School: Finiskill (roll number 13075)
- Location:
- Finiskil, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Cathal Ó Floinn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0219, Page 384
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- (continued from previous page)was composed of mashed potatoes mixed with butter and cut-up onions. Each farmer usually left a short ridge in his potatoe field undug when he had already dug out the rest of his crop. The idea was to have the potatoes fresh and palatable for Hallow Eve night. The "colcannon" was partaken of along with noggin of new milk or buttermilk if the former were nearer.
Tea did not come into general use until about fifty years ago. It was of course used locally many years previously but only upon special occasions such as wedding, funerals or at Christmas. Old people say that the shopkeepers usually gave about a quarter pound of tea gratis to his best customers when they ordered their Christmas groceries. When the quarter pound had been used however, no more tea was purchased and the beverage was not drunk again, in all probability, until the following Christmas. Tea was regarded by some people in olden times as a cure for rheumatism but nobody cared very much whether they used it or not.
Before cups and mugs of delph became common wooden vessels were about the size of a mug but had no handles. A few of them are still to be found in the district.
