text: In parts of Ireland sheep were also slaughtered with tradition of the "St. Michael's portion" donated to the poor. Poultry markets and fairs took place to sell geese as well as mutton pies. In Ulster, it was traditional for tenants to present their landlord with a couple of geese, a tradition dating back to Edward IV. There were differing methods across Ireland for cooking the goose, most generally using a heavy iron pot on an open hearth. In Blacklion, County Cavan, the goose was covered in local blue clay and placed at the centre of the fire until the clay broke, indicating the goose was cooked.
  Another legend surrounding the origin of the Michaelmas goose is that Queen Elizabeth I was eating a goose on the holiday when she heard of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and thus proclaimed that geese should be eaten by everyone each year in commemoration of the victory. This falls apart when the date (geese and Michaelmas were connected at least a century earlier, if not longer) and the timing of the battle (August) are considered.
  The custom of baking a special bread or cake, called  (), St. Michael's bannock, or Michaelmas bannock, on the eve of the Feast of Saint Michael, the Archangel, probably originated in the Hebrides. The bread was made from equal parts of barley, oats, and rye without using any metal implements.