School: Cloonmagunnane (roll number 13114)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   In former times the houses of the poor people were wretched-looking cabins when compared with the bright, clean houses their class occupy now-a-days. The walls of the old house were made of mud, the timber was of rough boughs or branches and the roofs were of straw or rushes. Some of these had only one apartment and the windows were small and could not be opened. Rye straw was generally used for thatch but oat straw was used too. The straw was grown on the farms. Flags were sometimes used for roofing houses and the were got near Belanagare. When an additional apartment was erected it was always added to the right gable for nobody would think of putting it on the left one.

   Very many of the old houses had a bed in the kitchen and some of these could be folded up during the day. In a nook off the Kitchen there was generally a bed. This was called a "Pristy" and it was near the fireplace. Houses in which there is a projection off the kitchen are still common enough. In these one sees a bed and some member of the family sleeps there. The fire places were not always at the gable in the old houses. It was made against the sidewall in some of the houses but no one remembers to have seen a chimney in the corner or in the middle of the floor.

   The floors of the houses were made of clay, round stones or flags and few of the old houses had a boarded floor, even in the bedroom.

   Half-doors were very common for almost every house had one of these. These were very useful as they admitted light and air and kept out fowl and farm animals. Half-doors are still to be seen in the district but they are not nearly as general as they were in former years

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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

   Informant

   John Crann

   Gender

   Male

   Occupation

   Candle-maker

   Address

   Cartron Beg, Co. Roscommon