School: An Cillín (roll number 16603)

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1. Old Trades

   

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   The following are some of the trades which used to be carried on in this district and which exist still: basketmaking, thatching, shoemaking, weaving, smith's work, spinning, burning lime, fishing and fowling.
   Almost every farmer can make a rough basket, but fancy baskets were made by men called basketmakers. For the fancy baskets the men used to boil the rods, peel the bark off them, and dye them in different colours with herbs. They used to make the rods into baskets and take them to the market to be sold.
   The majority of the farmers do plain thatching but a few men in each district used to do "scollap" thatching. Some men used to thatch their houses with lint, and this thatch used to last almost twenty years.
   Shoemaking was an old trade in this district long ago and there are a few shoemakers in this district still who make handsewn boots.
   In ancient times all the cloths worn in this district were woven by the people. They were called weavers, and there are two weavers in this district still who make homespuns. The names are: Peter Friel, Eany, Frosses P.O., Co. Donegal, and James Joseph Maguire Inver P.O., Co.Donegal.
   Some men practise a trade of burning lime and selling it, and lots of farmers just burn a kiln of lime each year to put on their farms.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. trades and crafts (~4,680)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Annie Teresa Boyle

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumlaghtafin, Co. Donegal

   Informant

   Anne Meehan

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   77

   Address

   Drumlaghtafin, Co. Donegal