Some of the old crafts in my district were nail making, weaving, spinning, sprigging and coopering.

There was a man living in the village of Ballinameen called "Phil the Nailer" but his right name was Phil Duignan. He used to make nails in a house on the roadside at the crossroads.The nearest weaver in my district lived about half a mile from my home.Spinning was carried on in almost every house in my district, and every woman of a house had either a woollen or a linen spinning wheel. The woollen wheel was a very large wheel and the linen wheel was much smaller.Sprigging was carried on in certain country houses by the young girls. There were certain men in the district who got the patterns traced on the linen, and then they handed it out to the girls who worked the patterns with thread. Then those men, called sprigging masters, sent them away, got paid for them, and they paid the girls in turn.There was a man in each district, called a cooper, who used to make all classes of milk