School: Churchtown (Baile an Teampoill) (roll number 1132)
- Location:
- Churchtown, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Liam Ó Briain
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0395, Page 022
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- Most of the old houses in this district are thatched. The first day when the house was being thatched the thatch was sewn on with rope yarn and a thatching needle. First of all the rope yarn was tied to the timber at one end of the house. Then a bundle of straw was put on and the rope yarn was brought out around it. Then another bundle was put on and the rope yarn was put around it again and so on until there was one layer of thatch all over the house. Another layer was then put on top of the first one. This time a thatching needle was used to carry the rope yarn in and out through the first layer. A thatching needle is a straight piece of iron about two feet long. At one end of the needle there is a point and about two inches back of the point there is an eye. The other end of the needle is bent to form a handle. The needle was not drawn through the thatch like a needle when sewing cloth. The rope was put into the needle by the man outside. Then he drove the needle in through(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Patrick Walshe
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Ballymacotter, Co. Cork
