School: Smithstown, Castlecomer (roll number 14626)

Location:
Smithstown, Co. Kilkenny
Teacher:
Bríd Ní Mhórdha
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0865, Page 269

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0865, Page 269

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  1. XML School: Smithstown, Castlecomer
  2. XML Page 269
  3. XML “Churning”

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  1. I have not a churn at home but I am writing about Boyles churn who are farmers living near us. They have a churn about four feet tall. It is about the same width at the top and bottom. The various parts are called the barrel, the glass, and the handle.
    Butter is made three times a week in Summer time and twice in winter time. Some of the work men do the churning in their turns. Strangers who come in take a hand in the churning because it is lucky. The churning takes about half an hour in warm weather, but it takes about an hour in winter.
    The Churning is done by the hand. The churn is rolled from side to side. People know by a little round glass in the lid of the churn when the butter is made. The glass gets clear when the butter is made. Hot water is poured in, in cold weather and cold water in hot weather. The butter is lifted out by a butter-dish and then it is made into pounds and sold in shops.
    The buttermilk is used for several purposes. It is used by the people of the house. It is given to the people who buy the butter. It is used for making bread, it is give to the workmen for
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. activities
      1. economic activities
        1. agriculture (~2,659)
          1. butter and churns (~3,280)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Richard Shorthall
    Gender
    Male
    Informant
    Richard Shorthall
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    62
    Occupation
    Miner
    Address
    Croghtenclogh, Co. Kilkenny