School: Finiskill (roll number 13075)
- Location:
- Finiskil, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Cathal Ó Floinn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0219, Page 380
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- (continued from previous page)Fish especially fresh water fish such as eels were used more extensively in bygone days than at present. Upon every mill race in the country eel traps were constructed and the fish thus caught were put in bags and sold in the local towns on market and fair days. In fact, so plentiful was the catch upon some occasion that the owner of the eel-trap was unable to obtain sale for all his fish locally and when this occurred he usually obtained a market for them in England. This type of fish was fairly cheap as it was possible to obtain an "outsize" fish for about 3d and smaller sizes 1d or 2d. The reason that eels are not so commonly eaten nowadays is that they have become very scarce.
Travelling fishermen who came to the district and took up lodgings in (the district)locally used their up to date fish-catching devices upon lakes and rivers with the result that eels, pike, trout and perch are now far less numerous than formerly. Vegetables particularly cabbage were used almost so commonly in olden times as they are at present. Cabbage was not boiled as thoroughly as it is today, people preparing to have it in a semi-raw condition in the belief that it was more beneficient to the blood in this state. One old man named James Moran told me that he could never(continues on next page)
