School: Mantua (roll number 2327)
- Location:
- Mantua, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Pádraig Ó Beirn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0238, Page 099
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Mantua
- XML Page 099
- XML “Local Forge”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- There are five forges in my parish. There are two in Elphin owned by Mr. Mc Cormack and Mr. Teirnean. There is a one in Ballinameen and one in Creeve. There is a one near my locality in Carrowrea. It is owned by Mr. Maxwell. This forge is situated on the side of the main road in a very public place. Mr. Maxwell's forefathers were all smiths. The roof of this forge is thatched. There is one fireplace in it. Bellows are not made locally now but they were some time ago. The instruments a smith used at his work are a hammer, sledge, rasp, knife, pinsirs and anvil. He shoes horses and asses but he never shoes cattle. Long ago cattle were shod by the blacksmiths when they were going long journeys. He does not make farm implements now but he repairs them. Farm implements were made by smiths long ago. He mends ploughs and mowing machines and he makes harrow-pins. Nowadays he does not make spades but he repairs them by putting steel to the top of them. He does not make shovels. The smith works in the open air when he is shoeing wheels. If he curses a person over the anvil it is a very bad thing. Smiths were always looked upon as being very strong men. Forge-water is a sure cure for warts if it is rubbed on the wart for three times it will disappear in a short time.
