School: Castlecary
- Location:
- Ballyrattan, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Mary S.J. Donaghy
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1117, Page 23
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- Thatching is still carried on in this neighbourhood. The first thing the thatcher does is to cut scollops for to hold on the thatch.
The scollops are cut from long briar bushes. The jags are trimmed off and they are made perfectly smooth. We can thatch houses with either oat straw, or flax straw.
The handful of straw or "spars" as they are called are neatly arranged in rows, each spar securely fastened by a scollop to keep it firmly in its place.
When the whole roof is thatched it presents a very neat appearance. Then it is trimmed along the eaves, and made even. This coat of thatch lasts for about four years. It is much warmer on outhouses than any other covering.
Lime is still burned in kilns in this locality. The kiln is built by a mason.
The height of the kiln is about ten feet, and the breadth of it is about twelve feet.
It is narrow at the bottom, and wide at the top. There is a hole at the bottom of the kiln to take out the lime.
The lime stone is quarried in a lime(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Arthur Peoples
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Castlecary, Co. Donegal
