School: Ballyroddy (roll number 12629)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   117
   Old Houses
   The most of the houses in former times were thatched., some of the houses had rolls of straw resting on wattles, and roofs of rushes or reeds, the thatch (straw) was got from the crops of oats, wheat and rye sown by the people, the rushes were cut on the land, the reeds were obtained from the sides of lakes, and the scraws were dug on the land. Nearly all the old houses had a bed in the kitchen beside the fire called a "preesty." and the fire was often in the centre of the house, because having no chimney, they made a hole in the middle of the roof, to let out the smoke. The front of the chimneys in the older houses was made of clay and wattles, seldom of mortar and stone. Several people told me they remember houses without any chimney when you were sitting at the fire you could see the sky. Then, several old houses in times long ago, had

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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

   Ita Gannon

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Caldragh, Co. Roscommon

   Informant

   Mr T. Gannon

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   68

   Address

   Caldragh, Co. Roscommon