School: An Bóthar Buí (B.), Áth Treasna (roll number 16396)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   The houses in this district in former times were made of mud and rushes.
   The mud was mixed with a sufficient quantity of water to make it plastic. Blue mud was preferred to yellow mud, because it hardened almost as hard as concrete. Floors were almost always made of blue mud which was then well trampled, and in course of time it became quite hard.
   Sometimes stones were placed in the corners of the house or around the windows. When a layer of mud was placed on the wall a very thin layer of rushes was placed on top, and then another layer of mud.
   The roofs were always thatched either with reed or rushes. The chimney had a wooden frame.
   The thatch or reed were produced locally, the district yielding a plentiful supply of rushes. If the owner of the house wished to be fashionable he grew wheat himself and thatched the house with reed.
   All the old houses had a "'settle bed" in the kitchen. It was placed against the wall. The side of the settle was opened out, and the sleeper went in. The top of the settle could not be moved out of position.
   The fire was invariably against the gable wall. The front of the chimney was made of stone. Over the fire-place was a kind of awning made of timber. Houses without

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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

   John Galvin

   Gender

   Male

   Occupation

   Teacher

   Address

   Islandbrack, Co. Cork