School: Clews' Memorial (roll number 15465)
- Location:
- Boyle, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Máire Ní Néill
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0234, Page 092
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- XML “The Houses Long Ago”
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- The Houses Long Ago
The houses long ago had earthen floors; some had flagged floors. They had only one room and a kitchen. The room was 12' square and it contained two beds. There was, besides, a pouch bed in the kitchen. The kitchen door was always 7' from the lower gable. This space below the door in the kitchen was left for the purpose of tying the cows in it. In every house two o three cows were tied there. It was not lucky, according to local belief, if the smell of the beast was not in the dwelling-house. There were two windows on the house, one in the kitchen and one in "the room." The windows sometimes had glass. The panes used in the windows which had glass were 4" square. Three bars of iron were across on the outside of the window to keep out thieves, as it was no uncommon thing to break into a house to steal the butter. In some of the houses the windows were very small and had no glass.(continues on next page)
- Informant
- John Mc Garry
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 50
- Address
- Sheegorey, Co. Roscommon
