School: Leamh-choill
- Location:
- Drumsillagh, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Cáit Ní Ghadhra
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0232, Page 085
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- XML “Travelling Folk”
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- Travelling folk have been calling to this district for longer than the oldest living man can remember. They are divided into two classes, "The tinkers" or tinsmiths as they call themselves and "The Gypsies". Of the two classes the tinkers are the poorer.
The gypsies sell rugs and delph and other small articles. The tinkers sell porringers and cans and other articles which they make of tin. They also repair articles made from tin.
They carry tent equipment with them and pitch their tents on the roadside. They travel from place to place in carts. They come before Easter and Christmas and once or twice during the Summer and Autumn. The best known are the MacDonaghs and Heaneys. They do not bring stories from place to place. Another section of respectable travelling folk sometimes bring stories from one place to another. All of them accept alms.
The womenfolk are not as welcome as the men. They confine themselves to one district at a time and on that account each house is visited four or five times a day by different pairs of women. The Deelini or Beggars petitions are not remembered.
