School: Ball Áluinn (Balla) (roll number 1146)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   The houses which existed in the neighbourhood in olden times were built of stone or clay. They usually had one or two rooms and were thatched. There were scarcely any slated houses in the country district around Balla a hundred years ago or even seventy years ago. The farmers who had slated houses were very few and had to be well-off. Some were thatched with rushes. Down to forty years ago a few houses in the parish were done in this way. Then straw, wheaten, rye or oaten was common. In another twenty years there will be very few thatched houses.
   The old houses had all a bed in the kitchen. The space for the bed projected usually to the north and was completely filled by the bed. It was usually roofed with large flags. It was called the cailleach or hag. The fire-place was in the centre of the floor with no chimney. A wicker projection came down part of the way over it from a hole in the roof. Usually it filled the house with smoke. There are records of chimneys made of clay and wattles opening wider over the fire like this [illustration] The older people remember when there were no glass windows. Skins dried and

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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

   P. Ó Maolanaigh

   Gender

   Male