School: Rochfortbridge (Convent of Mercy) (roll number 14603)
- Location:
- Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: Sr. M. Aquin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0730, Page 566
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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
- Everyone nowadays possess a churn but very few have the old fashioned dash churn. The height of the dash was 3 and a half feet bottom 3 feet and top 2 and a half feet. All sides are round. If kept clean they will last 30 years. They are made of oak.
There is a little nick on the churn and on the lid in order to let the lid sit in properly. There is a handle fastened to the lid for lifting it on and off.
The churning is mostly done by the woman of the house and if any stranger comes in and takes the dash there is supposed to be more weight of butter in the churn. It is given a rolling motion when the butter (was) is done to gather it in a lump. If the handle of the dash is clean you know it is done. It is lifted out with a trencher and then put into a keeler where it is washed and salted. Oftentimes keelers of butter (was) were buried in the ground for over twelve months.(continues on next page)
- Informant
- John Hynes
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Tyrrellspass, Co. Westmeath
