School: Bullach

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1. Houses in Olden Times

   

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   Houses in olden times were thatched. The thatch was got from straw grown on the farmers own land. The oats was threshed by men with a "flail", two pieces of straw sticks tied together, one longer than the other. The man would hold the long stick in his hand and wind it over his shoulder, bring the shorter one down heavily on the sheave of oats that are placed on the ground. Then the oats flies out leaving the straw there. With this straw the houses were thatched.
   Some of the side walls in the old houses were made of clay. The old house had a bed in the kitchen called a "presty bed". The floors of the houses long ago were made of clay. Sometimes flags were put in floors. Half doors were always used, some of them are to be seen yet in this district. They were supposed to be on houses to keep the young children in, the top part of the door to give

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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

   Collector

   Vera Murtagh

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Cloonbard, Co. Roscommon

   Informant

   Mrs Winifred Murtagh

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   55

   Address

   Cloonbard, Co. Roscommon