School: Brosna (B.) (roll number 13018)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   The old houses were all thatched. There are a few of the very old houses yet to be seen. They are all in the middle of the bogs, and are very small. For sleeping accommodation they had a bed in the kitchen, which they could shut up like a box. They called it a settle bed. The chimney was built at the side wall. There was a stick going across the top of the chimney, it was called a mantle-tree. Over the mantle-tree, it was sheeted with timber and shaped like a chimney. The outside part of the chimney was made of thick wattles got in the woods. The most of the mud houses had no glass in the windows only a hole in the wall. When there was storm or rain they closed up the hole with a sack. Some of them had mud floors and paved hearths, the stones which were got for paving were picked along the river. Very few half-doors are to be seen now except in the old houses. They made their own light such as the candle and the wick. The candle was made from the tallow of a cow and a strong thread. The wick was made from strong threads platted and dipped in tallow. They were

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. buildings
            1. residential buildings (~2,723)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   John Downey

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Brosna, Co. Kerry

   Informant

   Eily Burke

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   55

   Address

   Brosna, Co. Kerry