School: Kilcullen (Convent) (roll number 11806)
- Location:
- Kilcullen, Co. Kildare
- Teacher: Na Siúracha
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0780, Page 335
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- XML School: Kilcullen (Convent)
- XML Page 335
- XML “Churning”
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- We have a churn at home, and it has four legs and a barrel. The length of the legs is two and a half feet, and the barrel is two feet high. It is wider at the bottom than it is at the top. There is a handle on it, and a little screw that is pressed when churning to let out the steam.
There is a mark on the lid stating that it was made in Dublin. Butter is made once a week in Winter and twice a week in Summer. Everyone helps at the churning, so that nobody would be too tired after it, and besides it is an old tradition that one should never pass by without putting his hand to the churn - it is considered unlucky not to. The churning usually takes an hour. Our churn is worked by the hand and it is called an "end over end" churn.
There is a little glass on the lid of the churn, and when it is clear, we know that the churning is finished. Water is poured in when the butter is cracked, and if not the butter would be scalded. When the churning is finished we rock it to get all the butter together.
After an hour or so, we take the butter out of the churn and put it in a tub. Then it is washed with cold water to get the trace of(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Mary Walshe
- Gender
- Female
