School: Newbliss (roll number 8328)
- Location:
- Newbliss, Co. Monaghan
- Teacher: Margaret E. Doogan
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0950, Page 265
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: Newbliss
- XML Page 265
- XML “The Potato Crop”
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
- Potatoes are grown on our farm.
An acre or even more is sown under potatoes each year. The amount varies, sometimes there is an acre under them, and sometimes an acre and a half.
Menfolk prepare the ground each year. The potatoes are planted in both drills and ridges.
The plough is used for the making of the drills, and the spade is used for the making of the ridges. Wooden ploughs were used long ago, but there are none left in the country now. The spades are bought in the local shops.
The potatoes are nearly always cut in two before they are set. The local people help one another with the sowing of the potatoes.
When the potatoes come up, they are moulded, and later on they are sprayed with a mixture of bluestone and washing soda. They are dug with a digger or spades. Children usually pick the potatoes. The potatoes are stored in pits and lofts.
May Queen's Arran Banners, Aran Keirans, Kerr Pinks, Irish Queens, British Queens, are some of the various kinds of potatoes sown locally.
