Buying and Selling

Shops were not common in olden times and people used often have to travel long distances to the nearest shop, but in most districts there were Hucksters who had very small shops in which small articles such as candles, herrings, and lamp oil and such things that could not be done without were sold.When people wanted to buy clothes or boots or even leather to make boots they would have to go to the nearest town which was usually Boyle, Ballymote, or Sligo.Buying and selling was carried on after Mass on Sundays and is still practiced in some districts. In olden times in most districts the shops were situated near the chapels and people on their way home from Mass used to buy their groceries from those shops.Money was not always given in exchange for goods, but eggs and fowl and other goods were often given and goods were often paid for by labour.Many words were used in connection with buying and selling such as "canting" or selling goods on a street in a town, "peddling" or going