Best day for a wedding

“Monday for health,
Tuesday for wealth,
Wednesday the best day of all,
Thursday for losses,
Friday for crosses,
And Saturday, no day at all”

Did you ever wonder what day of the week your ancestors chose as their wedding day? A young pupil from Coolmoyne, Co. Tipperary, my newly discovered ancestral home, recited this old rhyme, as part of her contribution to the ‘Schools’ Collection’ of Irish Folklore.[1] So, I thought I’d see if it held true in practice. I hoped not as I got married on a Friday – not a very good omen, seemingly.

The Happy Couple	Wedding Day
Thomas Ratty and Mary Cullen	Tuesday, 29 June 1790
Patt Mahon and Jane Cavanagh	Sunday, 12 September 1819
Thomas Donovan and Catherine Flood	Tuesday, 20 November 1821
Peter Radcliffe and Anne Sarsfield	Sunday, 3 July 1825
Paul Doyle and Catherine O’Hara	Saturday, 23 August 1828
Andrew Byrne and Anne Clinch	Monday, 11 November 1833
Jeremiah Keogh and Jane Crosbie	Friday, 26 April 1833
Francis Byrne and Jane Daly	Sunday, 11 October 1846
John Wynne and Bridget Hynes	Sunday, 16 September 1849
Myles McGrane and Margaret Doyle	Sunday, 26 January 1851
John Donovan and Maryanne Coyle	Sunday, 9 February 1851
John Devine and Maryanne Keogh	Sunday, 18 September 1859
James Mahon and Margaret McDonnell	Sunday, 27 May 1866
John Byrne and Alicia Leahy	Sunday, 27 January 1867
Maurice Carroll and Anne Radcliffe	Sunday, 22 August 1869
Francis Byrne and Margaret McGrane	Sunday, 17 September 1871

Of the records available to me, three-quarters of my great-great-grandparents or their forefathers married on a Sunday. So, it's easy to conclude, in times past, in Ireland, Sunday was the wedding day most favoured by the betrothed. Yet, it is not even mentioned in the old rhyme.

Tying the knot – a pagan Irish wedding tradition

Sunday’s popularity as a wedding day is not surprising - it was probably the only day of the week the couple and their guests had free from work and could enjoy the celebrations.

What day of the week did your ancestors decide to tie the knot? 

[1] Kathleen Mackay, ‘Marriage Customs’, Coolmoyne, Co. Tipperary, p. 61, Schools’ Collection, Dúchas.ie.  

…………………. 

© Black Raven Genealogy