School: Anabla
- Location:
- Anablaha, Co. Kerry
- Teacher: Seán Ó Súilleabháin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0454, Page 012
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Anabla
- XML Page 012
- XML “A Local Custom - Basket-Making”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- Basket making is carried on locally in and around the townland Anabla. The work is done by hand by men during the long winter nights. The baskets are made from the twigs of a certain willow tree. The twigs are cut during a dark moon as the rods are supposed to be tougher then than when [?] at any other time. The rods are put aside for a little while to allow some of the sap to evaporate.
A grassy rod larger in size than the required size of the mouth of the basket is procured. The strongest & longest of the rods - 16 or 18 - are stuck upright in this rod all round. (The rod is the shape of the mouth of the basket.) When the required number of upright rods are stuck in this rod, which is really used to keep the rods firmly in place while the making is in progress, the weaving begins. (The upright rods are called "Sáirsáin".) For the weaving the rods are much weaker than the "Sáirisáin" and weaving begins about six or seven inches from the [?]. The rods are woven in & out among the upright rods horizontally. Where the weaving [?] is called the "buinne" and there are several [?] in the basket. The weaving is continued until desired height of the basket is obtained,(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Mc Carthy
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 14
- Address
- Glanlea, Co. Kerry
