School: Curraigh (B.) (roll number 12066)
- Location:
- Curry, Co. Sligo
- Teacher: Peadar Ó Braonáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0170, Page 0446
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- XML School: Curraigh (B.)
- XML Page 0446
- XML “Thatching”
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- Thatching.
In this area, the vast majority of the houses are thatched ones, and the art of thatching still survives. There are two professional thatchers in Drimbane, Curry, Co. Sligo - Thomas Brennan - 82 years and James McIntyre who is nearly 80 years old. Both still practice thatching + are hale and hearty. When preparing for thatching, the oats is threshed off the straw by men with flail. A flail consists of a colpan and buaibein joined together by a gad. (Those are the words used here - I never heard the English equivalents). A threshing machine cannot be used for this work as it breaks up the blades of straw. When threshed the straw is "drawn," that is, the clean straw is placed in the form of a sheaf so that the ends of the blades of straw are even - that is, some do not project. "Clean" straw is that which is cleared of weeds + grain; otherwise weeds, oats etc would grow in the thatch The neat preparation is to make the scollops. (Scolb). Medium-sized garden rods are chosen (Each farmer grows his own rods.) A rod is taken, and one or perhaps two scollops are cut from it. A scollop is about three feet long and it is pointed at each end, so that it may be driven easily through the thatch and "scaws" (sods) of the roof. The scollops are(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Peter Brennan
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Teacher
