Fraughan/Frocken Picking and Mountain Memories by Jim Byrne, Ballindaggin, Co. Wexford

Back on the 20th of July 2019 I headed up to Mount Leinster with then 80 year old Jim Byrne who picked frockens as a child on the hills around Kiltealy. Jim grew up right under the mountain and in this 32 minute chat he tells me about how as a six year old he was taken up on the mountain to pick frockens with his father and brothers and sisters. These would be sold to buyer from Enniscorthy. Many rural people back them had to turn their hand to many things and be resourceful to make a living with what was around them. In this case, when the frocken season finished they moved onto blackberries and after that onto hunting rabbits. The detail here is incredible as Jim remembers everything so clearly and he paints a picture of a lifestyle now completely resigned to the past. Aside from all this great detail and memories, he also indirectly gives us the local pronunciations for the local placenames for hills, bogs etc. This is pure gold for anyone interested in hearing what the Gaelic from this part of Wexford sounded like, as the accent here is very different than other parts of North Wexford. On top of that he relates accounts that he heard from his father about people who were evicted in Wexford during the 1840’s famine and took to the hills where they built little huts and grew potatoes in a bid to survive. To this day, you will still see the potato ridges and the odd spot where the little huts once stood. The chat ends with Jim talking about Frocken Sunday, the last Sunday in July, where the Carlow and Wexford people would meet at a place called ‘The Meeting’ on the New Ross side of the Blackstairs. This was also called Patron Sunday and Mountain Sunday in this part of the county. The Patron Sunday name is interesting as it was the Patron day in Donaghmore near Ballygarrett also and the date is tied in with the Lughnasa Festival and the start of harvest/autumn. Have a listen if you have 32 minutes to spare. I also recorded another 30 minute chat with him further up on the hill where he points out all the local placenames names and stories associated with them. Enjoy.