School: Bellanagare (roll number 2968)
- Location:
- Bellanagare, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Seán Mac Dochair
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- XML School: Bellanagare
- XML Page 128
- XML “Composition - Churning”
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- Churns are used in nearly every house in the district, for churning the milk which is kept over every day until it is in cream. There are two kinds of churn one for working with the hands and one for the foot. The height of a churn is generally about two feet. A churning is made about three times a week in summer and twice a week in winter as milk is more scarce then.
The greater portion of the milk every day is put in a crock until the cream appears on it. This cream is taken off is taken off daily until a large amount of it is gathered. Then the cream is put in the churn and churned. Boiling water is sometimes poured in during the process to help to make the butter. After about twenty minutes when the churning is made the butter is gathered from the top and left there until the buttermilk is strained from the churn.
The butter is then washed twice in salted. The buttermilk is used for making cakes and it is also a very healthy drink. There are a large number of stories and proverbs connected with butter - making. One of them is, if a man went into a house while butter was being made and wanted to light his pipe with a coal he could not do so until he had taken a "dreas" at(continues on next page)- Collector
- Mary Geraghty
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Michael Geraghty
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 65
- Address
- Bellanagare, Co. Roscommon