School: Mullinahone (B.) (roll number 15362)
- Location:
- Muileann na hUamhan, Co. Thiobraid Árann
- Teacher: Maurice Magner
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0560, Page 227
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: Mullinahone (B.)
- XML Page 227
- XML “Food in Olden Times”
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
- In olden days in Ireland people took two bad meals a day. They used to rise about six O'clock and work for about two hours, and then they would have their breakfast, which consisted of Indian meal stirabout and sour milk. The better-off people used potatoes and milk and sometimes fish and eggs and butter.
Years ago in Ireland the people sat round a table fixed on a frame near the wall. When not in use, the table was hung up against the wall. Even to day, this type of table is to be seen in many houses.
Wholemeal bread made from home grown wheat and baked on a griddle was eaten. As a result the people were strong and healthy and less subject to diseases than the people of to day.
Meat was eaten on two occasions only, viz. at Christmas and at Easter. This was salt meat imported from America and called American Lad. It cost only 2 1/2d per lb
On certain feast days like Christmas Day and Easter Sunday tea was drunk. During the week before Easter Sunday, boys and girls went round the country collecting eggs for Easter
Tea was first used in this area about eighty years ago. People did not then know anything of cups and saucers but pint saucepans were used.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Maguire
- Gender
- Male
