Holly Bough: How the Wren boys saved the Cork Folk Festival 

The 1995 Cork Folk Festival was a financial disaster.

Earlier that year, boxer Steve Collins had defeated the British fighter Chris Eubanks for the WBO super-middleweight title at Millstreet.

A rematch was subsequently announced for Páirc U íChaoimh on the same weekend as the folk festival.

The hype for the fight was massive and all accommodation in the city was booked out and so there was nowhere for the out-of-town festival audience to stay.

Steve Collins won the fight, and the city did very well from the influx of boxing fans, but the festival suffered and it made a massive dent in our finances.

We began to count the damage soon after and it didn’t look good. Our secretary called a meeting in November to give us the bad news.

Our overdraft facility was due for review, and we were not in a position to meet our debts. Our financial position was dire, and the only remedy was a plan to organise with a series of fundraisers.

The plan included a benefit concert, a raffle and the reviving of the tradition of Hunting the Wren in Cork on St Stephen’s Day.

Before Christmas, we began to gather all the elements needed for a joyful and successful day.

We obtained the lend of a hobby horse that had a wooden head, snapping jaws and a body made from cloth stretched across a timber frame.

We also sourced some straw hats and made wren suits from hessian sacks and a hollybush on a pole.

We put out the word to musicians, dancers and collectors to meet at An Spailpín Fanách on Stephen’s morning for the hunt.

The tradition of hunting the wren goes back centuries when the little bird was blamed for giving away the hiding place of St Stephen by its chattering in the bushes.

In folklore, the bird was also blamed for alerting a Viking raiding party of an approaching Irish army by pecking on a drum.

Another story is a flock of wrens with the noise of their flapping wings woke a sleeping Cromwellian army just before they were attacked by the Irish.

In Cork city for hundreds of years, the tradition has been practiced although in 1845 the then Lord Mayor of Cork Richard Dowden prohibited the hunting of the little bird because of cruelty.

Needless to say no birds or animals were harmed in our hunt.

A fine gang turned up on Stephen’s morning and we donned our gear and had some soup and sandwiches organised by the bar.

After a few practices, we left the pub and set off up Barrack Street on our journey. It was definitely the best craic we’d had in years and a great way to see the pubs of Cork at Christmas.

Our plan was to arrive in each bar playing tunes and then find a spot to sing a song or dance a set and then move on as fast as possible.

For some of the young customers it was the first time they experienced the wren boys, and they were delighted with our company and spectacle.

Some of the older people ed the tradition and even could recite or sing versions of the Wren Boys’ song.

The Wren, the Wren, the king of all birds,

St. Stephen’s day was caught in the furze,

Although he is little, his family’s great,

I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat.

My box would speak if it had but a tongue,

And two or three shillings would do it no wrong,

Sing holly, sing ivy – sing ivy, sing holly,

A drop just to drink, it would drown

melancholy.

And if you draw it of the best,

I hope in Heaven your soul may rest;

But if you draw it of the small,

It won’t agree with the Wren boys at all.

Knock at the Knocker

Ring at the bell

Give us a copper for singing so well,singing so well.

People were very generous and very welcoming in each of the 12 or 14 bars we visited, and we stopped off for light refreshments at a few.

When our trip was over, we slowly made our way back to the Spáilpín for some crubeens and a few more scoops.

We had raised enough money to secure the next festival and a few bob for a Wren ball.

This year the festival celebrated its 45th edition and we hope to continue for many a year.

We also aim to hunt the wren each Christmas on St Stephen’s Day.

Those involved in the festival have been hunting the wren since 2021 in Blackrock and each year in the region of 20 musicians and dancers meet under the Christmas tree at the Pier Head all dressed up and we collect money for Simon.

• William Hammond’s book ‘Reeling Down the Years’ Cork Folk Festival 1979-2024 is available in bookshops.