The concept of local tradition lies at the heart of Irish ethnology, yet it cannot be taken for given. A case study of the narration and dissemination of an episode in provincial folk history, relating to the French invasion of the West of Ireland in 1798 in support of a failed republican insurrection, elucidates the dynamics of the socio-cultural construction of local traditions. The making of local tradition can be charted through transformations from family lore recited by gifted storytellers to regional heritage and nationally recognised folklore.