The village of St. Johnston, Co Donegal had some industries long ago. A Bakery was carried on, a factory for the preparation of tobacco is also supposed to have been carried on but the one thing we can get accurate information about is the tannery which was carried on from 1818 to 1883. [Mr. George] Fleming of St. Johnston has given the following account of how the industry was carried on; how the raw materials were obtained and how the finished products were marketed.
The tannery was owned by a man named James Witherow. The foreman worker was named Patrick Hargan. They bought [uphall] the hides obtainable from the farmers and [fleshers] in the neighborhood but that amount did not suffice for their finishing [?]
They bought a great many hides in the fair of Ballyshanne which was held once a month. The men of the tannery walked there once and home again once every month for forty years; through good and bad weather; through storms and sunshine. The distance is forty miles. They used to leave St. Johnston at 2 a.m. with two "[?]" of [?] bread and butter each.
They walked so far as [?} Gap on the weather.