Sir Henry Piers, quoted by Hone, wrote that in Ireland on the eves of St John the Baptist and St Peter every town had a bonfire late in the evening. People carried about bundles of dry reeds tied tight and set alight, which burned longer and brighter than torches. Seen from a distance, he said, a stranger would think the whole country was on fire.
St Peter’s Eve fires in Ireland
28 June · Ireland
No longer kept
on the eves of St. John the baptist and St. Peter, they always have in every town a bonfire late in the evenings, and carry about bundles of reeds fast tied and fired
From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 1, col. 848. Read the original
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