School: Páirc na gCrann (roll number 16042)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   In former times when people were poor and could not afford to build a house the went into a bog and dug a great hole and pitched the turf far from the spot. Next day they went on the outside and dug a passage. When this was done, the four walls of the house were made. With a spade a door was made. From the inside a hole was bored up through the wall and from the outside a man bored down. All the holes met. This was the chimney. A kind of frame work of timber and bog-deal was made for the roof. This was thatched with sods of earth and heather. After a time stones were left in rows and in a few days it was turned into a stone-house. It was white-washed. The richer people slated their houses with light flags. Later thatch was the cover put on the roof. Rye straw considered better than oat-straw
   Usually there was a bed of in the kitchen. It was placed near the fire and was called the out-shot. It was slated with light flags set in mortar. There was a window, about two inches

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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

   Micheál Ó Beodhláin

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   67

   Occupation

   Teacher

   Address

   Barnahesker, Co. Mayo

   Informant

   Richard Boland

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   13

   Address

   Barnahesker, Co. Mayo