! She called them: Toutans?

I don’t know how the old Irish felt about whistling but my father hated to hear me (a girl) whistle. He said it was bad luck for a female to whistle, something to do with bad spirits. It was also very bad luck for anyone to whistle while out on the water in their boats. This also brought bad luck, bad fortune and bad weather. Dad also told us about the animals on Christmas Eve, he told us that if we were able to see the animals in their barns on Christmas Eve at midnight (which you weren’t allowed to do), they would all be kneeling and praying.

Serious wexford twang off his accent at times, great video

Lovely old man , still has the,brogue

I have too say. I enjoyed this. Is there a part 2. 👍

Did ya ever hear tell is a very Kilkenny, Waterford , Wexford and Carlow saying , also Laois maybe

A kipeen is a small stick or kindling for a fire

His “myself” is very Irish sounding. Many worlds he says are Irish sounding. The “luh” is also old dialect but, not sure it’s Irish.

I am wondering if this is the same O'Keefe that use to play a saxophone in a band, and played onetime in Mount Cashel orphanage? It would have been around the nineteen eighty.

u can here the irish in him jasus