School: An Gleann (roll number 14113)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   In olden times there were no houses to be seen but thatched ones. Rushes which grew on their own land and straw which they also had themselves made up the thatch.

   In the kitchen, there was always a bed on the right hand side of the fire which was called the “pooch”. The member of the family who slept here was the first to arise in the morning. The fire-place was situated at the gable wall of the kitchen and here on the long winter nights the household gathered story-telling in front of a huge fire, usually made of turf but sometimes of logs of wood and brosna. In some houses they had nothing but the light of the fire which was in those days almost as good as the light of our lamps. The rush candle was the chief light.

   At five o’clock in the evening, the rushes were brought in and peeled. Then they were pulled along in greace and left on a plate to harden. After two hour’s time, they were lighted

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. buildings
            1. residential buildings (~2,723)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Lizzie Conway

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drummacool, Co. Sligo

   Informant

   James Conway

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   74

   Address

   Drummacool, Co. Sligo