School: Clontibret (roll number 10751)
- Location:
- Clontibret, Co. Monaghan
- Teacher: Jessie Irvine
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0936, Page 198
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- XML “Spinning and Weaving”
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- About fifty years ago the chef industries in this district were spinning and weaving. Every one grew flax and it was scutched by hand by the women at home. When they had this part of the work done, then they started to spin it into yarn. This kept them in work from October to March.
When the men had the crop planted they began to weave it into webs by a hand loom which worked as much as the big looms do now in the big mills.
It was a slow way and kept the house in a busy way, as the spinning was done in the kitchen and the weaving in the room.
There was a weekly market in Ballybay for the webs and these were carried by donkeys. Each web was paid for according to quality. This depends both on the flax and workmanship. An acre of flax made about twelve pounds, ten shillings.
Some of the looms, and spinning wheels are to be seen yet in some of the houses and some people buy them as new looms.
There was a trades man kept busy(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Helen Groves
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Arclintagh, Co. Monaghan
